Rating: 
Summary: A double black diamond thriller
Review: As his canon develops, Mr. Gilstrap's fiction seems to be edging away from the imperiled-family-on-the-run suspense thrillers for which he was becoming typecast and this is an evolution that Atria Books, Gilstrap's imprint within Simon & Schuster, thankfully encourages.
Scott O'Toole is not Nathan Bailey redux. Nathan, the title character in Gilstrap's incredible debut NATHAN'S RUN, is eluding capture by both the police and some bad men who want him dead. Sixteen-year-old Scott O'Toole is running toward something, namely a cabin in the middle of the Utah wilderness after his plane crashes that is his only shot at survival.
In that cabin is a mysterious man who claims to be in the witness protection program. But as Scott waits out a terrific blizzard, less and less adds up and his savior doesn't appear to be what he claims. The president of the United States is in town and when the bodies start piling up around the cabin like cordwood, Scott puts two and two together and begins a Nathanesque run back to civilization.
Gilstrap is obviously enamored of the movies, and he's tried and failed to make a career as a produced screenwriter. Still, his love of movies prevails and SCOTT FREE would've benefited from less allusions to specific movies, genres and cinema in general that Gilstrap obviously threw in to make producers realize, Look, see how cinematic my book is!
Gilstrap's saving grace is that SCOTT FREE, despite its shameless attempts to cozy up next to and identify with action/adventure films, remains one of the freshest and most captivating concepts since Jan Burke's BONES and Michael Prescott's NEXT VICTIM. Scott O'Toole does nothing that a gutsy, level-headed sixteen-year-old boy couldn't do with the proper training and a few aids. The conflict between his estranged parents is not a mass-produced he said-she said one and once again Gilstrap draws the reader into not only the violence of the story but the human conflicts that help illustrate and even bring about the more sensationalistic aspects. Scott's father is a devoted dad who'd be lost without the younger half of "Team Bachelor" while his mother, a self-help pop psychology icon and a bestselling author, is more concerned with ensuring that local bookstores stock her titles in abundance than with being a mother.
The writing of SCOTT FREE isn't quite as snappy as usual and very little of the humor that characterized Gilstrap's first three efforts are in evidence. The characterization, as stated before, is very good, a cut above what Gilstrap had offered in his next-to-last book, EVEN STEVEN. The mysterious man in the cabin is a creepy guy painted with light brush strokes of pathos, someone on a more human scale than the vicious Lyle Pointer of NATHAN'S RUN.
The thrilling, penultimate chapter that takes place on the ski slopes of Utah fades to black and fast-fowarding months later just before the reader actually sees what happened is a trick that directors have been doing since time immemorial and only reinforces the belief that Gilstrap is once again soliciting Hollywood's attention. His republican bias makes a rare, ugly appearance in the acknowledgements page in which he wishes that he could've researched classical music instead of the Metallica beloved of his title character (obviously Gilstrap hasn't heard of that heavy metal group's incredible work with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra).
Overall, I have to give SCOTT FREE four stars based on the vivid characterization, the ending that's almost as exciting as skiing a black diamond trail and the last-minute twist. Gilstrap still hasn't produced anything nearly as thrilling or heart-wrenching as his debut effort and it doesn't look as if he will. But his subsequent novels have a proven entertainment factor that's all too uncommon in the dull sea of generic books that come out every year.
Rating: 
Summary: A Blast to Read
Review: Considering the lame title, SCOTT FREE is surprisingly good.
The hook for me was the set-up. Sixteen-year-old Scott O'Toole's plane crashes in the Utah mountains in the middle of a snow storm. The pilot is dead and the plane has no radio or transponder. He must decide whether to stay put or try to walk to what looks like a cabin on a map he finds in the cabin of the plane.
For a thriller, the book manages to maintain believability for the most part; but I was bothered by the scene where Scott was confronted by wolves. Wolves DO NOT attack human beings unless you invade their space.
