Zach's Lie

“Building, carving, sketching, fixing, driving, writing, flying—Jack’s earliest memories were of his father’s busy and clever hands.”

Jack idolizes his dad and admires his skills, which makes it even more devastating for Jack when Neil proves fallible. Jack loves his dad despite his mistakes and misses him, showing the importance of family connections.

“Jack felt a mixture of terror, anger, and shame at his helplessness.”

Jack wishes he could have been like the superheroes he admired as a kid or as strong as his dad to have stopped Aznar. Jack’s powerlessness at the start of the novel and the antagonist’s victimization of him and his family are thriller genre conventions. By the novel’s end, Zach, with Sam’s help, has the power to defeat Aznar and save his family.

“The only way you’ll be safe is with us. We can protect you, Mrs. Osborne. We can protect your children.”

Agent Pelton’s ominous warning alludes to the threat the family faces and foreshadows that they will not be as safe as Pelton declares. Lies and broken promises feature prominently in the relationships that develop in the novel; they test the characters’ commitment to trust and their ability to forgive.