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License to kill…

Stepsisters Regina and Lauren are thrilled—they’ve got their own wheels! And this sexy Cataluna is one hot car!

Too hot. Because inside the Cataluna the curse of Bad Luck Catherine lives on. And while Catherine is hunted in her own time, Regina and Lauren will be haunted in theirs. Because in this car, evil is always in the driver’s seat.

150 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1995

3 people are currently reading
1002 people want to read

About the author

R.L. Stine

1,679 books18.7k followers
Robert 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.

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5 stars
233 (29%)
4 stars
219 (28%)
3 stars
242 (31%)
2 stars
73 (9%)
1 star
10 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
Profile Image for Courtney Gruenholz.
Author 13 books24 followers
December 7, 2023
Still keeping my five star rating and since this is the second part of a trilogy series...expect spoilers.

In 1698, a colonial village was plagued with bad luck where the crops and farm animals were dying and everyone knew who was behind it. Catherine Hatchett, Bad Luck Catherine, the teenage girl with the red crescent moon marked upon her temple.

They were ready to banish her and she thought her parents and handsome Joseph Parker, who claimed to care for her, would speak on her behalf. Yet Joseph only toyed with her heart and those she knew as her mother and father admitted before all the town that she was not their child by blood.

Betrayed, Catherine turned to Gwendolyn Parrish, the old woman and only person who ever showed Catherine true kindness. It is where she learned that the old woman was her true birth mother who thought she would have a better life with the Hatchett family after their birth child died as a baby.

It wasn't all Catherine learned...she also learned that like her mother she was gifted with dark arts and the magic to shift her form as Gwendolyn became a cat before her eyes. Fueled by her anger, Catherine became a cat and murdered Joseph Parker by clawing out his eyes.

Catherine's anger only grew when the angry townspeople came and skinned her mother in her cat form as justice for Joseph's horrible death, not knowing it was Catherine. Not escaping town by sunrise, banishment now became to hang in front of the town and end the bad luck.

Seeking her own revenge, Catherine changed into a rat to escape the hanging rope and lodged herself down the throat of Edmund Parker, magistrate of the town and father of the late Joseph, until he suffocated. The others of the town could only watch in fear as the rat became a horse and galloped away while the last of the Parker men, youngest son and brother William, vowed to hunt Catherine down to avenge his family.

That of course is the more interesting part of The Evil Moon that leads up to what happens in The Dark Secret. I'll get to 1995 Shadyside soon...

William Parker is now hunting for Catherine and all he has come across are tracks of her forms as a horse and a cat and the unmistakable mark of her presence. The fields dry and barren, houses filled with the corpses of those who succumbed to sickness from hunger and disease like back in his own town and animals killed just for the bloodlust of their death by inhuman claws.

William found Catherine as a black snake in such a place and she bit him, filling his blood with venom but William shook it off. He kept going for his revenge, the poison only dark magic he refused to die from, but the cold of winter and hunger threatened to do William in...until salvation came in a blonde and blue-eyed angel.

Evie Mason dragged William to her home and helped to nurse him back to health and break his fever, learning his name from his ramblings of unconsciousness and those of his late father and brother. Helping in his care is Evie's cousin Jessica, an older girl with dark hair hidden beneath her cap and a silent, shy demeanor who has come to live with Henry Mason after the death of her own parents.

Henry is glad to find William well and he joins the family for dinner before going on a walk with the older man. He asks for William's help on the farm as it has been hit by hard times and the terrible death of his farmhand, Charles, just as neighboring houses have developed the same bad luck...

William knows that it has to be Catherine but he keeps it in mind to accept Henry's offer and put aside his vow of revenge on finding Catherine Hatchett. A warm bed? Warm meals to fill his belly no matter how small? To see Evie's warm smile everyday and be among people again?

It all seems tempting until William spies the Mason family cat, Raven, and the almost human eyes surrounded by pitch black fur...

I don't mean to sound dismissive of the present day story but there is just something about it set against this rather epic origin story of where the Cataluna car fits in. We already know that William is telling us this story and that the evil in the car is Catherine so we obviously just need the present day to flesh out the book.

That point is addressed but we have to wait until we are done with both the 1698 and the 1995 storylines but...I digress.

In 1995, the Cataluna has seemed to have developed quite the body count...

Two teenage car thieves thinking they found the jackpot of joyrides and then poor Bryan Folger, driven to madness in wanting the Cataluna car at any cost. His only ride ended grisly as his best friend and girlfriend had to watch.

Kurt Masters thought he was lucky enough to have his parents gift him with the Cataluna as a 17th birthday present despite being used. All he had to do was fix a bit of leaking oil from underneath and it would be perfect...leading to his own horrific demise.

Stepsisters Regina and Lauren Patterson didn't think their parents would ever get them a car after getting their driver's licenses but the Cataluna sports car was hardly costly...wonder why?

