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Mindwarp #3
Alien Scream
Ignoring the anonymous note he receives on his thirteenth birthday that warns him his life is in danger, Jack Raynes is astonished when he suddenly develops the ability to speak several languages and overhears a plot for his own murder. Original.
144 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 17, 2025
As a Sci-Fi lover, a kids horror twist on that genre for a whole series sounds like heaven. I can already tell this series will be heat. Before I dive in, I quickly wanna bring up that this is a series with an overarching story; I will now be reading these in order, going forth with book one (whenever I get my hands on it). However this one was light on the spoilers for the prior books, so it’s fine reading it on its own. Anywho… Chris Archer is a great writer, and his style is insanely good. My compliments to the chef. The story is fun and thrilling, whilst keeping a nice, more relaxed pace. The concept is unique and kept me hooked, the final few chapters were great, and the characters were all really good, Thad being a highlight. Best step-dad ever lmao. This book is a blatant good time and didn’t hone in on the scares as much as I expected, however the spooky stuff we got was great (I.e. a scene in the hospital later on). All in all, I really enjoyed this one—with a quick little critique. I didn’t exactly extract much of a climax with this one, which is bizarre. I’m acutely aware this story is a chunk of a larger one, however episodic series usually have a certain point in each entry that can be defined as a climax. This one had that, but it was brief and a bit abrupt, even if dope. Overall, 9.5/10. Definitely gonna be picking these up in the future, of course in order next time. More like Alien Talk lol.
May 12, 2024
Easily the best entry so far in my reread of this 90s middle-grade sci-fi series. The formula is pretty firmly established by this point -- a kid in the small Wisconsin town turns 13, develops strange powers, and winds up getting attacked by a shapeshifting alien assassin -- but the teens have such different abilities and personalities that it hasn't grown repetitive just yet. Our latest protagonist is a laid-back class clown who suddenly gains the ability to speak / sign every language fluently, and while that may not seem useful in a fight, by the end of this novel he's learned he can also understand and command swarming insects like termites and ants and send faxes over the phone with only his voice. (Look, it was more impressive back when this was written, okay?)
What really elevates this volume above its predecessors is the stronger characterization, the fun of seeing both previous heroes from a new perspective, and the ensuing crossover / team-up vibes, although for now the group is simply sharing notes on their respective experiences and trying to decipher the sinister conspiracy against them, not actually joining together in combat. I also appreciate author Chris Archer's deft hand at writing a teenage crush that's obviously mutual -- to this adult reader, at least -- while keeping the first-person POV narrator oblivious and sweetly worried about embarrassing himself.
(Newsflash, Jack: she stopped by your table to wish you a happy birthday, walked you to the nurse's office after you hit your head, and called your house later to check up on you. I know you feel like you can't trust anyone, and that the version of her you saw near the end of the book was in fact an imposter who knocked you out and strapped you to a bomb, but I do think that the real girl might prove receptive if you ever worked up the courage to ask her out.)
Great genre silliness, carried off well. I remember very little of how the story goes on from here, but I'm totally on-board after this installment.
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What really elevates this volume above its predecessors is the stronger characterization, the fun of seeing both previous heroes from a new perspective, and the ensuing crossover / team-up vibes, although for now the group is simply sharing notes on their respective experiences and trying to decipher the sinister conspiracy against them, not actually joining together in combat. I also appreciate author Chris Archer's deft hand at writing a teenage crush that's obviously mutual -- to this adult reader, at least -- while keeping the first-person POV narrator oblivious and sweetly worried about embarrassing himself.
(Newsflash, Jack: she stopped by your table to wish you a happy birthday, walked you to the nurse's office after you hit your head, and called your house later to check up on you. I know you feel like you can't trust anyone, and that the version of her you saw near the end of the book was in fact an imposter who knocked you out and strapped you to a bomb, but I do think that the real girl might prove receptive if you ever worked up the courage to ask her out.)
Great genre silliness, carried off well. I remember very little of how the story goes on from here, but I'm totally on-board after this installment.
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6...
--Or click here to browse through all my reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
June 15, 2020
I ant man one of these books, this was a solid 4/5. The ending was a bit 😬 and Elena is part of theme toooo, I lowkey loved this book I cannot even lie, esp when “Jennie” turned into one next tall thin man with a bulbous head and was looking at him through the window - madders. I want more of this series
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 19, 2014
Jack Raynes is the class clown: doesn't care much about school or anything else serious, for that matter. When he turns thirteen, languages start to make a lot more sense to him. All kinds of languages. Stuff he never studied and has no reasonable way of knowing. It might be related to the concussion Drew gave him with a baseball, but that doesn't explain the fact that something else is trying to kill him...
Jack is unable to keep himself from insulting people, and between that and his quirky outlook on life, the book is packed with laughs. Although a lot of people find Jack untrustworthy, he doesn't exactly trust Ethan and Ashley when they try to warn him his life is in danger. After all, Ethan was just involved in taking down two armed villains, and Ashley set the principle's office on fire: they don't exactly strike Jack as completely sane. But they're right about weird things happening. And it doesn't take him long to realize he needs them if he wants to get out of this alive.
Another fast read, bringing more of the pieces together of the larger mystery. Who are they? What happened to their parents? Who is trying to kill them, and why are they trying so hard? Hints slip in, here and there, but the whole picture is still undefined.
I could wish Ethan and Ashley got a bit more time to show up, but it's also easy to see why Jack doesn't want to hang around them a lot. They have gotten a bit of a reputation over the last few weeks. It's nice to get so many different perspectives of the same events.
Overall this is a good followup to the previous two volumes. Jack's offbeat humor made this the funniest book so far, and it'll be interesting to see where the story goes from here. I rate this book Recommended.
Jack is unable to keep himself from insulting people, and between that and his quirky outlook on life, the book is packed with laughs. Although a lot of people find Jack untrustworthy, he doesn't exactly trust Ethan and Ashley when they try to warn him his life is in danger. After all, Ethan was just involved in taking down two armed villains, and Ashley set the principle's office on fire: they don't exactly strike Jack as completely sane. But they're right about weird things happening. And it doesn't take him long to realize he needs them if he wants to get out of this alive.
Another fast read, bringing more of the pieces together of the larger mystery. Who are they? What happened to their parents? Who is trying to kill them, and why are they trying so hard? Hints slip in, here and there, but the whole picture is still undefined.
I could wish Ethan and Ashley got a bit more time to show up, but it's also easy to see why Jack doesn't want to hang around them a lot. They have gotten a bit of a reputation over the last few weeks. It's nice to get so many different perspectives of the same events.
Overall this is a good followup to the previous two volumes. Jack's offbeat humor made this the funniest book so far, and it'll be interesting to see where the story goes from here. I rate this book Recommended.
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April 9, 2010JSF ARC
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews