Customer Reviews

Locked Inside

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Locked Inside is about a sixteen year old girl name Marnie. Her mother had died 5 years ago and her guardian is a man name Max. Marnie goes to this boarding school, she isn't studying as hard as she should be and ends up not doing well in school. She spends most of her time playing this game online with is guy identified as Elf. After her mother's death, Marnie hasn't really want anyone to get close to her, bascially like disconnecting herself from the world. She soons get kidnap by her teacher name Ms. Slaight where she also meets the guy name Elf in person. I don't want to disappoint anyone by telling the ending so read it to find out. This is an excellent book and I recommend people from ages 12 and up. I really like this book because the author is telling everyone a very important message. I can't wait to read The Killer's Cousin. I have read a lot reviews saying that it is an outstanding book even better than this one. Anyways this is a really REALLY superb book and I hope you read it, you won't be disappointed.

I couldn't put LOCKED INSIDE down! It's a great combination of suspense, romance and a mystery, too. If you liked THE KILLER's COUSIN, you're in for a treat. This one is even better!

Locked Inside is a companion of sorts to Nancy Werlin's The Killer's Cousin, which I liked better, at least initially. Locked Inside is the story of Marnie Skyedottir, a wealthy sixteen-year-old orphan at a private school in northern Massachusetts. Her singer/songwriter/author mother died five years ago, leaving her in the guardianship of Max and the care of boarding schools. When Marnie is kidnapped, she has to confront the influence her mother left on her life.

Marnie is hard to warm up to at first, and not because she's unlikable; readers will identify with her stubbornness and the way she hates adults prying into her life. I assumed that Nancy Werlin didn't want readers getting close to Marnie, because Marnie doesn't really let anyone get close to her. It was a good device on Werlin's part, but it makes the book hard to get into.

There are also several lengthy descriptions of Paliopolis, the online role-playing game that Marnie is involved with. Werlin does a pretty good job of relationg these to what's going on with Marnie, but they're a little hard to get into and identify with if you're not a gamer.

The book cover is misleading because it gives the impression that Marnie does all her contemplation while she's kidnapped. I thought the book was going to be set mostly during the time she was "locked inside," but the major revelations about her mother come after she's been set free. It's fine, but it's not what I expected.

Frank Delgado, the sole friend of David Yaffe from The Killer's Cousin, makes an appearance in Locked Inside as the "Elf," one of Marnie's fellow gamers on Paliopolis, who comes to her rescue in real life when she's kidnapped. Honestly, realizing that the Elf was Frank was the highlight of the read for me. I enjoy it when characters make "guest appearances" in authors' other books, at least sometimes. Locked Inside gave some more insight into Frank's character, which simply doesn't come in The Killer's Cousin.

Marnie's change from the beginning of the book to the end is not as well-evoked as David's, in The Killer's Cousin, but it is still a strong read that features a resourceful, if shortsighted, heroine. Nancy Werlin writes Marnie as well as she did David, which is a nice accomplishment, to be able to evoke both boys and girls successfully.

I thought that Locked Inside by Nancy Werlin was a overall good book. I found that it kept my attention good. I do have to say that it is at sometimes a little boring. In the beginning they spend most the time describing Marnie, who is the main character, I think that this helps to a point but they got a little carried away when they started to go into describing the computer game, and all of Marnie's bad habits. Then in the middle of the book it was really interesting and that kept me wanting to read more, but then again at the end they got into describing to much. I think I would probally recommened this to someone depending on their reading levels.

Of all of Nancy Werlin's books, this one is my favorite one. Marnie and Elf make a really good pair,and Elf teaches Marnie a big lesson, even if that is not what the book is based on. A book you must read. If you like it, you should aslo read The Killer's Cousin.

I thought that Nancy Werlin's book was just okay. It is very hard to get into in the beginning but once you get started it gets a little bit more exciting. But the main charectar, Marnie is not someone who you can like or even fell like you get to know her. The plot is hard to follow and she introduces so many charectars in the beginning that you don't know who's who. TYhe one good thing about this book, though, is that you never know where the plot is going to go next. Basically, if you're looking for a gooed leisure book to read, don't pick this one. The only reason I read it all the way through was because I had to do it for a school project!

