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Fear Street #26
Čitačica misli
Sedamnaestogodišnja Ellie oduvijek ima vizije i u mislima može vidjeti skrivene tajne te predvidjeti užase koji će se tek zbiti. Što i nije loše ako su događaji koje predviđa lijepi. Ali jednog će dana, šetajući s psom, u Šumi Straha začuti kako je koščata ruka zaziva iz plitkog groba, a ubrzo zatim i ugledati ruku. Njezine vizije ovaj će je put dovesti do tijela djevojke koja je ubijena prije dvije godine.
Hoće li Ellie uspjeti pronaći ubojicu prije nego što on pronađe nju?
Hoće li Ellie uspjeti pronaći ubojicu prije nego što on pronađe nju?
124 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1994
16 people are currently reading
2305 people want to read
About the author
R.L. Stine
1,680 books18.7k followersRobert Lawrence Stine known as R. L. Stine and Jovial Bob Stine, is an American novelist and writer, well known for targeting younger audiences. Stine, who is often called the Stephen King of children's literature, is the author of dozens of popular horror fiction novellas, including the books in the Goosebumps, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room and Fear Street series.
R. L. Stine began his writing career when he was nine years old, and today he has achieved the position of the bestselling children's author in history. In the early 1990s, Stine was catapulted to fame when he wrote the unprecedented, bestselling Goosebumps® series, which sold more than 250 million copies and became a worldwide multimedia phenomenon. His other major series, Fear Street, has over 80 million copies sold.
Stine has received numerous awards of recognition, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, and he has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the NEA's Read Across America program. He lives in New York, NY.
http://us.macmillan.com/itsthefirstda...
R. L. Stine began his writing career when he was nine years old, and today he has achieved the position of the bestselling children's author in history. In the early 1990s, Stine was catapulted to fame when he wrote the unprecedented, bestselling Goosebumps® series, which sold more than 250 million copies and became a worldwide multimedia phenomenon. His other major series, Fear Street, has over 80 million copies sold.
Stine has received numerous awards of recognition, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, and he has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the NEA's Read Across America program. He lives in New York, NY.
http://us.macmillan.com/itsthefirstda...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
October 17, 2024
Fairly standard fear street entry this one. Low on suspense moments but did have a compelling mystery throughout which kept me engaged. The end reveal was a little on the peculiar side but made sense considering the setup. I would reccomend this, but there are much better books in the series.
Ellie has had a psychic gift since her young childhood. But when a long missing girl's body is found, her visions kick in to overdrive. The spirit of the girl is trying to help solve her death, it is also giving her some worrying images of the new boy in town who she is beginning to fall in love with. Can she piece the visions together and find out who is responsible and who she can trust?
Ellie has had a psychic gift since her young childhood. But when a long missing girl's body is found, her visions kick in to overdrive. The spirit of the girl is trying to help solve her death, it is also giving her some worrying images of the new boy in town who she is beginning to fall in love with. Can she piece the visions together and find out who is responsible and who she can trust?
December 28, 2017
*this was a re-read*
I remember liking this one a lot. It was good but Ellie's vision bothered me. I guess they were triggered by stuff but I would've liked it better if she had them before things were said. I was relieved that FINALLY a girl in a YA book was going to listen to her gut instincts and stay away from the creepy guy that just popped up from nowhere but NO! Ellie freaking goes to FEAR ISLAND with dude! Ugh Ellie! you don't know this guy! Look what happened to everyone in The Overnight when they went there. :p i liked the ending for this one. it wasn't who i thought it would be.
I remember liking this one a lot. It was good but Ellie's vision bothered me. I guess they were triggered by stuff but I would've liked it better if she had them before things were said. I was relieved that FINALLY a girl in a YA book was going to listen to her gut instincts and stay away from the creepy guy that just popped up from nowhere but NO! Ellie freaking goes to FEAR ISLAND with dude! Ugh Ellie! you don't know this guy! Look what happened to everyone in The Overnight when they went there. :p i liked the ending for this one. it wasn't who i thought it would be.
October 14, 2020
Always a guilty pleasure, reading the Fear Street series. This one was really good, I love mind reading, and paranormal storylines.
