Rating: 
Summary: What an Intense Trip!
Review: First off I want to say that John Gilstrap has some of the best characterization I have read in awhile. Nathan's Run takes place over a two-day span of time. Mr. Gilstrap does not waste any of this time on fluff. The author uses his pages wisely to develop realist characters and plot. The villains are especially nasty and the heroes are flawed but very likable, good solid heroes. Mr. Gilstrap does a great job in weaving these characters into a very believable and real plot. There are only two things that I'm sad about, one that I didn't read this book sooner and that it ended. I really wanted it to continue for a few more chapters, but the book is called "Nathan's Run". So if you are looking for a good chase book with good characterization and plot, you won't go wrong with "Nathan's Run". This is a wonderful book; I look forward to reading more of John Gilstrap.
Rating:
Summary: Lucky Find!
Review: Found a used copy of this book in a charity shop in Inverness, Scotland. Needed an "airplane read" and this looked interesting. What a pleasant surprise! Exciting plot, true-to-life dialogue, and a 12-year-old protagonist who isn't too good to be believable. Despite the age of the main character, the language and situations make this a book NOT intended for children. However, adults who enjoy murder thrillers won't be disappointed. Excellent book, especially for a debut novel. I will definitely look up this author's other works.
Rating:
Summary: Lucky Find!
Review: Found a used copy of this book in a charity shop in Inverness, Scotland. Needed an "airplane read" and this looked interesting. What a pleasant surprise! Exciting plot, true-to-life dialogue, and a 12-year-old protagonist who isn't too good to be believable. Despite the age of the main character, the language and situations make this a book NOT intended for children. However, adults who enjoy murder thrillers won't be disappointed. Excellent book, especially for a debut novel. I will definitely look up this author's other works.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Plot, Bad Ramble
Review: Gilstrap happens to be one of my favorite authors, and Nathan's Run was a great story. The plot of a young 12 year old boy who murders a Juvinille Detention Supervisor and becomes a fugitive of the law is gripping and thrilling. Gilstarp does a have a problem getting off a subject though. If you want a great book in the same genre, by the same author try At All Costs (Read my review on it). Overall this was a great book, if you have the time to read it.
Rating:
Summary: Suspense to the LAST page
Review: I recently purchased this book, I had seen an advertisement for it and I was interested. When I finally found it, I read it in a day! (I love books but I am a VERY slow reader) This book kept my attention all the way through. A 12 year old boy accused of murdering a supervising guard at a Juv. Detention Center is on the run, as the cops try to find him, he breaks into people's houses, steals people's belongings (even cars), and he calls a radio station daily, talking to the host, trying to prove his innocence. A MUST READ!!
Rating:
Summary: Great story
Review: I sincerely hope this first book is also the last one by this author. A 12-year old car thief, burglar, and (?) murderer (?) is its "hero". The author gave away his leftist leanings when he stated in the blurb that this is a book about "the war our society wages against its children".So, don't jail them, provide them with the means to kill; whether it is with a Glock for drive-by shootings or a shank into a drunk's gut, never mind. After all, it is society that is at fault, never the non-existing parenting, or the teachers who are afraid to go to school because they will be blamed for their charges' rotten behavior, the teachers who get killed and raped by these misbegotten poor little sweethearts. Yech.... stay away from this garbage and keep your money.
Rating: 
Summary: ... aimed at young people
Review: My sixth grader came home with this book. It was found in his school library with a Reading Level of 6.7. He told me the book contained a lot of inappropriate words. I immediately looked at the book and in 10 minutes found a huge array of offensive, sexually explicit, and morally offensive words. There was no warning of the mature nature of this book on the cover or the reviews inside. THIS IS NO CHILDREN'S BOOK. I have currently asked the middle school to review the book and send it on to an audience where it would not influence such young children. Not my kid, not my school, NO WAY! (By the way, he did not finish the book.)
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining, Fast-Paced Adventure (But A Bit Formulaic)
Review: Nathan Bailey had the life we wish nobody had to endure. Orphaned, raised by an uncle plagued by personal demons, committed to a kiddie jail (primarily on the testimony of said uncle), and became a fugitive from the law all before reaching his teens. It's easy to sympathize with Nathan as Mr. Gilstrap included many small details so unique to adolescence. The way Nathan is portrayed to think and act are very much in character for a young man, albeit a VERY contientious one. Most of the other characters were not given the same descriptive attention, unfortunately. They're servicible and believable, but somewhat flat. While reading Nathan's Run, I couldn't help but think policemen were given a bad rap in this book. I doubt that Mr. Gilstrap has a vendetta against cops, but they are (with two exceptions) made to look incompetent, manipulative, career-driven, and cruel. There is one particularly tense scene in which Nathan, smaller than normal for his pre-teen age, is brutalized by three policemen at once. I understand that some may be necessary to advance a plot following a fugitive, but this stereotyping felt like the stuff of 100 Bad Cop movies. Since this is a suspenseful tale with a young man at its center, I also believe Mr. Gilstrap alienated what might have been a massive audience, young adults, with generous portions of gratuitous profanity. It was, in my opinion, largely unneccessary to have nearly every character have an extensive 4-letter vocabulary. Still, Nathan's story is absorbing and tense to the last page. Emotions crescendoed to such a peak in the final scene that if I weren't riding a city bus with my goatee'd "big-guy" image to uphold, I might have cried. Honestly. My recommendation would be this: it's good, but not destined to be one of the "greats". Pick it up if you're in the mood for a fast-paced thriller.
Rating:
Summary: Go Nathan, Go!
Review: Nathan's Run is a very good thriller about a 12-year old boy who escapes from a youth detention center after killing a guard in self-defense. (Or was it self-defense???) In an ordinary thriller, the author would follow a formula that the reader would probably be able to easily figure out. That doesn't happen here. Gilstrap gives us just enough information to keep us turning the pages to find out what happens to Nathan next. All is not as it seems in Nathan's life. Anxious to tell someone his story, Nathan telephones a national radio talk show. Improbable? Maybe. Maybe not. But it is suspenseful and riveting. Nathan's Run may not be for everyone. There's lots of violence and profanity, but there's also quite a lot that Gilstrap has to say about our society and where we're headed. Also Nathan is one of the most unforgettable characters in adult fiction. A good read, but not a great ending, thus earning four stars instead of five.
Rating:
Summary: Quite a trip.
Review: Suspend your disbelief and get ready for a most intense ride. It's got so much going for it. A fabulous plot that mixes a kid wrongly accused on the run, a police manhunt, a savvy contract killer on the loose, a politically motivated DA, a cop who beleives the kid (Nathan) just might be a victim and not a murderer. Add a top rated DC talk show host to give the country the play by play and you have a book impossible to put down. I knocked it off in two sittings. It was nonstop action and I felt exhausted when all was resolved. If I am not mistaken this is John Gilstrap's initial novel. I will be tracking down his later works.
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