They Never Came Home

This book was written in 1969 and if you can get past the sexism and anti-drug preachiness what you have left is a pretty solid and enjoyable thriller.

This book was written in 1969 and if you can get past the sexism and anti-drug preachiness what you have left is a pretty solid and enjoyable thriller.

I am calling this a "coming of age" book because it deals with teens in high school or just graduating learning some hard lessons about life. When two teen boys go missing, the sister of one of them decides she is going to try to find them. It's a somewhat twisty story with a relatively bland ending. The bad guy gets his and the good guy gets to continue on with his life.

After I started reading this edition, I learned that it had been updated to include more modern references such as cell phones and the internet. However, the changes could have been skipped because they were not significant enough details to make the story unrelatable, especially since everyone seemed to have a landline phone in their house.

I also learned that this show more author wrote I Know What You Did Last Summer. I may have to pick that one up at some point to see if it is better than this book.

All in all this was a quick read to fill time. show less

Dan and Larry go on a weekend camping trip and do not return home as expected. A search is organized, but is called off after several days. Was the disappearance planned or have they fallen in harm's way?

This book kept me on the edge of my seat with suspense. Duncan's vivid descriptions of the events and landscape made this story come alive. The topics of betrayal and trust often attract teen readers who choose this book from my classroom library.

Awards and Honors: none

It took me forever to keep going back to this short book - usually I devour a Lois Duncan in one to two sittings, but this plot was pretty lame and predictable. Also boring :/