October 30, 2017
Personal Response
I thought that The Mind Reader was a great book because it was full of mysteries that I could not wait to figure out. The book was full of action and never had a dull moment. The book also had great details and was put together nicely. This was a very unpredictable book because it was never what you expected.
Plot Summary
The Mind Reader is about Ellie Anderson and her special power. Ellie has visions, visions that tell her things. Sometimes her visions are a good thing and other times not so much. Ellie meets Brian Tanner, at this time Ellie does not know Brian also has visions. One day while Ellie was walking her dog, Chaz, they find something in the woods. As Ellie gets closer she realizes it is a body. Ellie takes this information to the police and the police discovery that the body belonged to Lieutenant Wilkins daughter, Melinda. Ellie starts hanging around Brian more and starts having visions about a silver handled knife. Whenever he is around she has these visions. On a picnic Brian takes out the same knife in all of Ellie´s visions. Ellie goes to the the police, and she begins working with them to solve the murder. Everyone is after Brian because they find out information from the past and think he murdered Melinda. Brian´s visions led him to Ellie. As Brian tries to explain everything, Lieutenant Wilkins show up with a gun. He tackles Brian and throws the gun to Sarah, his other daughter. That is when everything is revealed, Lieutenant Wilkins killed his own daughter while Brian was innocent and framed. Sarah shoots her dad in the back and calls cops. Brian and Ellie discussed their visions and figured out all the clues were there, they just had to work together.
Recommendation
I recommend this book to kids who are looking for an easy book but full of action and mysteries. I recommend being at least 12 years old because some parts might be difficult to understand for younger readers. It is another one of R.L. Stine´s great books.
I thought that The Mind Reader was a great book because it was full of mysteries that I could not wait to figure out. The book was full of action and never had a dull moment. The book also had great details and was put together nicely. This was a very unpredictable book because it was never what you expected.
Plot Summary
The Mind Reader is about Ellie Anderson and her special power. Ellie has visions, visions that tell her things. Sometimes her visions are a good thing and other times not so much. Ellie meets Brian Tanner, at this time Ellie does not know Brian also has visions. One day while Ellie was walking her dog, Chaz, they find something in the woods. As Ellie gets closer she realizes it is a body. Ellie takes this information to the police and the police discovery that the body belonged to Lieutenant Wilkins daughter, Melinda. Ellie starts hanging around Brian more and starts having visions about a silver handled knife. Whenever he is around she has these visions. On a picnic Brian takes out the same knife in all of Ellie´s visions. Ellie goes to the the police, and she begins working with them to solve the murder. Everyone is after Brian because they find out information from the past and think he murdered Melinda. Brian´s visions led him to Ellie. As Brian tries to explain everything, Lieutenant Wilkins show up with a gun. He tackles Brian and throws the gun to Sarah, his other daughter. That is when everything is revealed, Lieutenant Wilkins killed his own daughter while Brian was innocent and framed. Sarah shoots her dad in the back and calls cops. Brian and Ellie discussed their visions and figured out all the clues were there, they just had to work together.
Recommendation
I recommend this book to kids who are looking for an easy book but full of action and mysteries. I recommend being at least 12 years old because some parts might be difficult to understand for younger readers. It is another one of R.L. Stine´s great books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 17, 2016
Nije čista petica kao "Kobno ljeto" ili "Vikend u divljini", ali ne može biti ni četvrtica poput "Dragi dnevniče mrtav sam" ili "Zaključna ocjena" :D Nešto između...
January 29, 2021
Nekad sam stvarno uživala u kratkim R.L. Stine romanima. Ni danas nisu loši, da se prekrati vrijeme čekanja u redu, vožnja i sl.
March 14, 2025
I’ve had this book since I was in the 6th grade, I actually “borrowed” it from my friend. But until tonight I never actually read it. I think the cover and synopsis didn’t appeal to me or something. I would probably give it 3.5 stars but alas 4 is okay. It was an average story with a likeable protagonist. With many fear street clichés, like the cliffhanger chapter where the outcome is not scary lol. And the few red herrings all lead to a pretty obvious conclusion.
