LOIS DUNCAN - LOCKED IN TIME

LOIS DUNCAN

LOCKED IN TIME

Characters:                   Nore

her father

her stepmother Lisette

her stepbrother Gabe

her stepsister Josie

her friend Dave

The story takes place in New Orleans. Nore visits her father and his new wife Lisette and her children. She feels very sad because her mother has died only one year before and she finds it very unfair that her father has married again.

When she arrives at Shadow Grove, Lisette's house, she is shocked that there is only wilderness around the whole estate. Lisette, the 17-year-old Gabe, and the 13-year-old Josie turn out to be very nice. They welcome her in a most friendly way and offer her a place in their family. But Nore is still too disappointed about her father to be able to accept this offer.

Only a short time later she is convinced that there must be something strange in this family. Lisette is so unbelievably young, Josie is so desperate that she is only thirteen,.

One day Nore meets Dave, a young man from a neighbouring village. He is very nice and he asks her for a date. But she refuses because she knows that her stepsister Josie has fallen in love with him.

At night she has a frightening dream: she sees her mother, who warns her that Lisette wants to kill her and her dad. And it is only one day later that on a little boating trip her stepbrother Gabe actually tries to kill her. Nore panics.

The situation begins to get out of control when Nore finds out that Lisette has had six other husbands before. And the strange thing is that she has been married with each of them for about twenty years. She should have to be an old woman by now, but she is still young.

I'm sorry but I must not disclose the end of the story.

I like this book. It is very exciting and the end is really surprising. I like Nor and her friend Gabe. Sure, the novel is totally unrealistic, but nevertheless when you read it you believe everything. The only disadvantage is that I found it difficult to read. On the other hand the story is full of twists and little shock effects so that you can understand all of it.