Five Were Missing [Paperback]

Lois Duncan (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Signet; First Edition edition (May 1, 1972)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 045106335X
• ISBN-13: 978-0451063359
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Lois Duncan was born in Philadelphia, PA, and grew up in Sarasota, FL.
She knew from early childhood that she wanted to be a writer. She submitted her first story to a magazine at age 10 and became published at 13. Throughout her high school years she wrote regularly for young people's publications, particularly Seventeen.

As an adult, Lois moved to Albuquerque, NM, where she taught magazine writing for the Journalism Department at the University of New Mexico and continued to write for magazines. Over 300 of her articles and stories appeared in such publications as Ladies Home Journal, Redbook, McCall's, Good Housekeeping, and Reader's Digest, and for many years she was a contributing editor for Woman's Day.

Lois is the author of over 50 books, ranging from children's picture books to poetry to adult non-fiction, but is best known for her young adult suspense novels, which have received Young Readers Awards in 16 states and three foreign countries. In 1992, Lois was awarded the Margaret A. Edwards Award, presented by the School Library Journal and the ALA Young Adult Library Services Association for "a distinguished body of adolescent literature." In 2009, she received the Katharine Drexel Award, awarded by the Catholic Library Association "to recognize an outstanding contribution by an individual to the growth of high school and young adult librarianship and literature."

Six of her novels -- SUMMER OF FEAR, KILLING MR. GRIFFIN, GALLOWS HILL, RANSOM, DON'T LOOK BEHIND YOU and STRANGER WITH MY FACE -- were made-for-TV movies. I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER and HOTEL FOR DOGS were box office hits.

Although young people are most familiar with Lois Duncan's fictional suspense novels, adults may know her best as the author of WHO KILLED MY DAUGHTER?, the true story of the murder of Kaitlyn Arquette, the youngest of Lois's five children. Kait's heartbreaking story has been featured on such TV shows as Unsolved Mysteries, Good Morning America, Larry King Live, Sally Jessy Raphael and Inside Edition. A full account of the family's on-going personal investigation of this still unsolved homicide can be found on the Internet at http://kaitarquette.arquettes.com.

Lois Duncan's personal web page is at http://loisduncan.arquettes.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Now known as Ransom, but five teenagers are still missing, December 3, 2002

By 

"celeria5514" (PA, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Five Were Missing (Paperback)

This book is now known as Ransom; it's extremely hard to find as Five Were Missing. Lois Duncan's young adult books tend to divide into two categories, those involving the supernatural and those involving plain old real-life suspense, and this falls in the latter category. Five Were Missing is about five teenagers who get kidnapped on a routine bus ride home: two brothers, a quiet girl who is an army brat, a girl dealing with her broken family, and a shy slightly dorky boy. Duncan does a good job of weaving the lives of the teenagers' and their families into the plot at hand. Like all her novels for young adults, her characters are fully evoked and have their own pasts and backstories, but are also resourceful and strong enough to intrigue even older readers.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book -- Definitely a Good Read, May 6, 2000

By 

Joseph Myers (Whitewater, KS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Five Were Missing (Paperback)

I really like the way this book sets up the plot. It tells the captivating story of 5 kidnapped teenagers.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It was an enthralling book., February 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Five Were Missing (Paperback)

I just read Five Were Missing, and I liked it very much. It was enjoyable, and I couldn't put it down. Great Book!