February 18, 2018
What can I say? The story is superb, although a bit predictable at this age, if you compare how it was written before (back in it's time) to the ones we have up to this day, this one can definitely win a fight.
Maybe I got used to how Point Thriller Authors and R.L. Stine himself write their stuff that it helps me construct the whole story and possible twists while reading, but I can't help it when one stands out.
This will be one of my top R.L. Stine novels.
I enjoyed that it has action, it has drama and it has the goods a teen would want to read in a story.
Usually, I give mystery novels a lower rating if I predicted who the killer is, but even if I already kinda knew who's the killer in this one, I still enjoyed how it all turned out.
Especially the end part, the great reveal about the two of them. It's mushy yet sentimental in a cool way.
One thing not to overlook is the title.
It's not fit to name their skill 'Mindreader'. It's beyond that. It's more of a Clairvoyance kind of thing, but I'm thinking maybe the author wasn't sure at the time what to call it himself.
Maybe I got used to how Point Thriller Authors and R.L. Stine himself write their stuff that it helps me construct the whole story and possible twists while reading, but I can't help it when one stands out.
This will be one of my top R.L. Stine novels.
I enjoyed that it has action, it has drama and it has the goods a teen would want to read in a story.
Usually, I give mystery novels a lower rating if I predicted who the killer is, but even if I already kinda knew who's the killer in this one, I still enjoyed how it all turned out.
Especially the end part, the great reveal about the two of them. It's mushy yet sentimental in a cool way.
One thing not to overlook is the title.
It's not fit to name their skill 'Mindreader'. It's beyond that. It's more of a Clairvoyance kind of thing, but I'm thinking maybe the author wasn't sure at the time what to call it himself.
July 27, 2017
BOOKTUBEATHON DAY 3 (2017): Finish a book in 1 day
WHY OH WHY?
WHY OH WHY?
June 17, 2017
Aarghhhh!! Thats all
August 29, 2018
Fun but quite predictable. The last chapter ruined the ending a bit, in my opinion.
October 30, 2023
3,5/5 ⭐
November 26, 2024
I don't care... I would live in Shadyside and on Fear Street! Sign me up!
January 15, 2022
I really enjoyed this one. Our main character Ellie has a fire in her, she's not dumb and she keeps going. An enjoyable wee mystery
May 31, 2025
This was a very unpredictable book with good fast paced paranormal murder mystery!
I enjoyed the characters, the writing, in the middle of the story I expected the plot but it was fake and that is what I liked and made me more intrigued, there are two plot twists in the ending, I didn't expect any of them and they left me really surprised!
The book has minor lapses and isn't flawless, but I can't deny some scary moments in the book, it's not classified as horror. It's a mysterious crime with elements of supernatural power.
***************************************************************
Verdict
(7.3/10)
I enjoyed the characters, the writing, in the middle of the story I expected the plot but it was fake and that is what I liked and made me more intrigued, there are two plot twists in the ending, I didn't expect any of them and they left me really surprised!
The book has minor lapses and isn't flawless, but I can't deny some scary moments in the book, it's not classified as horror. It's a mysterious crime with elements of supernatural power.
***************************************************************
Verdict
(7.3/10)
December 13, 2009
Scariest book I've read in this last year. You'll never know when you are going to find out the true killer. Are Elli's vision's only playing a trick on her. When her visions gives her clues about who the true killer really is. When one of her visions show's her, that her boyfriend might be the killer. She has to decide if to believe the police or her boyfriend. I recommend this book to people who like to read about mistery and suspension.
February 23, 2018
The Pros: It felt like an episode of MEDIUM and I was totally here for that!
The Cons: It once again promotes the idea that creepy boys who have no boundaries are perfectly suitable romantic partners.
The Cons: It once again promotes the idea that creepy boys who have no boundaries are perfectly suitable romantic partners.
January 17, 2017
Another fun Fear Street re-read!
The title annoys me, though - uh, Ellie can't read minds. She has visions, so if anything she is a psychic, not a mind reader.
The title annoys me, though - uh, Ellie can't read minds. She has visions, so if anything she is a psychic, not a mind reader.
