SEARCH WITHOUT FEAR

When their grandmother dies, Dee, a high school sophomore, goes to live with her brother, a state trooper in Virginia, where one dangerous adventure follows another and she begins to appreciate the importance of the work he and his police dog do

Grade 5-9 Poor writing will limit the appeal of Hallman's action-packed book. Dee, a high-school sophomore, has to move from Oregon to Virginia to live with her 26-year-old state trooper brother. She is insecure in the new school crowd until she makes friends with Eric, a senior whose father is a trooper helicopter pilot. This page-turner includes, within about a two week span, a bomb-scare, a teen drunk driver, two kidnappings, a near-fatal accident, two lost young people, a car accident, and a police chase and shooting. Dialogue may be true to life, but it is hard to read, and awkward phrases such as ``the girl said'' and ``the teenager said'' often interrupt the flow of writing and give a cold, detached feeling. Characterization is slight, although Hallman provides a strong sense of the work of a state trooper. Susan McCord, Boise Public Library, Idaho
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.