Ransom
by Lois Duncan
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Book Summary Information
Author: Lois DuncanEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1984-08-01
ISBN: 0440972922
Number of pages: 176
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780440972921
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Ransom
Book Review: Early teen suspense, but holds up for the most part
Summary: 4 Stars
This will be a mini-review, instead of a full one, since the book in question is less than 150 pages long and told in the omniscient viewpoint, so character complexity is minimal. Lois Duncan was rather the R.L. Stine of the X generation, except that she wrote for a slightly older audience and was more psychologically creepy than blood-and-gore. Her stories weren't the type made for around-the-campfire telling; they'd take too long to explain in full. I remember reading and enjoying this one, Ransom, and especially Locked in Time as a teen.
The story's premise is fairly basic: five teenagers are kidnapped by their substitute bus driver on the way home from school. He and two accomplices have planned out the kidnapping, selecting a route that terminates in Valley Gardens, a rich neighborhood, for maximum financial benefit. They take the kids high up in the New Mexico mountains where the cold and altitude make escape very unlikely and wait for the money to roll in. Unfortunately, the kidnappers only minimally examined their would-be profit makers. Of the five kids - Marianne, Glenn, Bruce, Dexter, and Jesse - only two families have any real money or access to it. Brothers Glenn and Bruce's parents have it, but Jesse's parents are only renting/housesitting in the glitzy neighborhood, and Dexter is an orphan temporarily lodging with his uncle. Popular Marianne's family looks like it has more money than it does. Her mother got the house in the divorce, but her new stepfather's income is paltry. Which leaves a lot up in the air. The kidnappers are capable of plenty, and if their demands aren't met, it's entirely possible, they'll cut their losses - literally - and run rather than bargain down.
Written in 1966, this book has the spare prose of an earlier era. In some indefinable way it reminded me of Mary Stewart's writing. Perhaps it's because Duncan describes a gentler, less complex era, an era in which kidnapping children is shocking, and murder is shock inducing. 1966, after all, is only a few years after the events of In Cold Blood, a crime which left Kansas speechless with horror. A Columbine or Virginia Tech mass murder was behind the scope of imagination. These kids still believe in the innate goodness of humanity. They are also a bit more polite and respectful than kids are these days. That and a little dated slang keeps this book from being quite timeless.
Duncan uses the omniscient point of view which allows her to impart a great deal of information about these kids, their parents, and the kidnappers, but this device allows for little mystery. It's all just out there; the reader knows what's going on in everyone's head at all times. Still, since the reader doesn't know how these characters will all interplay with each other, there is a level of suspense here that Duncan adroitly builds to a climax. And in the meantime she creates a portrait of a teen sociopath who is perhaps more chilling a character than any of the kidnappers are.
Ultimately, this is a fast and fairly enjoyable read. For the most part it holds up, even after all of these years. My grade: a B-.
Summary of Ransom
The lives of five captives hang in the balance while their families gather the ransom.Two brothers, their family frantic to find their sons. A loner whose uncle doesn?t even know he?s missing. An Army brat whose family will never be able to raise enough money. And a cheerleader who can?t count on her stepdad, but knows her father will come through.
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