June 4, 2017
I loved the fear street books when I was younger I hope a whole new generation falls in love with them now ... :)
March 30, 2025
I believed I'd be reading a better story - OK, so a character has ESP or visions, and this may make a great story. Unfortunately, it was predictable in a way that obviously some characters turn out not to be as expected.
So a lot of the times she ends up freaking out about something, then finding out it was just a "vision" - well if she's so used to that, why does she end up getting scared every time? And what was the whole deal about her mother getting killed? I thought the backstory to that was supposed to important to the plot - but it wasn't. It didn't even fully explain what actually happened back then.
And it was so obvious that the other character has some sort of ESP too. Even Ellie should have figured that out, being a vision-seer herself. But why was this even called "The Mind Reader"? It made it feel as if they actually read minds, but they weren't psychic in that way. It should have been called "Visions", or even "The Knife" - but the latter has already been taken as a Fear Street book.
I just thought that this one had a lot of plotholes, and it wasn't really to my liking. It did start off great, though.
So a lot of the times she ends up freaking out about something, then finding out it was just a "vision" - well if she's so used to that, why does she end up getting scared every time? And what was the whole deal about her mother getting killed? I thought the backstory to that was supposed to important to the plot - but it wasn't. It didn't even fully explain what actually happened back then.
And it was so obvious that the other character has some sort of ESP too. Even Ellie should have figured that out, being a vision-seer herself. But why was this even called "The Mind Reader"? It made it feel as if they actually read minds, but they weren't psychic in that way. It should have been called "Visions", or even "The Knife" - but the latter has already been taken as a Fear Street book.
I just thought that this one had a lot of plotholes, and it wasn't really to my liking. It did start off great, though.
June 2, 2020
R. L. Stine is probably one of the best YA authors for his time. He gives just enough romance and just enough action to get the attention of boys and girls alike. This story follows Ellie, a girl who moved back to her home town, and her mind reading powers. While it isn't mind reading per se, she does have a knack for having random visions of the past and future, which is frustrating when you don't know if what she saw will happen or already happened. There were a couple plot holes, but R. L. Stine seemed to read my mind because he wrapped them up in the end with a couple sentences.
I don't know how realistic it is for me to see a girl go on a date with a guy she barely met (a date as in canoeing to an island by themselves, stranger danger! Go in groups first!). I don't know how people stayed alive without cell phones for emergencies or pepper spray in a purse. Other than that, it felt like I was in high school again, finding dead bodies like usual, lol not really.
I don't know how realistic it is for me to see a girl go on a date with a guy she barely met (a date as in canoeing to an island by themselves, stranger danger! Go in groups first!). I don't know how people stayed alive without cell phones for emergencies or pepper spray in a purse. Other than that, it felt like I was in high school again, finding dead bodies like usual, lol not really.
October 7, 2024
Another great Fear Street book. I love reading my Fear Street and Point Horror books this time of year, and this one was one of my last 4 left I haven't read yet. The synopsis didn't really sound like it would be one of my favorites, but it actually ended up being really good. Of course it follows Stine's very typical writing style where everything is pretty straight to the point and not a whole lot of extra. But he also tends to end many chapters on massive cliffhangers, just to have the start of the next chapter be almost nothing. "And then he started stabbing!"......"The pencil into the paper." I had somewhat had the actual person who did it figured out, but I didn't really see all of it. Regardless, it was a great read and I enjoyed seeing the story unfold.
July 17, 2017
Re-read. Mind Reader isn't exactly accurate, Ellie has visions like her mother used to before she was murdered. Ellie's having strange visions about the new boy in Shadyside and even uncovers a body from a two year cold missing person case. Although this entry into the Fear Street series is low on horror, it packs high suspense and thrills. The technology was a bit dated for today's readers, but the story itself more than intriguing. With multiple suspects and varying bits of evidence, this one surprised me...even at the second reading.
