She touches your fingerprints. She knows your thoughts.
This power that I have—this ability to reach inside people’s minds and know their thoughts…Anthony says it’s a gift. But ever since this “gift” started, my life has been in danger. And now someone I care about is in trouble because of me. I have to help him—if I can find him.
Melinda Metz grew up in San Jose, California. People sometimes ask if she knows the way there. She kinda does, but she has an off-kilter sense of direction, so to be confident of arriving, it's better to consult some kind of navigational device.
Her mother tried to teach her to read in kindergarten, but Melinda had no interest. She also had no interest in learning to write her name. (FYI, when Melinda was in kindergarten it was all about finger-painting, play time, and naps.) Eventually, she mastered both and even majored in English at San Jose State University.
After college, Melinda moved to Manhattan to seek her fortune, which involved learning to identify fruits and vegetables while working at a grocery store, making $2.73 working backstage for an off-off Broadway play (her part of the box-office profits), and editing books.
Melinda and the lovely and talented Laura J. Burns pretty much became unofficial writing partners when they were editors at the same company. They teamed up to brainstorm story ideas, and at some point their brains fused in some key places. Later they worked on the Roswell High book series, Laura developing and editing the series, Melinda writing.
That series led to Melinda and Laura, now an official writing team, writing two TV pilots, moving to L.A. to work on the Roswell TV show, and briefly living in Toronto while on the writing staff of 1-800-Missing. They both continue to write books, together and separately.
Laura and Melinda's new book, Sanctuary Bay, a YA thriller, is coming out in January 2016. It's set at an ultra-exclusive private school on an island. Once a student is accepted to the school, they must stay until graduation. No visits home, no contact with the outside world at all. Find out why in January!
The first four books in Melinda's new middle-grade mystery series,S.M.A.R.T.S., are out now. The books involve a group of kids in a makerspace club and they all have lots of science info. For all the cool geeks out there!
Melinda lives in Concord, NC with her dog, Scully (yes, she loves the woo-woo so much she named her dog after a kickass X-Files character). She has never regretted learning to read and write her name.
Rae could still be a bit slow on the uptake, and she defiantly doesn't know what being subtle is, but she was slightly better than she was in book one.
Thankfully, this installment wasn't as slow as the previous one. There was more danger, and a couple of creepy scenes.
The last few chapters were pretty good, so i'm looking forward to see how the story unfolds in the next book.
(Source: I own a copy of this book.) Jesse has been kidnapped, and it’s up to Rae and Anthony to find him and rescue him. Who is watching Rae? Who wants to kill her and why? And who has kidnapped Jesse?
This was another okay paranormal mystery story, but again it had issues.
Rae was again a little slow on the uptake at times, and her Violet Ambrose syndrome (putting herself in dangerous situations with no thought for her own safety) seemed to be getting worse. At one point she even said that she didn’t care if she was walking into a trap or an assassination plot, and went running into buildings filled with men with guns without a second thought.
There were other things that started to irritate me in this book; the pace was a little slow again, but I was able to cope with that, it was the number of ‘as if!’ moments that was the issue. First there was the dashing off to New Orleans at a moment notice – because people are always dropping everything to chase up a lead aren’t they? Then there was Yana borrowing one of Rae’s bras! I mean really? They don’t know each other that well! Then there was Marcus’ behaviour – very odd, and Rae wondering whether she should get back with him – love triangle alert! Worse though was this whole touching fingertips to fingertips business. I’m sorry, but I just don’t see how you can go around shaking hands with people and touching them fingerprint to fingerprint; that is not how you shake hands! Never mind that she has to hold in place while she’s getting the info – she would have looked like a total nutter wanting to shake hands by pressing fingertips together! There was also bugs about for spying – expensive, a nine-year-old girl wetting the bed (she seems a bit old for that-?abuse?), and the sudden and very easy end to Rae and Anthony’s search.