Also unusual for a thriller is Gilstrap's facility with character development. Scott O'Toole starts out as a Heavy Metal-loving teenager with little else on his mind than skiing and rock concerts; by the end of the book he has become a man.
Scott's mother Sherry Carrigan O'Toole is a self-absorbed Dr. Laura Schlesinger-type, divorced from Scott's father. She has been trying to win Scott's affection by treating him to a ski trip at SkyTop resort. Scott and his father, Brandon, a rocket scientist, are referred to as Team Bachelor throughout the book, and she's jealous. When he learns his son is missing, Brandon flies to SkyTop to monitor the search.
Gilstrap uses multiple perspectives: Scott; Sherry; Brandon; Barry Whitestone, the police chief in charge of the search; and Isaac DeHaven, the villain of the piece whom Scott mistakenly embraces as his salvation. I kept reading ahead to see where Scott came back into the story. Despite his blue hair, Scott is a great character. Gilstrap puts you there with him in the freezing cold with no food as he tramps through the snow toward a tiny speck on a map.
Rating: 
Summary: Preposterous !!!
Review: I found "no there, there" in John Gilstrap's "Scott Free."
Had I desired a soap opera I would choose Howard Fast or Harold Robbins and enjoy the ride with guilty pleasure. All I wanted to do was slap the mother, send the son to military school and have the father see a shrink. As if the central characters were not unsympathetic enough, the exploits of the son were beyond absurd. I can suspend disbelief with the best of them, but this was ridiculous. On the plus side it is a fast read. Many of the secondary characters are worthy, especially the cops...and the villain is colorful, interesting and entertaining. Mr. Gilstrap's "Nathan's Run" remain a favorite---I expected much more.
Rating:
Summary: Number 1 Thriller/Survivor Epic
Review: I loved this book! It kept me reading and on the edge of my seat from beginning to end and I read it in one and a half days because I couldn't put it down. The suspense is exactly what the reader of Thriller/Mystery novels expects and wants. Scott is the kind of kid that parents hope their child will be/is, brave, resourceful and true to the upright standards that have been instilled in him by his father, but a little foolhardy and doesn't always make wise choices (typical teen) but does his best when his choices catapults him into disastrous situations, as happens here. He faces danger from several sides, because of one unwise choice that only a teenager
would make, to fly to a rock concert with a new found friend/pilot in a raging snow storm/blizzard in Utah. This is what starts the chain of events that may cost him his life, as well as the life of loved ones. Complicating the situation for his rescue is the fact that the President of the USA is on an official visit to the small tourist town that Scott is visiting with his estranged Mother, for a skiing trip. When Scott and his parents need the help of the small police department in the town, it is a trifle hard to get because of the president's visit and Secret Service Agents demanding that the president be the first priority of the police, so Scott and his family slips to a back burner, sort of, though the police chief wants to help, and does try, the Secret Service gets in the way. Even when you think everything is o.k., that Scott is home free, this turns out not to be the case, more suspenseful moments are on the horizon in the form of a deadly showdown for Scott and his nemesis. This book is really a wonderful story and I would love to see it made into a movie. Scott's adventures in the wilderness alone would make a good movie, but add a local hit-man
and the danger and suspense is off the scale! Now I have to order the other books that John Gilstrap has written, as this is my first book to read from this author, but it only took this one to hook me! I just wish they all came in Hardback, as "Scott Free" is.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Escape
Review: I loved this thriller by John Gilstrap. Not since The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by King have I been on such an intense merry-go-round with a young protagonist. Nathan's Run sealed my implicitly silent contract of approval for Gilstrap, and this time around, the protagonist is a blue haired teenager, full of bravado, with incredible learned skills, resolve, and vulnerability, as well as adolescent 'attitude'. The descriptions of the hardships are vivid, visual reality-charged moments of reader recognition. The novel speaks for itself. A teenager visiting with his detached but famous mother, who is taken on an exorbitant ski vacation to woo him away from "team bachelor", decides on the spur of the moment to fly with a new found skiing buddy to a rock concert. A storm ensues. From that point on, weather, survival, horror, and where-with-all co conspire to build great tension and a very satisfying book. Scott is compelled to call on inner resources, those he was trained for, and those which he is unaware that he possesses. I bought it all. The villain is great, wearing more guises than an entire halloween party. Dad is a devoted supporter who never gives up, knowing in his gut that his son is still alive. Even egocentric mom changes over time. Scott Free is a page turner and a great escape. I found Scott Free to be very satisfying and an entertaining distraction from current events.
