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The Doom Car destroyed racecar driver Stan McCoy, but his brother Buddy can't stay away from it. There's something about the gorgeous Cataluna--something ancient and evil. But just one race could win back his girlfriend, Sara, from Will, the mysterious guy she's been seeing. Just one explosive race--to the death.

184 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1995

6 people are currently reading
947 people want to read

About the author

R.L. Stine

1,679 books18.6k 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
200 (31%)
4 stars
158 (24%)
3 stars
214 (33%)
2 stars
62 (9%)
1 star
11 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
Profile Image for Courtney Gruenholz.
Author 13 books24 followers
December 10, 2023
Still keeping my five star rating and of course spoilers since this is the last book in the trilogy...

It's sort of interesting how in the last book it is the first time we get anything for the P.O.V. of the Cataluna since it is called The Cataluna Chronicles. Up to now it has been from the omnipotent third person narrator or from William Parker in his hunting of the girl known as Catherine Hatchett or Bad Luck Catherine.

William himself ended up a hunted man for taking the blame of Catherine's evil toward a new village and manipulated into killing an innocent girl. He found her near the body of what he assumed to be a monster but it was just a modern day car with more than just any old car.

The spirit of Catherine's mother, Gwendolyn, instructed Catherine to use the car to escape to modern time where surprisingly she herself was from.

Time traveling car that apparently needs to reach 100mph and then you throw it in reverse from what we find later but that would be telling too much...

William piggybacked on the trip and both of the teenagers' bodies were killed on arrival in a traffic accident with another car. Catherine's spirit went into the car and we are left in the dark for now as to where William's spirit ended up.

Ever since then, Catharine goes after anyone who approaches the Cataluna in hopes that it is William as a way to protect herself but being so indestructible...human bodies don't last long.

We are now in 1995 Shadyside for our whole story with a few chapters short little thoughts from the Cataluna but mostly focused on the current unlucky individual.

The prologue tells about four more teens who are killed by the Cataluna and we get Catherine wondering just where William Parker is. The way the teens die still gives me chills and is enough to squick me out to this day.

Buddy McCloy comes from a family full of racers in their blood. His dad was a race car driver until his wife died and he retired to open an auto parts store and care for this three sons.

Buddy is the youngest after his brothers Stan and Sean. Stan has followed in his dad's footsteps and races while Sean is a total gearhead but all of them have a good knowledge of cars. Buddy is much closer to Stan than Sean and they seem a happy family until Buddy's dad decides to invest in "The Doom Car".

Yep, the one and the same Cataluna. Buddy's thoughts inform us that a dozen people have either been killed by or in the car and it seems to be accurate math so this vehicle has a bad reputation and Mr. McCloy is using that gimmick. Of course other racers are going to be afraid to get anywhere near the car but would have to be crazy to even get behind that wheel.

It doesn't have anything to do with the brothers until the day of a race, the driver Buddy's dad hired calls in and is running late. Instead of just forfeiting the money and a chance at the purse of prize money, Stan decides to get behind the wheel as he and his dad have been fixing the Cataluna for the track.

Only Buddy seems to have a bad feeling that day and it ends up much more horrifying than he can imagine. The Cataluna crashes into the stands and hits a power station which results in the deaths of six bystanders and the death of Stan McCloy by electrocution...but it has no sign of any damage.

All of the McCloys are devastated but Buddy and his dad have it much worse than Sean. Buddy lost his best friend and his dad blames himself for his eldest son's death so much that no one has touched the Cataluna in weeks.

It sits in the garage as Mr. McCloy can't get anyone to buy it but it can still be sold because it is in fine condition. Buddy hates the car and has every right to want it scrapped but it won't bring his brother back...Stan is gone.

In the weeks after the tragic accident, Buddy's girlfriend Sara Franklin has stood him up for dates and each time he calls to talk to her...he gets her mother offering him sympathies about Stan and it makes Buddy all the more angry in his grief.

Buddy's friends, Pete and George, come to pick him up for a party he was supposed to be going to with Sara and he learns she is already there with some of her girlfriends. When he arrives, Buddy isn't too happy to see Sara flirting with a guy he has never seen before.

Pale, blond hair in a short ponytail, dressed in a black coat down to his knees that looks like it came from a thrift store. Buddy learns that his name is Will and apparently Sara has been talking to him about Buddy and his family because this guy wants to race Buddy with his Chevelle against the Cataluna.

