KNOWING JACK by Julie Elizabeth Powell_Review

“Knowing Jack” is a spiffy, fast-moving thriller with a middle-grade protagonist, Jack, who visits the wilds of England’s Lake Country in the winter with his parents and his aunt, uncle, and spoiled cousin Rosie. Jack is an unusual individual: he senses clairvoyantly, but he doesn’t so much see visions (except in dreams) as he “feels” empathically, and gets terrible nausea and headaches when danger is imminent. He has one such attack in the village below the mountain, and shouts just in time to prevent a collision of his family’s vehicle with an angry driver; but that same angry man and his wife will return to trouble Jack, and his family, diligently. The two families have scarcely settled in the mountain hideaway when the van driver runs Jack’s father’s car off the road, knocking his father, Frank, unconscious, and sending Jack and Rosie out into the snowy wilderness to escape and locate help.

Julie Elizabeth Powell has drawn a fine figure in young Jack, a boy with real character, integrity, and bravery, even in the face of extreme danger. She also has a gift for delineating character evolution, and although I won’t give anything away, that become a major portion of the story. The pacing is non-stop thriller. I highly recommend it, for middle-grade and older (including us adults).