Lauren is the more practical sister with her plain brown hair and her plain brown eyes while Regina is the more spirited girl with the curly, red hair and the thrill of Betsey Johnson fashion and bright pink nail polish.

Regina also has Justin Norris, her boyfriend with his good looks but his sick sense of humor. He isn't exactly the type of boy either one of their parents want Regina dating and they have to sneak around since Justin has been suspended from school twice already.

The last time almost got Regina suspended too and Lauren is sick of having to watch them make-out in the living room all the time like a third wheel...I hear that having been a third wheel myself in such a situation...

Speaking of wheels...

When Regina gets behind the wheel of the Cataluna, she drives like a bat out of hell and it scares the crap out of Lauren! Regina hits a girl on Rollerblades and sends her flying but still alive and Lauren watches as Regina laughs...a cold and cruel laugh she has never heard before.

Since they were eight years old, they have been the best of friends but now Lauren is watching Regina change. Sneaking out with the car to meet Justin, lying to their parents and now...getting a thrill out of almost hitting a little girl.

A misunderstanding leads Regina to outright stop speaking to Lauren after hurling some hurtful words at her sister but the silent treatment is the least of Lauren's worries. Forced to be in the car with Regina, Lauren watches her run over a tricycle and barely miss a small boy chasing after it and then she finds the red paint on the Cataluna's fender...not from the bike.

It's larger and then Lauren learns that an old woman was killed in a car collision but there isn't any damage to the Cataluna? It couldn't have hit another car so hard that it killed the driver of another car and still run like it does.

The next time, the red stain on the fender isn't paint or its red crescent mark signature...it's blood and a pedestrian was killed in a hit and run.

Lauren has seen the way Regina acts behind the wheel of the Cataluna and despite her sister's claims that the crazed laughter isn't her own...Lauren has heard the cold laughter and the teasing voice.

It isn't coming from the radio and it's telling Lauren that she needs to learn how to have some fun but how can Lauren ignore the fact that her own sister...might be a murderer?

The reveals in each story weren't really big twists and you could kind of see them coming and out of the two, the 1698 plotline wins most of those five stars. The 1995 plotline is just a lot of sister sibling rivalry but it does lead to a rather bleak if heartwarming end that just has to be ruined with a Stine quip.

Stine handles the old time plots so much better when you compare it in the same book to a more modern story. Anyone can write snarky teenage dialogue (or attempt it) but to actually handle a serious situation with serious dialogue IMHO takes a talented writer so when Stine is good he is good basically.

So what does that mean when he is bad? He's so bad it's good...does that make sense?

Yes? No?

Whatever...you know what I'm trying to say. So just how does the last book in this Cataluna Chronicle series pan out?

Will The Deadly Fire go out in a blaze of glory or fizzle out into ashes?

Profile Image for Liliana.
996 reviews216 followers
January 26, 2020
Reviewed on Lili Lost in a Book

The book starts off with William narrating, reminding us that he swore revenge on Catherine, the girl who brought bad luck on their colony and killed his brother and father. Meanwhile, I’m over here like, “Bro, I don’t even like you.” I’m literally rooting for Catherine at this point cause I hate that dickhead. Quit trying to make Will sympathetic! He was an absolute asshole to Catherine right from the start! His entire family was awful to her and I’m totally okay with Catherine having killed them 🤷‍♀️ William keeps saying that he’s gonna hunt her down so she won't bring her evil onto others, but honestly, he made her this way! This is all his goddamn fault for being a dick! Him and the rest of his stupid, judgmental family 🙄

Again, this book switches between 1600s POV, and a POV in the present (aka the 90s). In the past, the 1600s, Catherine fled the colony and William is still looking for her, hunting her down or whatever. He stays with a family briefly and thinks that one of them may actually be a shapeshifted Catherine. I didn’t think it was obvious, so I was shocked when we found out. We also learn some things about Catherine and her mom... some really weird stuff.



In the present day (aka 1995), two stepsisters get a brand new car, the Cataluna, when one of the sisters starts acting strange. There was a plot twist there with the sisters that I saw coming, but liked it nonetheless. And also, the opening scene was insane! Bloody and violent and I loved it! Just like in the last book, I’m still more intrigued by the story of the past, but overall, I enjoyed the book!

