She is a practicing psychologist well known for her lectures, seminars and “how to” books but she wants to reconnect with her teen-age son Scott. Her ex-husband has custody of their son but Sherry Carrigan O’Toole thinks that a trip at the luxurious ski resort Sky Top Village will give them a chance to bond. One night when they were supposed to have dinner together, he skips out without telling her.

He and a friend who owns a plane fly to Salt Lake City to see a rock concert but the plane crashes in bad weather and Scott is the only survivor. He’s able to last in the wilderness for a few days thanks to survival skills he was taught and when he comes to a cottage inhabited by a middle aged man, he thinks his problems are over. He realizes they are just beginning when he realizes his roommate is a hitman who has a tendency to leave no witnesses to identify him.

John Gilstrap has written another crime thriller starring a protagonist who is truly a hero. Even though he is a teenager, he has more daring and courage than most adults and he proves it many times over though a bit irresponsible. Scott’s disappearance diffuses the war between his parents who finally reach a cease-fire after almost losing their son. SCOTT FREE is one action scene after another, as the pace never slows down for an instant.

Harriet Klausner