Review: The Twisted Window

Lois Duncan
184 pages
ebook: August 28th 2012

Summary:
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.
The Twisted Window is a zigzagging thriller that keeps readers guessing up until the final page. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Lois Duncan including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.

We meet Tracy, a slender dark-haired girl who doesn't let anyone in, then we meet Brad, an attractive charming guy, who gets through Tracy's tough exterior.

Brad goes to the high school to find someone who could help him track down his sister, Mindy, who he believes was abducted by his 'cruel' step-father Gavin. And from hearing Brad's story, Tracy knows that though she shouldn't get involved, she hardly even knows Brad, she can't help wanting to aid Brad in getting Mindy back home safe.

After the plan to get Mindy back goes wrong, Tracy finds herself no longer able to stay come, and that is where the book starts to slowly unravel details that could change everything.

I have to be really careful witting this review because I really don't want to give anything away, this book literally "keeps readers guessing up until the final page". This is the sort of book that just as you think you know everything, it all changes and you're caught off guard then you realise that actually there's a hell of a lot more to it than you first thought.

I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would, you can't help but side with Brad as he stops at nothing to try to bring Mindy back. Once this book gets going, you find yourself unable to put it down.

As the book goes on, you find out the background of Tracy and why she has such a tough exterior, you feel everything she felt from rejection to fear. And Brad is charming and funny, and his determination and commitment to his baby sister is pretty admirable. The characters were independent and definitely strong and that's what made them likeable and also believable.

Duncan makes this book a page-turner by filling it with thrills and mystery. And I'm glad this book is making a comeback, it was originally published in 1987 and is now being re-published 2012, though it has been slightly updated, what with cell phone references and such. I guess you could say that the dialogue felt slightly dated, but it didn't make me love it any less.

Overall this book is a page-turner that will get inside your heart until you reach the breathtaking ending,
FOUR 1/2 STARS