The Fear Street connection: The stepsisters live on Fear Street.
Profile Image for Daniel Stalter.
Author 6 books22 followers
October 12, 2023
While The Dark Secret did reveal some new things, it ultimately stuck to familiar roads we’ve been down many times before. It opened with the most creative kill scene of the book, but overall it was significantly less violent than the first book. I did enjoy the absolutely bonkers explanation of how the Cataluna came to be the death machine we know and love. Lauren and Regina’s story was reminiscent of The Stepsister (in a good way). The only part of the 1995 storyline that bugged me was how it ended. What really didn’t work for me was the Catherine and William story. It was disappointing to see Catherine flip a switch and become a murder-loving always-cackling cartoon villain. William was equally frustrating with his repetition of “cataluna” and “cat of the moon” nonsense. It would have made a lot more sense if he had a clear supernatural ability instead of being just some hapless do-gooder. Aside from the final scene, the whole 1698 storyline felt like a chapter that got cut from the Fear Street Saga for being too repetitive. Their whole dynamic would have improved greatly with a more nuanced approach to good and evil, but that was not what we got. I think it’s also worth pointing out that The Dark Secret also didn’t really have many secrets to speak of. Overall, this book doesn’t give me much hope for the trilogy turning things around with the final installment.

Score: 2

For my snark-filled, spoiler-laced, deep-dive review; check out my blog:
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Profile Image for Chelsea.
2,095 reviews63 followers
February 26, 2020
These are honestly the stupidest and most ridiculous titles in all of Fear Street.
Book 2 of the trilogy continues William's pursuit of Catharine in the 1600's. He shacks up with some farmers and discovers the same "bad luck" has fallen on them as had his colony previously. Convinced Catharine is near he tells them of his plan to hunt her down and kill her in revenge for killing his father and brother.
In 1995, twin sisters come to possess the Cataluna car. Except Lauren is sure that her sister Regina is losing her mind cause she's just too reckless behind the wheel. Both girls hear the seductive female voice when they drive, urging them to do bad things. And then the murders start to happen and each sister is convinced the other is responsible but only Lauren kind of thinks the car may be evil...

And there was this real fun plot twist of time travel and that's how Catharine's spirit came to possess the car... because reasons?
Profile Image for Khurshid Ali.
842 reviews1 follower
February 18, 2024
Welcome back to book 2 in the Cataluna Chronicles series of the Fear Street Universe.

I love this series and think this is the best so far.

Imagine travelling so far and nearing to finding the person who murdered your family

Imagine after so many years of being called bad luck ti the point people want to hang you, you learn your true origin.

Imagine being able to shape shift to anyone and anything

Shockingly

You find yourself hurting innocent people because the evil is surrounding you

Until

????

A definite must read for Fear Street lovers
Profile Image for Jessica Forbes.
377 reviews3 followers
November 4, 2024
Technically, my review is a 3.5.

I remember enjoying this one more years ago, but this time almost every character annoyed me a bit. In the past (which was still the better story), William came off as kind of dumb for thinking literally EVERYTHING could be Catherine. In the present story, Lauren was too much of a wet blanket to enjoy her point of view. I found myself wishing we were hearing Catherine's point of view again like in the first book.

