Most kids dream about a new bike, a pair of top-dollar sneakers endorsed by their favorite athlete, or that totally awesome videogame everyone's raving about. But thirteen-year-old Jake and his little brother Matthew want nothing more than to escape from their abusive father. As soon as possible, they plan to run away to California, where they will reunite with their mother and live happily ever after.It won't be easy, though. After a scuffle with a local bully puts Jake's arch-nemesis in the hospital, Sheriff Theresa McLelland starts poking her nose into their feud. During a trip to the family cabin for the opening weekend of deer-hunting season, Jake and Matthew kick their plan into action, leaving Dad tied to a chair as they flee into the night. Meanwhile, the bully and his father have their own plans for revenge, and the events to follow will forever change the lives of everyone involved . . . Authors: Mark Steensland self-published his first book while in fourth grade and has been telling stories ever since-some of them true. He became a professional journalist before graduating high school, writing about movies for such magazines as Prevue, Millimeter, and American Cinematographer. He holds a bachelor's in film studies from UC Santa Barbara, a master's in creative writing from CSU Sacramento, and an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman University. His award-winning films (including Peekers and The Ugly File) have played in festivals around the world. His first novel-Behind the Bookcase-was published in 2012 by Random House. A movie based on The Special, a novella co-written with James Newman, was released in October 2020. He most recently wrote Jakob's Wife, starring Barbara Crampton, Larry Fessenden, and Bonnie Aarons. James Newman lives in the mountains of North Carolina. He is the author of the novels MIDNIGHT RAIN, THE WICKED, ANIMOSITY, and UGLY AS SIN, the collections PEOPLE ARE STRANGE and THE LONG N' SHORT OF IT, and the novellas ODD MAN OUT, RIDE OR DIE, and IN THE SCRAPE (co-written with Mark Steensland)