Rating:
Summary: Best I've read in a long time
Review: I'll be honest with you. I first saw this book listed in the Book of the Month Club brochure and thought it sounded great. After reading some of the reviews here, though, I almost gave this terrific book a pass. Boy am I glad I changed my mind! Scott Free is fast-paced and scary as hell. Kept me up all night. I've always loved Gilstrap's characters. He's never let me down in the past, and he didn't let me down this time either. I loved Scott! I loved his spirit and his willingness to keep going even when he thought he didn't have the strength anymore, and I loved how he grew from the beginning of the book to the end. I guess when all is said and done it's just a matter of taste, but the people who didn't like this book just don't know good fiction when they see it.
Rating: 
Summary: GREAT SCOTT WHAT A BOY!
Review: I'm sorry, but I found Scott to be a typically self-centered, unfocused brat, one who could hardly come up with surviving the horrifying plane crash. Blue hair or not! He is pictured as an enterprising Indiana Jones, but he's really just a pain in the oops. Anyway, his mother and father, Sherry and Brandon, are just as bad, and Gilstrap lays a lot of blame on Cody Jamieson, who should have known better than to fly in a storm. But shouldn't Scott known better than to sneak off with him anyway? Scott's only 16, and his judgment throughout the book exemplifies his inadequacies.
I didn't like this book as much as I wanted to; I found myself intrigued to reach the end because Gilstrap's writing is good enough to sustain interest.
But, I may be getting old too quick, but Scott didn't charm me in the least.
Rating:
Summary: Average read for thriller fans.
Review: John Gilstrap knows to write, I know that and I liked most of all his books "Nathan's Run". This book was brilliant. But Mr. Gilstrap has never since found a similar voice and well arranged story. "Scott Free" is not much more than what you expect of, for example, the usual Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie. The characters are not much more developed, you read what you would see on the big screen if this book is ever made to a major motion picture. This book should have been a hundered pages longer. The characters are not as well developed as you possibly could in a book. Mr. Gilstrap's style of writing is absorbing, but he lacks the wit he put into the pages of "Nathan's Run" and the well thought ideas he came up with in his first novel. Now he is more mainstream. In this story would have been so much more to explore about any character in this book. Scott's mother would have been a great character if explored more in depth. The attemps are there. But as I said, he would have needed about a hundred pages more to do so. Now it is just a nice summer read for the beach, not much more. The story is so foreseeable, that some twists aren't that surprising at all. The story of the sniper is not too well explored either. You can't really connect to Scott either, he seems too much like a superhero and has knowlege of any surviving skills. Some ideas in this book are too hard to believe. Its a nice read though. But it doesn't touch the reader as "Nathan's Run" did.
Rating:
Summary: Keeps you waiting till the end
Review: Overall, Scott Free was had a good plot line. Gilstrap has created a character tons of teenagers could relate to, in a situation very few could relate to. Scott is faced with a problem not many others would be able to overcome. It was a little slow moving, but still managed to keep me interested throughout.He knows how to get to the readers heart. However, the writing was very predictable and un-original. The writing is not worth reading, unless you are desperate for an overlly long, dragging, predictable, wanna-be thriller.
Rating:
Summary: Best I've read in a long time
Review: Unlike other Gilstrap novels, this book drags alone getting pulled by arrogant self centered, self serving characters. The missing boy asks too many questions of which there is no answer "Why me Lord?", etc. P.S. I rate all the other Gilstrap novels very high. This one I gave up on after 150 pages.
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