Sigmund Brouwer. Nowhere to Hide. Eugene OR: Harvest House, 2015. Print.

Nowhere to Hide is fast-paced young adult thriller. William King—call him King—lives on a sparsely populated island in Puget Sound in Washington State. He and his buddies helped the FBI solve a mystery, and he and his two high school and college friends are recruited again.

This time some things do not ring true. The agent who contacted him does not know the pass phrase. He and his friends are taken to a posh Seattle hotel where it appears they are going to be temporarily imprisoned. Each of the 58 chapters averages slightly over three pages. In plot complications one might call this a Robert Ludlum for teens. In pace of action, it is more like Tony Abbott.

The ending contains a surprise twist. One reader shared that the twist ruined the story, as though it were more like Alice in Wonderland where the conflict builds to a head and it is “only a dream.” However, there are enough clues dropped so that the twist is not a complete surprise and the story does wrap things up. No one is killed and no national secrets are betrayed.

Folks from Washington State on either side of the Cascades will get a kick out of the setting. From an urban computer hacker to a survivalist living in a desert trailer, welcome to the modern Wild West.