This contrived thriller, by a popular and award-winning CBA author of more than 30 books (The Happy Room, etc.), begins with a promising story line, but heavy dialogue, padded scenes and a far-fetched plot keep it from achieving its potential. Matthew Strong is a 16-year-old computer geek out to find a solution to world hunger, but he can't manage to get his widowed father's attention. When Matt probes the workings of Agrimax, one of the world's top three suppliers of food, company executives murder his friend—and come after Matt. With the key to Agrimax's unwholesome activities in his hands, the teen improbably flees to Mexico and then France in search of someone from the organization I-FEED (International Federation for Environmental and Economic Development) who can help him expose the nefarious company. In hot pursuit are Matt's beloved computer teacher, Jill Pruitt ("a bundle of bouncy, blonde energy"), and his "handsome, weather-beaten" rancher-father, Cole. The clichéd initial antagonism between Jill and Cole signals that romance is inevitable. In a ridiculous series of improbable events, Matt meets a classy chain-smoking Frenchwoman who flies him from France to the Sudan in a specially chartered airplane to find the chairman of I-FEED. As Matt reflects, "It was like some kind of a movie where... everything was warped and strange and unbelievable." Raising awareness of world hunger and unmasking the greed of large agricultural companies are admirable goals for the talented Palmer to shoot for; this novel, however, misses the mark. (Aug.)
