Ransom (Duncan novel): Difference between revisions

1966 novel by Lois Duncan

Ransom (reprinted under the title Five Were Missing)^[1] is a 1966 thriller novel by Lois Duncan.^[2][3] Its plot follows a group of children who are kidnapped and held hostage on a school bus. It marked Duncan’s first foray into the suspense and thriller genre, and was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award.^[4]

Marianne Paget, Bruce Kirtland, Glenn Kirtland, Jesse French, and Dexter Barton, students in Albuquerque, New Mexico, are abducted on their school bus by a gang of kidnappers. The criminals demand $15,000 ransoms for each child, which their respective parents scramble to produce. Meanwhile, the five high schoolers attempt to find a way to escape the situation themselves. The high schoolers are forced to work together to escape, and while doing so, some relationships are created, while others are destroyed.

Held for Ransom was written and directed by Lee Stanley and Nickolas Perry. Production began in 1999 and was filmed over a period of 3 weeks, releasing November 14, 2000.^[5]