Overall this book was okay, but like I say, there were just too many things that were silly, over easy, downright stupid, or wholly unlikely. I’m hoping the next book is a little more believable. 6.5 out of 10.
Actual rating 3.5/5. This book was good in that it had a different mystery to it.
Anthony and Rae work together to find out information on Jesse’s disappearance. Some of the clues they found, I felt like I came up with a theory pretty quick and none of the characters did, which tells me I’m wrong or the characters are going to move slowly through this mystery.
I really enjoy Rae and Anthony’s relationship. I think they work together well and challenge each other in the perfect way. I’ll definitely be continuing with this series.
I have one prominent suspect and one suspect that I could see it would be just for the shock factor.
Book 2 of this series has Rae and Anthony trying to figure out why their friend from support group, Jesse, went missing and if or how it’s related to the attempt on Rae’s life. The tension was ramped up and now more is at stake. We see Rae getting a better grip on her abilities, but we also learn that whoever is after Rae is willing to do whatever it takes to hurt her. A good mix of character development and plot-driven narrative and ends on a great cliffhanger!
Nope. Didn't change my mind... still too dark and twisted for me. A story too slow to develop, some intriguing things we never have more clues about. I'm tired of reading it and decide to stop after the third one.
Wer meine Rezensionen regelmäßig verfolgt, hat mitbekommen, wie sehr ich als junger Teenager die Finger Prints Reihe geliebt habe und wie sehr ich mich gefreut habe, sie nun endlich wieder komplett in meinem Regal stehen zu haben. Das Cover hat vom Aufbau Gemeinsamkeit mit dem von Band Eins, was mir persönlich immer sehr gefällt. Ebenso konnte es mich ansprechen, ich bin mir sicher, dass es nach wie vor Neugier erwecken könnte, wenn es noch im Einzelhandel verfügbar wäre. Das Setting spielt in unserer vertrauten Welt, sodass ich mich sofort zurechtfinden konnte. Auch konnte ich aus Band Eins bereits bekannte Orte wiederfinden. Die Charaktere waren mir auch vertraut. Mit ihnen konnte ich mich direkt wieder identifizieren. Rachel ist nach wie vor unglaublich stark, ehrgeizig, mutig und wirklich sehr einfühlsam. Mittlerweile konnte sie ihr neues Leben mit ihrer außergewöhnlichen Gabe wirklich gut Händeln, was mich beeindruckte. Über Anthony konnte ich in diesem Buch noch einiges mehr erfahren. Nicht nur, dass er hilfsbereit, stark und mutig ist. Er versteckt hinter seiner harten Fassade auch einen wirklich weichen Kern und gerade diesen konnte ich noch weiter ergründen. Der Leser erfährt, wie tief seine Liebe zu seiner Familie, aber auch zu seinen Freunden wirklich ist, wie unglaublich sanft er sein kann. All dies machte ihn mir nur noch sympathischer. Auch die Handlung hat mir nach wie vor wirklich sehr gut gefallen. Natürlich verfügt auch dieses Buch lediglich über knapp 200 Seiten, wie alle Bücher der Reihe, doch ist dies für die einzelnen Geschichten ausreichend. So erhält man die perfekte Länge der einzelnen Abenteuer, ohne dass es zu schnell geht oder sich gerade zieht. Die Handlung ging wirklich flüssig, immer wieder gab es kleinere Spannungsbögen, welche die Handlung für mich attraktiv machten. Vor allem weil es ja nach wie vor den großen Unbekannten gibt, welcher Rachel nach dem Leben trachtet. Dennoch habe ich des öfteren das Fingerabdruck Lesen vermisst, dies kam für meinen Geschmack einfach zu selten vor. Der Schreibstil der Autorin ist flüssig. Das Wortbuilding konnte mir sehr zusagen. Mein Fazit: Auch wenn die Reihe wirklich schon etwas älter ist und ich die Zielgruppe auf 12 - 16 Jahre schätzen würde, so gefällt mir die Reihe wirklich noch sehr. Die Charaktere sind alle super sympathisch, Rachel ist