
Part of Series
Something loud crashed over their heads, and they could hear gravel and dirt hitting the top of the truck. It happened again and again. The last sound they heard was the scrape of a shovel picking up more dirt. Then it was quiet. “Where do you think we are?” Woody asked. “It’s getting really cold in here.” Roman hit the back door with his fist. “I’ll tell you where we are. We’re buried alive!” Roman Sanchez’s life has become a nightmare. His father, a SWAT officer, has been killed in the line of duty. Then masked gunmen storm Roman’s classroom and hold him and three other boys hostage in a remote mountain cabin. There’s not much time before the kidnappers’ deadly threats are carried out. Can Roman overcome his fear—and the memory of his father’s death—to lead the boys’ desperate fight for freedom?
Author

Although he was never a dedicated student, Paulsen developed a passion for reading at an early age. After a librarian gave him a book to read—along with his own library card—he was hooked. He began spending hours alone in the basement of his apartment building, reading one book after another. Running away from home at the age of 14 and traveling with a carnival, Paulsen acquired a taste for adventure. A youthful summer of rigorous chores on a farm; jobs as an engineer, construction worker, ranch hand, truck driver, and sailor; and two rounds of the 1,180-mile Alaskan dog sled race, the Iditarod; have provided ample material from which he creates his stories. Paulsen and his wife, Ruth Wright Paulsen, an artist who has illustrated several of his books, divide their time between a home in New Mexico and a boat in the Pacific.