October 20, 2020
This 26th trip to Shadyside once again takes us on a supernatural ride. Communicating with the dead, red herrings, and a good twist ending make this seem like it could easily be adapted into an adult novel or movie. Stine steps it up as we follow Ellie and her pesky gift of visions which lead her into solving one of Shadyside’s many murders. I really enjoyed this one and although I had an inkling about the twist at the end, it was still welcome for the series. Can we get an Ellie spin off as she uses her visions to solve crimes? Stine? Bueller?
April 6, 2021
4 stars for the history.
3 stars for this reading.
This was one of my favorite books in jr. High and high school. The romance, the mystery and VISIONS! Does it get any better? For YA, and my 14 year old R.L. Stine/V.C. Andrews lovin' self, no not really. For my 35+ year old self, still entertaining in its own right looking back at it through my teenage eyes but kind of vapid. Relationships and personalities are not deep or well fleshed out. Interesting premise. Interesting mystery. Guilty pleasure two hour read goodness.
3 stars for this reading.
This was one of my favorite books in jr. High and high school. The romance, the mystery and VISIONS! Does it get any better? For YA, and my 14 year old R.L. Stine/V.C. Andrews lovin' self, no not really. For my 35+ year old self, still entertaining in its own right looking back at it through my teenage eyes but kind of vapid. Relationships and personalities are not deep or well fleshed out. Interesting premise. Interesting mystery. Guilty pleasure two hour read goodness.
October 18, 2022
While walking in the woods, Ellie Anderson has a premonition that she is near a shallow grave. When the police arrive to investigate, they unearth a young girl’s skeleton, and only Ellie’s visions can lead them to the killer.
Not as scary as some of the other books in the series and the family tragedies, and their resulting traumas, are actually pretty sad. Oh, but one of the characters wears a Chicago Cubs hat. Sure he might be the killer, but kudos to him for supporting the team in 1994, during a very rough season!
Not as scary as some of the other books in the series and the family tragedies, and their resulting traumas, are actually pretty sad. Oh, but one of the characters wears a Chicago Cubs hat. Sure he might be the killer, but kudos to him for supporting the team in 1994, during a very rough season!
April 4, 2019
Als Teenagerin habe ich das Buch zum ersten Mal gelesen, jetzt mit 31 nochmal aus Nostalgie. Ich habe diese buch als ein Besonderes in Erinnerung, weil ich beim ersten lesen vor Anspannung bemerkt habe, dass ich mit den Ohren wackeln kann :D Auch diesmal habe ich es wieder an einem Tag verschlungen, es ist eines der besten aus der Fear Street Serie, finde ich. Diese Bücher sind immernoch empfehlenswert!
February 24, 2024
I have a story to share. This has not been told yet. We have a psychic on Fear Street. This therefore means we should settle down and begin
It starts with
Being led to a dead body
Having a feeling that you are being drowned
Having feeling being buried alive
Then
Secrets being revealed involving a murder which you can see
Always feeling uneasy around a guy you like
Someone is trying to tell you something
Are you ready to find out?
It starts with
Being led to a dead body
Having a feeling that you are being drowned
Having feeling being buried alive
Then
Secrets being revealed involving a murder which you can see
Always feeling uneasy around a guy you like
Someone is trying to tell you something
Are you ready to find out?
May 19, 2024
"Hi Sarah." Ellie Anderson greeted her best friend and slid onto a stool at the counter of Alma's Coffee Shop.
The Sarah in question is Sarah Wilkins and they engage in the normal girl talk, making fun of the jocks and their girlfriends who are her only customers in the burger joint (coffee shop but caters to high school kids...I'm calling it a burger joint.) The two girls are best buds with single dads and Ellie and her father have only recently moved back into Shadyside for Ellie's senior year. Ellie was born in Shadyside but her father left town with her when she was a toddler but is finally back in good old Shadyside thanks to his sales job and Sarah is the only friend Ellie has connected with.
A good-looking guy then enters the place and sits behind Ellie, staring at her with his dark eyes, and even though Ellie is drawn to him, Sarah goes to get his order and do a little flirting. Ellie is shocked that Sarah got his name: Brian Tanner and even though Ellie is shy this time...it's different.
She literally bolts out the doors but it isn't embarrassment it's almost...straight up fear.