stark, mutig, hilfsbereit und findet langsam zu ihrem alten Selbstbewusstsein zurück und handelt ihr Leben mit ihrer außergewöhnlichen Gabe immer besser. Anthonys weichen Kern unter seiner harten Fassade lernte ich nochmal etwas besser kennen. Seine Liebe zu seiner Familie aber auch zu seinen Freunden geht wirklich tief. Die Handlung war angenehm. Immer wieder gab es kleine Spannungspunkte, welche die Geschichte interessant machten. Dazu kommt natürlich noch die große Frage, wer denn der mysteriöse Unbekannte ist. Auch wenn das Buch mit knapp 200 Seiten nicht allzu lang ist, so hat es doch die perfekte Länge. Ich hätte mir lediglich etwas mehr von Rachels Gabe gewünscht. In diesem Buch wurde relativ wenig Fingerabdrücke gelesen, was ich persönlich sehr schade fand. Dennoch kann ich die Reihe nach wie vor jedem empfehlen, welcher gerne spannende Jugendromane liest.
Haunted is the second and last book in the Fingerprints-series that I have read.
The plot picks up a little after where the first book ended. But Anthony and Rae are shocked when they find out that their younger friend Jesse was kidnapped (Anthony doesn't believe that Jesse ran away because he would have told Anthony). After some time Anthony and Rae think that there is a connection between the kidnap and the attempt to kill Rae. Together with their friend Yana, they set out to uncover the truth and to find Jesse. But things get complicated when several people give different statements about Jesse's kidnap. And as if that wasn't enough, Rae has to deal with more boyfriend drama because her ex wants to get back together and she also has still some feelings for him.
In this book we get to hear the "villain's" thoughts again (let's just call him/her Peter, shall we?) well, I do hate Peter Hale in Teen Wolf Peter reveals that he has finally figured out the extent of Rae's ability. Peter also admits that there is another enemy who has it in for Rae. So now we have Peter I Peter II aiming for Rae.
Oh and it's just cute to see Anthony letting Rae help him with his reading difficulties. He puts his anger and shame aside and is even grateful for her help.
Now, you may or may not have noticed that this book got 4 stars from me and that I still am not going to read the whole series. Why?
Well, for starters there were more clues in this book about Peter I. I had my suspicions and when I did a little research to check I found out I was right. Though, to be honest, I have no idea who Peter II might be. So that one's off the hook. Then, there is the fact that this series has 7 books and I'm just too lazy to read 7 books about the same story. I did read the Harry Potter series some time ago when I was a kid, but that's another story, because those books were really fascinating. This series misses that one thing that keeps me reading through the whole series, if you know what I mean.
But I still recommend trying this series out, because it's actually good and there are lots of things that still remain unsolved, like that "crime" Rae's mother committed and the identity of both Peter I and Peter II and their motives.
It didn't seem like this series could get any better, but it has! This second book in the series is jam packed with mystery, suspense, love and conflict. I'm only on book two of seven but I have to say that, so far, this is the best series I've read to date. I'm am simply enamored with Melinda Metz's writing.
So far Rae and Anthony have solved the mystery of who set Anthony up for the pipe bomb incident (book one) and in book two we hit the ground running as their mutual friend, Jesse, is kidnapped. Using her new found powers of fingerprint reading, Rae sets out to discover where Jesse is and who has him. All roads seem to point to one person but as the story unfolds it comes to light that our "mystery stalker" may not be the only one who has it in for Rae.
