In Lockdown by Laurie R King the author tells the story of school shooting in a middle school in California. The school has suffered from low expectations and achievements from its pupils in the past but a new headteacher is determined to change that and she has created a Careers Day to help the young people see what they can achieve. It’s a day when the school will be on show and there will be visitors from the community on site to talk about their jobs. It’s a day which might change some lives. It’s a day which someone wants to use for revenge.
The author tells this story piecemeal by having us see the build-up to the day through the eyes of the headteacher, her partner, the janitor, several students and a police officer who will be presenting on the day. Each of them has a history and some of them have enemies and the book tells us about those from their viewpoint whilst moving on slowly to the big confrontation. It becomes obvious to the reader that how events play out is very dependent on the character and experiences of each of these people – had the people been different then the events would have been different.
The story takes most of the book to get to the climax which I liked because I enjoyed the glimpses we got into the worlds of the characters. Others may not like the slow pace or the changing viewpoints, with some flashbacks, but I enjoyed this way of telling the story. I thought that the plotting was clever and that the book built to a very satisfactory climax. I would have liked the author to tie up a few more loose ends as the book finishes but as I have wished that before when reading some of her novels (see this review from earlier in 2023, for example) I think that I must just accept that it is her style.
This is suspense writing at its best. It’s very well done and the whole book is very enjoyable.
Anne Is Reading 