Sara seems to enjoy having two guys wanting to fight over her and I don't really like her or Will trying to get a rise out of Buddy after his brother was killed along with other people by the car they want him to drive...what jerks!

Poor Buddy is so torn up about Stan and now his girl that he really cared about is flirting with some creep who couldn't hold a candle to how good his brother was as a driver basically calling him a chicken if he can't race like all the other great McCloy boys?

He accepts and once Buddy gets behind the wheel, Catherine is all but in control and her influence might be making Sara act like such a witch because she wants Buddy to take Will out during their race and Buddy is so close but no dice thanks to the cops arriving...

It doesn't bother Catherine too much because she will make sure Buddy has no intention of wimping out if beating Will in a race can be the only way he can get Sara back. Manipulating a young man full of grief to do her dirty work, will the Cataluna finally triumph in a battle that has been centuries in the making?

We get reveals and very climatic and thrilling races and exploring the dynamics of a family torn apart by tragedy and ugliness. When it comes to the endgame, it is gloriously dark and cheesy at the same time and something you would have to read to believe.

The ending of the book is very interesting but it raises so many questions despite being the sort of twist you can expect from a Fear Street book. Out of the three, The Deadly Fire is the silver medal to the gold winning The Evil Moon with The Dark Secret taking the bronze...but that is accounting for the more modern Shadyside stories.

If you only go by all of the 1698 backstory combined with the final book, it makes for a much more compelling story that would be worthy a Netflix adaptation. The 1995 parts in The Evil Moon and The Dark Secret could just be really quick short stories and it would take nothing from the full story of the car that becomes known as The Cataluna.

That is just my own personal opinion so if you have not read this particular Fear Street trilogy, you are free to have a different take on which books are good or bad or a little of both...
52 reviews
Read
August 4, 2009
One night after a movie double-date, Chuck, Barbara, Debbie and Eddie are taking a stroll when they see a car. This car is not just a plain car! just as Eddie says, this car was hot. It is a brand new, white sports car, the engine is running quietly and no one is around. Tempting, huh? The car has a certain allure to it and soon they are all inside for a ride. As they are cruising along, they notice that the car radio is on. Not wanting to attract attention, Chuck tries to turn it down. The music gets louder. "Wrong way idiot!", Debbie calls out from the back seat and leans forward in her seat to turn the know the other way. But the music gets louder once again! They all struggle to turn the music down. But soon it gets too loud that their own eardrums cant take it. "Ow! It hurts! It hurts so much!", Debbie wails. A sharp stab of pain shot through Chuck's head. But this isn't the end of the horrifying experiences this car will cause. I would recommend this book to kids in 7th grade and up. Although this wasn't the best book i have have ever read, i have to say it is alright. Its the ending that makes this book not great. Read it and find out why!
Profile Image for Chelsea.
2,095 reviews62 followers
February 27, 2020
But why is this titled The Deadly Fire? There literally was no fire in the entire book?
Anyway, the Cataluna Chronicles comes to an underwhelming end. Stan, Sean, and Buddy are all part of a racing family...their dad purchases the sleek Cataluna and Stan can't wait to take the hot sportscar to the track. But we know that the car is possessed by Catharine of the 1600's so of course he crashes and dies but the car doesn't even have a scratch.
In order to win his girlfriend back, Buddy decides to race Will in the Cataluna. Catharine is convinced Will is William Parker in disguise so makes it her mission to kill him. And there is more time travel and murky time travel logic as Will tries to defeat Catharine for good by messing with the continuum. Cause logic?
These are the last of the OG Fear Street novels I had to read and they were probably the most disappointing of the bunch. His other trilogies were at least fun.
Profile Image for Daniel Stalter.
Author 6 books22 followers
October 23, 2023
The Deadly Fire surprised me in that it was much more enjoyable than The Deadly Secret. It suffered from some of the same logic problems as each of the previous two books, but it managed to avoid repetition and kept things entertaining. Drag racing was the natural next step for the trilogy to take, and I think that aspect of the book worked really well. The book also features the highest body count of the trilogy, with a particularly brutal opener. I was also very relieved not to have another 1698 storyline of Catherine and William. We do finally get Catherine’s perspective for the first time since her car embodiment. Her logic and reasoning for all the murdering are threadbare at best, and so I have concluded that she’s just really stupid. The time travel mechanics are another weak point that I will elaborate on in the Spoilers. There was also a genderqueer element that I really appreciated. I would have enjoyed seeing a deeper take on that, but I don’t think a 1995 audience would have been ready for it. In the end, The Deadly Fire served its purpose in wrapping the trilogy up, and it managed to keep things interesting in doing so. It’s hard to be mad about that.