Still enjoyable, but I liked the first book more.
Profile Image for Destiny Pifer.
149 reviews1 follower
June 6, 2024
Didn't care as much for this one mainly because where the first one had me feeling sorry for Bad Luck Catherine this one add's another narrative in the form of her dead boyfriend's brother who wants revenge for Catherine's brutal act on his family. We then have stepsisters Regina and Lauren in the present who deal with the possessed car. We do get info on how a character from the 1600's can possess a present-day vehicle. This series is certainly a bit odd.
Profile Image for ChelseaRenee Lovell.
161 reviews16 followers
July 9, 2020
4.5 stars, I unfortunately read this (dumbly) not realizing it was a part of one of Stine’s Fear Street trilogies, cause I just don’t pay attention, but this definitely got me invested. The whole idea behind it is really interesting, and I can’t say much without spoiling, but I will for sure set out to find the other two books and read!!
Profile Image for Erin M. Cooper.
478 reviews3 followers
August 15, 2021
Been so long since I’ve read a fear street book, decided to check one out after watching the Fear Street saga on Netflix. Quick, easy read, and I think this was one of the ones I read about 27 years ago. Have read a few of them when I was younger. But then was more of a Christopher Pike fan.
Profile Image for Sassy Sarah Reads.
2,348 reviews307 followers
November 27, 2021
3 stars. This is a much better book than the first in the trilogy. It still felt very choppy and not well-thought out, but it was fun. I loved the 1995 sections and the relationship between the two stepsisters. Even the William chapters weren't bad. Review to come.
Profile Image for Dominik Quarters.
4 reviews
December 5, 2022
It wasnt as good as I was expecting but I do like this book from how the author writes and how much he makes it exiting with as little as one sentance. I do like it because its a short book and the writing style is awsome.
Profile Image for Sreypich Van.
174 reviews
November 4, 2023
That was weird, but in a good way. I was more invested in the revenge quest than the evil car, actually. My question is, what kind of logic does the mother have thinking that her child would be safer in 1600s? I can't wait to find out how it all ends
Profile Image for Tabitha.
224 reviews1 follower
September 17, 2025
3.5 stars - William follows Catherine’s trail to avenge his family and manages to get into the car that transports Catherine to the future where her mother was from. In the 90s, two stepsisters receive the Cataluna for their birthday. This weird time travel plot line is a bit confusing.
Profile Image for Brandon.
310 reviews12 followers
May 6, 2019
Not as good as the first book in the trilogy (i should of ranked the first one a bit higher honestly) but still a pretty decent book cant wait for the last one!
Profile Image for Chandra.
86 reviews
January 20, 2020
This must be one of those trilogies that get more cheesy with every book.
Profile Image for Matthew MacIntyre.
155 reviews3 followers
May 7, 2025
You can almost rinse and repeat the review for the first book with a few minor details. Catherine from the past is still being chased by William for revenge of killing his family she’s still able to transform, etc. etc. the present day is stepsister’s, Regina and Lauren and they have the Tigler car and the car is evil. Blah blah blah such a filler of a book even less barely 3 stars.
44 reviews
December 16, 2010
This book as I mentioned was the genre that i really liked, mystery stories with murderers for me as a reader to discover while the story goes along. In this story, it contains two smaller stories that connect to each other in some ways. In the first story, William was hunted by the evil spirit Cataluna that can disguise herself into anything, this evil spirit had murdered William's father and brother. he tries to kill Cataluna, but instead he killed his beloving one's cousin , Jessica. William faints as he passes away and the second story starts when Cataluna disguises herself as Lauren's car. Cataluna uses this disguise to control Lauren's mind with a voice and caused her to kill many innocent lives, which Lauren though that it was her sister Regina that was the hit run road killer. I really liked the climax, where Lauren and Regina argues that who is really the murderer, and Lauren realizes that most of the things that had happen relates more to her than Regina. So Lauren went and drove the car to a tree and drove it down to a river, soon the firefighter came and took the car back out with no damage or single scratch at all. It is very interesting how the story ends like this to let the readers think of a conclusion they like. For me, my conclusion will be that the car will set itself on fire and the spirit will fly free and grin then flies away. Overall this book had made my interest in reading mystery stories increase. I really really enjoy it as much as i can.
Profile Image for Nathaniel.
15 reviews
December 3, 2010
This book is about two worlds. The first world is about a car that's haunted by a spirit of Cataluna. Cataluna lives in both worlds as a witch. In the first world, two step sisters fight over a haunted car. The car actually kills people and controls itself by controlling the driver. It persuades them to do things that make your adreniline pump. In the second world, Cataluna haunts the towns people. She takes control of a person and kills his parents, but she leaves the son alive. The son goes crazy and kills everyone in his town. He has ruined his own life, but it was due to Cataluna and he swears he will find her but it only causes more havoc. He travels following Cataluna's trail, but he gets tricked again and the towns people treat him like a criminal.
I liked the book, but it was very confusing since it was about two worlds. I think this book is good for younger readers instead of highschool readers. It should also show you something to tell you that it's about two worlds so that you won't go looking for one story at a time. I think that this book is a decent book overall.
Profile Image for Rosalie.
110 reviews
March 5, 2014
I found myself rather annoyed when I finished this book. It's extremely repetitive. There is no need to keep saying that Cat of the moon is cataluna. Once was enough. A character also changes names within a few pages.
Profile Image for Amanda.
2,213 reviews41 followers
September 14, 2015
This is definitely not one of the more memorable Fear Street books. Since it's a quick read I got through it, but I really wasn't all that impressed. The two stories don't really connect to each other much, and the ending is pretty much nonexistent.
Profile Image for Alex.
6,650 reviews1 follower
July 5, 2016
I'm so excited I finally get to read this ridiculously fun trilogy!

That being said, this second book wasn't as good, mostly because the present-day plot was just dropped out of nowhere at the end.
Profile Image for JCK (I Love Andi).
5 reviews
Want to read
September 12, 2008
This book is a part of the series i am currently reading and i think it would be good like the other books.
Profile Image for Jessie.
1,497 reviews
January 10, 2016
I was a huge R.L. Stine fan in my pre-teen years. Now looking back on them I realize how poorly written they are even though they have pretty good ideas.
Profile Image for Brittany.
1,195 reviews28 followers
December 31, 2017
I read this book while in middle school. I was a HUGE R.L. Stine fan and like most of his other books, I couldn't put it down.
Profile Image for Jaime.
1,032 reviews1 follower
April 13, 2012
I was a huge R.L. Stine fan in my early teens! I loved all the fear street books! They are what got me into reading again! :)
Profile Image for Marie -The Reading Otter.
1,017 reviews86 followers
August 13, 2023
Much like the first in the series, one of my favorite books of all time. Its been a while since Ive read it, almost 13 years, I still remember it, and its worth all 5 stars.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews

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