Ellie returns home and takes her black Lab (oh no...doggies in these books sometimes don't have good odds!) named Chaz out for a walk where he chases a squirrel to drag her towards the infamous Fear Street woods...but her mind keeps turning back to Brian. Ellie knows she shouldn't be thinking about a boyfriend after she broke up with her boyfriend Tommy last year...it was complicated. Ellie confronted Tommy and her best friend Janine about kissing behind her back all because...she saw it...in a vision.
Yep, Ellie is a psychic.
As a kid, she could have fun with it until the day she saw her dog Jake get hit by a car in one of her visions (see what I mean about dogs in these books?) and then tried not to have them but when she gets around people she can see things and get feelings.
So it becomes no walk in the park when Chaz finds a bone...a human bone and leads Ellie to where the remains of a human hand are rising out of the ground where her dog has been digging.
Stopping a car filled with the same jocks Sarah and Ellie were innocently mocking, they take her to the police station to report the discovery and the main police officer in charge is Sarah's father, Lieutenant Wilkins, who doesn't treat Ellie like she is crazy.
Heading back to the woods, the rest of the body is discovered which pulls in a crowd to watch...Brian Tanner among them as well as Sarah. Brian soon disappears and when a swatch of red fabric is found, Sarah faints. The next day at school, Sarah isn't there and Ellie learns that her friend had an older sister, Melinda, who went missing wearing a red sweatshirt.
Ellie tries contacting her at home but the phone keeps ringing and while at the library working, Ellie runs into Brian looking for a book on weapons. They flirt but when Ellie gets a vision of a bloody knife, she runs off and Brian calls after her...by name which she had yet to tell him.
Heading to Sarah's job to see if she is there, Ellie runs into Brian again to flirt until Sarah's dad shows up to tell the owner that Sarah is going to miss work for a while staying with her aunt and he leaves without a word. Ellie soon has to tell her dad that she found the body in the woods once it makes the paper and Mr. Anderson is not happy.
In his anger, he lets it slip that Ellie's mother was killed when she was little and the vision of the bloody knife comes back to haunt her. At her job, Ellie checks the microfiche (so 90s and old school before the Internet) and finds out that her mother was stabbed to death and she was the only witness sitting in her stroller.
All of this with the body and finding out about her mother's murder leaves Ellie on edge and soon, she finds that Sarah is still at home completely devastated because it was her sister Melinda's body found in the woods.
Her father lied about the non-existent aunt and has gone completely gung-ho in trying to find Melinda's old boyfriend, Brett Hawkins, believing he might have murdered his daughter. Sarah is being neglected by this discovery and Ellie tries her best to comfort her friend but finds Brian taking an interest in her to fill the void.
Brian asks her out to a canoe date on Fear Lake to Fear Island along with Chaz and the two of them share a kiss (so romantic!) Things start turning less romantic when Brian pulls out a knife from their picnic basket to slice her an apple and the knife is the same one Ellie has been seeing in her visions!
It freaks her out and once they leave, Ellie falls into the lake, Brian jumps in to save her, accidentally almost pulls her down grabbing her leg as he almost drowns and then Brian mutters the name Melinda while unconscious when Ellie kisses his cheek!
How does Brian know the deceased Melinda Wilkins? Why is Ellie all of a sudden having her visions again? Why is she seeing such horrible things?
The Mind Reader is a pretty good Fear Street novel. It is more a murder mystery-thriller than straight up horror but the paranormal visions of our protagonist Ellie bring in those horror elements. Some of the plot is easy to figure out, what all the character connections and motives are but with a couple of really good twists.
The Sarah in question is Sarah Wilkins and they engage in the normal girl talk, making fun of the jocks and their girlfriends who are her only customers in the burger joint (coffee shop but caters to high school kids...I'm calling it a burger joint.) The two girls are best buds with single dads and Ellie and her father have only recently moved back into Shadyside for Ellie's senior year. Ellie was born in Shadyside but her father left town with her when she was a toddler but is finally back in good old Shadyside thanks to his sales job and Sarah is the only friend Ellie has connected with.
