Mind-Call

Mind-Call #1

by Wilanne Schneider Belden

Tallie had dreamed about the earthquake, and what she would do, so many times that when it actually happened she was not surprised. Making her way in her sailboat with her cat and an abandoned infant she had mysteriously been drawn to, she found another call pulling her in a particular direction. The place was a hidden fortress; the caller was a madman with mental powers like Tallie's own.

One by one, children followed the summons to the fortress, but they were far from being the slaves their "captor" believed them. Tallie and her new friends must learn to use their strange powers to defend themselves against the evils within the fortress and the ones approaching from outside.

Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal

246 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[DeAnna · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED this book as a kid. Apparently lots of other people did too, since the cheapest copy I can find on line is $45!!!

[Shanshad Whelan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first of three loosely connected books in the Mind-Call trilogy, this is the oddest and hardest to find of the three. It's also a fascinating read that really deserves more attention than it has received.

Since there's no decent synopsis, here's mine: Tallie has dreamed for months of the upcoming earthquake and what will happen in the days to follow. She knows she will be abandoned. That she will wake up alone and be compelled to journey to a strange house she's never seen. She knows that somewhere in that house is a person who first put out the call and that she'll have to deal with him.

Our pragmatic heroine prepares for the day and accepts the situation calmly, escaping the disaster in her cousin's boat and journeying with her cat, Pandora. Together the two discover a baby who share's their special mental gifts. When they arrive at the strange house in the mountains, other children begin to gather--all of them with special gifts like Tallie's. The master of this house has been calling out to those with the gift, he is crazy, powerful and determined to use the children in his own mad schemes. It's only with Tallie's help that the they'll be able to stand against him!

I have a real love of this book. Great characters and a supenseful storyline with plenty of added details about Tallie's survival and planning. It's not the usual sort of story, to be sure--but that's what makes it so brilliant. The cover is admittedly awful and the book itself difficult to get, but I happily own a copy and enjoy rereading it to this day.

[Erin]

Creepy telepath book series of my childhood, I will find you!

[Marsha Valance · Rating 4 out of 5]

After an earthquake and tsunami devastate California, a young girl and a baby fight for survival.

[M—]

First in trilogy according to link.

Mind-Call (Book 1)
Mind-Find (Book 2)
Mind-Hold (Book 3)

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cannot remember how I came across this book, or why I picked it up, but wow: I do not like it - or think it's anything approaching well done - at all.