What's neat about this series is that the mystery in beautifully balanced with the day to day life of being a teen. While Rae and Anthony are scouring the city at night in search of clues, during the day their lives are wrapped up in the trials and tribulations of normal life. Rae is conflicted over unresolved feelings for her ex-boyfriend, Marcus, and struggles with how to resolve the conflict between her heart and her mind. She struggles with her gift, trying to balance the need for secrecy and the need to be accepted. Anthony is struggling with his academic challenges after learning from Rae that what he's thought was stupidity may be dyslexia. He's also playing a strong role at home as "the man of the house", since his step-father and mother tend to be unavailable most of the time. It's also clear that he's developing romantic feelings for Rae but is not comfortable with the idea.
In short, Melinda Metz has a true gift for storytelling. Reading her words sinks you into another world and makes you want to stay there as long as humanly possible and sad when you have to close the book. This series is pure magic.
Haunted immediately begins where the last book left off. 13 year old Jesse is missing. The students in the counseling group have been told he has run away; however, Anthony convinces Rae that this could not possible be true. They decide to investigate. Additionally, Rae discovers a secret about Anthony's reading abilities and wants to help him. To make matters worse, Rae and her ex-boyfriend Marcus have a big blowout. With all of the emotional turmoil Rae faces, she and Anthony learn more about each other and respect each other, she becomes more confident in her abilities and Rae becomes closer with the volunteer, Yana from the mental hospital she was committed to. The action is fast paced and the suspense continues to build. Once again, these books are short (approx. 160 pages) but potent. It is almost like watching an episode of your favorite T.V. show. I really am enjoying this series.
In this novel Jesse has disappeared. Most people think he has run away, but Anthony and Rae think that Jesse has been kidnapped. They set out to try and find him, using Rae's psychometric abilities, yet it's not going to be an easy task. There's someone following Rae, and a knife is driven into the seat of a car she recently left as a kind of warning to her.
She still has to keep going to school and group, and is still hiding her ability to read fingerprints and objects from everyone else but Anthony. Anthony still has problems of his own, especially with a tracking device put in his car. There's also his reading difficulties, but Rae starts to help him with that and Anthony makes some progress.
The only thing I can't figure is the title, which seems to have nothing to do with the events in the book.
I picked up this series secondhand and had a burst of reading through this series.
A great little paranormal mystery for YA's. Rae's ability to hear things through touch has screwed up her life making her an outcast in school. She finally agrees to attend a support group and things start to look up a little... and then someone tries to kill her.
Really glad I had the others in the series to read after this as this was a quick fix for me. Great suspense and action though and not too whiny a character.
I thought that this book amazing! I read this when I was 12 and I'm 15 now and still read it. I've read the whole series and this is the second book, so I won't give away an spoilers. However, this is an amazing read and if you get past all of the mystery solving and the fingerprint reading, I find that Rae and Anthony's relationship is actually realistic and not like the "love at first sight" kind of thing. They learn about each other while spending time together. I find it great and recommend to every teenager.
Book 2 of the Fingerprints series continues the story from book 1. Rae continues to go to group therapy and her friendship with group mate Anthony solidifies. When fellow group mate, Jesse, goes missing Anthony knows he hasn't just run away. In the course of searching for Jesse, Rae discovers that there is someone out there who knows what she can do--but who is it, and is it the same person who tried to kill her in the previous book?
Okay okay. It isn't the next LOTR or GoT.. But, the character development is awesome and the whole premise of the book, a girl being able to pick up other people's thoughts off of their fingerprints is just so appealing to me. Not quite a telepath like Sookie and not quite fully magic but it still has that spark. It may be just "another YA series" but hell, I like it and I'm excited for #3!
I'm really getting addicted to this series! The characters are very interesting. I'm hoping that Anthony learns to read better and stops calling himself a moron because he's in classes for slow learners. I hope that Rae will boost his self esteem.
really good. i have already read this book in the new version, Haunted in the omivolume Echoes. She did so re-vamped and the sotry is awesome. the older one is awesome as well.
Another great read. The series continues to combine mystery, the paranormal and a hint of romance. Nice to see a developing relationship rather than insta love.