The Twisted Window
By: Lois Duncan
Published: August 28th 2012 by Open Road Young Readers (first published May 1st 1987)
184 pages
Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!!)
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Goodreads description--The new guy at Tracy’s school is handsome, intense, and desperately needs her help—but there’s something about him that isn’t quite right.High school junior Tracy Lloyd is unsure about the new guy in school. Brad Johnson is attractive, smart, and polite, but Tracy can’t help but feel he watches her too closely. Then one day Brad confides in Tracy a horrible secret: His little sister Mindy has been kidnapped by his stepfather, and he needs Tracy’s help to get her back. But even as Tracy commits to a plan to help her vulnerable new friend, details emerge that suggest nothing is what it seems.
Let me first say that Lois Duncan was the 2nd author that I read as a teenager where I knew I could enjoy anything she wrote. And I read many of her books, including the one she wrote about the murder of her own daughter. But I never did read The Twisted Window. Lois Duncan was the first author I read that really surprised me with almost every book. Some twists and turns. Some paranormal. Some mystery. Some relationships. Her books held just a little bit of everything in them.
As I’ve experienced with Lurlene McDaniel’s books (who happened the be the first author I read and decided I could read any of her work ever and love it), going back and reading the writing I loved so much as a teenager doesn’t quite have the same effect on me as it once did. I don’t think that diminishes either of these authors’ work at all. It just means that I’ve grown as a person and specifically as a reader.
All of that being said, I didn’t get surprised at all with The Twisted Window like I imagine I would have had I read this as a teenager. It was a quick read with only 184 pages, and yet I still found myself sucked into this story more than plenty of the other books I’ve started reading lately. Lois Duncan has the hooking-a-reader part down to a science. Throwing information out in just a way that forms specific questions in your head—questions that you cause you to keep reading until you can find or figure out the answers. It’s perfect.
So even though I wasn’t blown away or really surprised by The Twisted Window as an adult, I’m quite sure this would have been a different story had my teenage self been reading this story.
Heidi at Bunbury in the Stacks has a feature she does periodically called “You’re more than just a book to me,” (here's one such post) and well…Lois Duncan, to borrow from Heidi—you are more than just a book to me. Thanks for the wonderful books I read that grew and challenged me as a teenager that I can look back and reflect fondly on as an adult. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure my kids read your stuff too one day.
The Twisted Window gets 3 Stars. Have you read The Twisted Window? If so, what did you think?
Lurlene McDaniel and Lois Duncan were two authors that I completely ate up in middle school! I love that we are so similar.
ReplyDeleteI remember I read Twisted Window, and I remember I didn't like it as much as some of her other works, but it is still a Lois Duncan novel and full of suspense and scary-ness. =)
We definitely are similar! I completely agree, even though this wasn't my favorite...it's still Lois Duncan and still good stuff. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
DeleteI didn't know Lois Duncan wrote another book. In middle school I read her books like crazy though. Thanks for the review Sandy! Definitely adding this one to my TBR pile. :)
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