Werlin always puts a twist in her stories - just when you think you might have figured it out, she blows you away with the cleverness of the plot. In Locked Inside, a wealthy girl with few authority figures or lessons in trust has to learn some major life. Brainy Marnie has become a loner, finding a niche for herself in the world of Internet gaming, where she can be both anonymous and well known, powerful, and in control.
When she is kidnapped (her mother was famous and left her a lot of money) someone from her gaming community sets out to rescue her. This remains far from a damsel in distress type book. Fast paced with complex issues and detailed characterization, this is a not to miss pyschological thriller. I have to admit, it took second reading to warm up to the character (unlike Werlin's Edgar Award winning masterpiece the Killer's Cousin) but it was a worthwhile read.

Nancy Werlin has surpassed her effort in "The Killers Cousin" with this gripping novel. The character of Marnie is both powerful and fragile - she is strong within her self, but she also feels the need to hide behind a false persona in the world of internet role playing games. The internet and the various activities you can get up to on the internet is a very hot topic. The way that the story twists towards the end is chilling - you are supposed to be able to trust the adults around you, not be afraid that they might be after you.

I loved the way that Werlin managed to draw the two stories together by using a few of the same characters from "Killers Cousin". I had to read this book in one sitting because each chapter lead towards the gripping conclusion. Marnie is someone that leads you into her world and holds you there with a tight grip. This book is chillingly real because there are people out there who talk themselves into believing what they want to - even if there is no way that what they believe can be true.

If you enjoyed the "Killers Cousin" then you can not miss this book because it reaches the same high level - and then some.

Marnie Skyedottir (it's ironically funny when you sound it out, which was Ms. Werlin's intent) has problems. Problems fitting in, problems at her prim and proper school, problems with her mother's death, problems with crazy people who lock other people in basements. And as if it's not enough, she's saddled with helping the gunshot-wounded Elf, an online comrade who came looking for her after her disappearance. Despite the fact that it's mainly a "thriller", this book is also about Marnie's self-discovery and acceptance of who she is and where she comes from; which is always present in the book, but isn't forced, thanks to the capability of the writer.

This book has a lot of good points. It was an interesting read, and I had to keep myself from skipping ahead to see what happened to Marnie and Elf-boy, repeatedly. The online elements of Marnie's life were interesting, her banter with the Elf was fun; the small subplot of Paliopolis were especially good to an internet nut like myself. Marnie's avatar from Paliopolis, the Sorceress, helps her greatly during the course of the story, and I had to stop and wonder what this meant from a psychological standpoint - what else was the author trying to say? Marnie also gets encouragement from what she thinks her deceased mother might say or do in her situation, which plays out on several levels. Her conversations with the Elf in the basement were nothing less than what kept the book going the right way; Elf (we do learn his real name - don't want to spoil it) may have been a 'secondary' character, but he was sometimes more interesting than Marnie herself. Her lockdown with the Elf was probably the best part of the book, closely followed by Marnie's last scenes with Yertle (you'll find out if you read), when I couldn't help but laugh and admire the gusto of both writer and character.

Then there's Ms. Slaight, who locked Marn in the basement to begin with. It's hard to decide if Slaight is purely off her rocker, or looking for love the wrong way (something about that reminds me of Stephen King's MISERY). Slaight, at least, was an interesting villain.

Sometimes the characters were a little two-dimensional, and the fact that Marnie doesn't seem to see what a spoiled pain she can be does irk me, and some things were wrapped up too neatly; handed to Marnie too easily, but when all is said and done it was a real page turner!

Nancy Werlin's Locked Inside (0-385-32700-5, $15.95) is one of the most original tales to appear in some time: a wealthy but spoiled girl is sent to live in an oppressive boarding school after her mother's death, and tries to escape her surroundings via computer games. When she's kidnapped, it may be her ability to play which will make the difference between life and death. Always unexpected and gripping to the end.