Locked Inside

By Nancy Werlin

Marnie is tremendously wealthy and tremendously alone. The 16-year-old daughter of a superstar who was killed years ago in a plane crash, Marnie refuses to take part in her oppressive boarding-school community. And she has no interest in living with her guardian, a well-meaning but stiff man named Max. She would rather burrow away in the dark, comforting world of her favorite Internet adventure game. Especially now that she has started chatting online with one of the other players, an intriguing rogue who calls himself the Elf.

But closing herself off from the people around her doesn’t mean she’s safe, as Marnie soon discovers. Kidnapped and locked inside an empty basement cell, Marnie is forced to confront painful truths about herself and her famous mother as she desperately tries to escape her jailer. Oh, how little her cyber-adventure game has prepared her for this real-life dungeon!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Feb 19, 2009
• ISBN: 9781101576960

Nancy Werlin

NANCY WERLIN was born in Massachusetts, where she still lives. In writing for teenagers, she always strives to combine the emotional intensity of a coming-of-age story with the page-turning tension of a suspense thriller. Nancy’s books have won numerous awards and accolades, including the Edgar award for The Killer’s Cousin, which was also named one of the “100 Best of the Best for the 21st Century” by the American Library Association. Her most recent book, The Rules of Survival, was a National Book Award Finalist. Visit her web site at www.nancywerlin.com

Reviews for Locked Inside

[fromthecomfychair · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Nancy Werlin's books are always well written and often suspenseful. This was not one of my favorites, because the book went on quite a few chapters after the high point in the action. It began to feel repetitive. Still, the first 3/4 of the book held my attention. Still, I couldn't quite figure out why this young woman of wealth and celebrity was so angry at the world. Given her anger, however, her interactions were realistic.

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's a little heavy-handed so I can't give it the full 4 stars.  But it's engaging, and the themes of self-identity, of forging one's own identity while still yearning for a family's love, are relevant to teens now just as much as they were then.  The online game & community doesn't feel dated.  The characters are believable.  I love that they're complex, and that Marnie isn't the only one who grows.  Werlin even included some comic relief, which is not only necessary to me as a reader who cannot stand unrelenting dreariness, but also necessary to Truth.  Definitely recommended to fans of realistic YA.

Btw, to be clear, it is much more than a mystery-thriller.  If you want a simple straightforward genre read, look elsewhere.

[mirandalg14 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good story about opening up and letting others in.

[ldelprete_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Let me start by saying that I thought "Impossible" was much better than this, but overall it was ok. I found Marnie to be quite annoying at times and thought often that she was an unrealistic character. The fact that her inner thoughts took on the persona of her online character was weird. The basic idea of gaming for hours was fine but the fact that she took her characcter into her real life was a little immature and a little crazy too. her relationship with the "elf" was unbelievable. I hated how she resisted him in any type of relationship even when they were trapped and thought they would die. You would think that an event like that would force you to change your outlook. But with that said, I guess that was also the point of the story, that Marnie was unable to engage anyone no matter what and how she eventually allowed herself to open up to people. Overall The beginning and the end of the book made up for the middle, which lacked realism, and for the most part it held my attention.

[slightlyfan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book's little bits of humor. I swear Marnie cracked me up when she would start rhyming.I thought this book was really creative. When I read this book, I was spending a lot of time on line, much like how Marnie was. I also liked how Max, who was in Killer's Cousin by Nancy Werlin, makes an appearence. I nearly fell off my chair when he came into the story.Nancy Werlin really created a new world for her characters. She has a real touch for creating something real for these fictional characters.