[Ransom is a] dramatic story of a kidnapping, suspenseful despite the fact that the number of characters, character sketches, and sub-plots crowds the background; the plot is less emphatic than it would be in a setting more sparse. Three criminals seclude the kidnapped young people in a mountain cabin, having shanghaied the school bus. Each of the five has his own problem; each reacts to the tension of the situation, and there are some interesting interactions among the five.

Zena Sutherland, in her review of "Ransom," in Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (reprinted by permission of The University of Chicago Press; copyright 1967 by The University of Chicago), Vol. 20, No. 7, March, 1967, p. 107.