Score: 3

For my snark-filled, spoiler-laced, deep-dive review; check out my blog:
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Profile Image for inas.
387 reviews37 followers
December 24, 2023
Bener-bener selesai sekali duduk dong (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

Ini juga buku ketiga dari Cataluna series, tapi aku tetep nyambung pas baca. Ceritanya, roh si Cataluna (alias Catherine) ini masuk ke mobil putih dan banyak membunuh orang yang nyetir di sana.

Pace ceritanya termasuk cepet, dari satu kejadian ke kejadian lain nggak bikin bosen. Perubahan karakter si Buddy juga masuk akal, apalagi pas di bagian akhir sama kakaknya. Aku hampir nangis pas Scott (kalo ga salah) bilang terserah Buddy mau ngapain, dia ga peduli. Itu nyesek banget. :")

Alurnya juga bikin bertanya-tanya sepanjang cerita. Terutama cewek yang jadi tetangga baru Buddy itu. Dan plot twist-nya nggak tertebak sama sekali!!

Aku paling suka sama deskripsi mobilnya pas dibuat balapan, terus kecelakaan dan bikin orang di dalemnya tewas. Suasananya hidup banget, dan terjemahannya enak dibaca, jadi kombo yang pas deh.

Masih berharap seri ini bisa muncul di iPusnas kalau nggak masuk paket fiksinya Gramedia Digital. 🥺😊💙💙💙
Profile Image for Nedra .
14 reviews
September 25, 2009
This was the only book I would read as a kid. I just found it under my bed today and decided to do a quick read. I still enjoy it as an adult.
Profile Image for Liliana.
996 reviews216 followers
February 8, 2020
Reviewed on Lili Lost in a Book

First of all, this book is called The Deadly Fire ... but there is literally NO deadly fire in this entire book, whatsoever! Does not compute.

?

Anyway, I really liked the premise of this series—a cursed girl born under a bad moon, time travel, magic, evil car... Yes please!

The people of the colony hated me because I was different. I had done no one harm but the people blamed for all their bad luck. They called me evil.
And finally I proved them right.
I murdered—and I enjoyed it.


And this is why I was rooting for her and NOT William! He was awful and he can go fuck himself. 😒 Catherine literally did nothing to deserve her fate. She was just defending herself from all the assholes in her colony. Though I do admit that she may have done a smidge too far with all the murdering for fun 🤷‍♀️ Lol. But I do have a theory that every person she’s killed in the car she thought was Will... so idk. Lol.



So the present-day idiot we get in this book is Buddy. The reason I say this is because this car turns everyone who wants it into dicks! All the main characters just turn into complete morons when they want/get the Cataluna.



There was one mention in this book, in the present day, where the main character goes to Gary Brandt’s party who is originally from The Overnight ! I always love these little Easter Eggs!

Overall, I enjoyed the series. Even though the characters were meh, I really liked the premise and the just desserts ending of this book, which I was a huge fan of!

The Fear Street connection: I’m pretty sure Fear Street wasn’t even mentioned once 🤷‍♀️😒
Profile Image for Truly.
2,763 reviews12 followers
September 9, 2021
Ketika mencari buku untuk tugas kantor, mendadak menemukan buku ini di bagian penyampulan. Langsung pinjam. TErnyata buku pengganti. jadi penasaran, mahasiswa penghilangkan buku apa ya sampai menggantikan dengan yang ini.

Ternyata merupakan buku terakhir dari 3 buku. Baiklah, harus paus dengan hanya membaca bagian akhir saja. Dalam tiga bagian, pembaca akan diajak mengikuti bagaimana balas dendam masa lalu antara dua orang berlanjut hingga masa depan, William Parker dan Catherine. Bagian ini juga menceritakan tentang kecelakaan yang menimpa Stan McCloy ketika balapan dengan mempergunakan mobil maut The Cataluna. Keluarga McCloy melakukannya karena iming-iming pembayaran besar untuk itu.