A good-looking guy then enters the place and sits behind Ellie, staring at her with his dark eyes, and even though Ellie is drawn to him, Sarah goes to get his order and do a little flirting. Ellie is shocked that Sarah got his name: Brian Tanner and even though Ellie is shy this time...it's different.
She literally bolts out the doors but it isn't embarrassment it's almost...straight up fear.
Ellie returns home and takes her black Lab (oh no...doggies in these books sometimes don't have good odds!) named Chaz out for a walk where he chases a squirrel to drag her towards the infamous Fear Street woods...but her mind keeps turning back to Brian. Ellie knows she shouldn't be thinking about a boyfriend after she broke up with her boyfriend Tommy last year...it was complicated. Ellie confronted Tommy and her best friend Janine about kissing behind her back all because...she saw it...in a vision.
Yep, Ellie is a psychic.
As a kid, she could have fun with it until the day she saw her dog Jake get hit by a car in one of her visions (see what I mean about dogs in these books?) and then tried not to have them but when she gets around people she can see things and get feelings.
So it becomes no walk in the park when Chaz finds a bone...a human bone and leads Ellie to where the remains of a human hand are rising out of the ground where her dog has been digging.
Stopping a car filled with the same jocks Sarah and Ellie were innocently mocking, they take her to the police station to report the discovery and the main police officer in charge is Sarah's father, Lieutenant Wilkins, who doesn't treat Ellie like she is crazy.
Heading back to the woods, the rest of the body is discovered which pulls in a crowd to watch...Brian Tanner among them as well as Sarah. Brian soon disappears and when a swatch of red fabric is found, Sarah faints. The next day at school, Sarah isn't there and Ellie learns that her friend had an older sister, Melinda, who went missing wearing a red sweatshirt.
Ellie tries contacting her at home but the phone keeps ringing and while at the library working, Ellie runs into Brian looking for a book on weapons. They flirt but when Ellie gets a vision of a bloody knife, she runs off and Brian calls after her...by name which she had yet to tell him.
Heading to Sarah's job to see if she is there, Ellie runs into Brian again to flirt until Sarah's dad shows up to tell the owner that Sarah is going to miss work for a while staying with her aunt and he leaves without a word. Ellie soon has to tell her dad that she found the body in the woods once it makes the paper and Mr. Anderson is not happy.
In his anger, he lets it slip that Ellie's mother was killed when she was little and the vision of the bloody knife comes back to haunt her. At her job, Ellie checks the microfiche (so 90s and old school before the Internet) and finds out that her mother was stabbed to death and she was the only witness sitting in her stroller.
All of this with the body and finding out about her mother's murder leaves Ellie on edge and soon, she finds that Sarah is still at home completely devastated because it was her sister Melinda's body found in the woods.
Her father lied about the non-existent aunt and has gone completely gung-ho in trying to find Melinda's old boyfriend, Brett Hawkins, believing he might have murdered his daughter. Sarah is being neglected by this discovery and Ellie tries her best to comfort her friend but finds Brian taking an interest in her to fill the void.
Brian asks her out to a canoe date on Fear Lake to Fear Island along with Chaz and the two of them share a kiss (so romantic!) Things start turning less romantic when Brian pulls out a knife from their picnic basket to slice her an apple and the knife is the same one Ellie has been seeing in her visions!
It freaks her out and once they leave, Ellie falls into the lake, Brian jumps in to save her, accidentally almost pulls her down grabbing her leg as he almost drowns and then Brian mutters the name Melinda while unconscious when Ellie kisses his cheek!
How does Brian know the deceased Melinda Wilkins? Why is Ellie all of a sudden having her visions again? Why is she seeing such horrible things?
The Mind Reader is a pretty good Fear Street novel. It is more a murder mystery-thriller than straight up horror but the paranormal visions of our protagonist Ellie bring in those horror elements. Some of the plot is easy to figure out, what all the character connections and motives are but with a couple of really good twists.
September 18, 2021
This is one of my favorite Fear Street books. Ellie, as a main character, has a good head on her shoulders and it really feels like she's solving this mystery. On topic of the mystery, I really enjoyed it. There were just enough twists to keep you guessing, but not so many that it just seems ridiculous. Very satisfying ending!
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