Bagian kedua berkisah tentang adik Stan-Buddy McCloy yang terpukul dengan kematian sang kakak. Dilain sisi, ia merasa sang kekasih Sarah Franklin jatuh cinta pada pria lain. Mereka sepakat untuk balapan dengan mobil masing-masing. Untuk menarik perhatian Sarah, ia menggunakan The Cataluna meski kakaknya Sean berusaha keras melarang.

Sedangkan bagian ketiga berisi tentang pertempuran kembali antara William dan Catherine. Sosok William menjelma menjadi orang lain untuk bisa mengalahkan Catherine yang dengan ilmunya menyatu dengan mobil maut The Cataluna. Bagian ini ditutup dengan kemenangan pada salah satu pihak. Benarkah begitu? Atau hanya sekedar jalan untuk membuka kisah selanjutnya?

Tahu dong gimana gaya penulis yang satu ini.
Profile Image for Jessica Forbes.
375 reviews3 followers
November 17, 2024
Unfortunately, I liked this one the least out of the three. Until the very end, it was missing the parts from the past, and the present time story, as has been the case in all three books, wasn't as great as the past ones were. Now, this one did have the best present time story by far, telling the story of Buddy, from a racing family who's older brother died driving the Cataluna car. What honestly kind of mucks up the present story for me is Buddy's girlfriend, Sara. She starts nice, but then moves to start cheating on him with a boy named Will. Catherine the car mistakes Will for her long time nemesis William, so when the two boys (Buddy and Will) race, they switch cars due to a coin flip, and Catherine takes the opportunity to kill Will. He wasn't actually William, though, just another innocent boy. William was hidden away in another body. Sara then can't explain what came over her, and Buddy blames the car, but she was never really IN the car! Can it affect everyone around it, too? Ick.

Anyway, William managed to force Catherine back to the past for their final showdown and, despite a convenient deus ex machina, it overall was a satisfying conclusion to their longtime battle. Their story was far more compelling than the present time ones, and I only wish that there was more from both of their perspectives.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Khurshid Ali.
841 reviews1 follower
February 22, 2024
We are now ready to conclude the calaluna chronicle series and I loved it.

At the beginning we see how catherine became evil
In the middle we see her deadly side
In the end we have ….

Revenge is a dish best served cold
Revenge is sweet when you beat your enemy

There is a twist in the end that I loved.

Read and find out for yourself. You will not be disappointed. This series has to be my favourite Fear Street series,
Profile Image for Tabitha.
223 reviews1 follower
September 19, 2025
3.5 stars - In the present day, Buddy has already lost his brother to the Cataluna, but he needs to win back his girlfriend by racing the guy she's interested in. A mysterious new girl in town is tied into the William vs. Catherine rivalry, and William figures out how to send Catherine back in time and succeeds in obliterating her existence...or does he?

This was a satisfying wrap-up to the Cataluna trilogy while still leaving a tiny bit of a cliffhanger.
Profile Image for Sreypich Van.
174 reviews
November 4, 2023
That was a crazy ride and I have so many questions.
How does the time jump work? Why did her mother leave a clue to destroy the Cataluna? So much has happened and she's reincarnated to the Edmund family now? Does that mean she will be treated better? Would she still be accused of being the evil child?
Profile Image for Matthew MacIntyre.
155 reviews3 followers
May 8, 2025
I gave this one four stars because of the three books in the series I liked the main character the best. The whole car being evil spirit of Catherine taking over the car was fine. The final showdown between William and Catherine was fine. I did like spoilersthe whole back in time never born angle of the end of the book. Except the whole stupid last second reveal that Catherine has been reborn. For that I almost took a star away. Also, there was no deadly fire.
Profile Image for Chandra.
86 reviews
January 20, 2020
Yeah.. definitely the worst of the trilogy. Buddy and Sara are some of the worst characters from the entire Fear Street series. I feel I've read enough of them to say that.
Profile Image for Amber Wiser.
397 reviews6 followers
April 7, 2020
I’m not used to disliking the main characters of Mr. Stine’s characters but this book made that exception. The ending is fun and it is a quick read.
Profile Image for Destiny Pifer.
149 reviews1 follower
June 11, 2024
It was a chore to get through this one and had me once again a bit confused about the curse but I gave it three stars for the twist ending.
Profile Image for Rosalie.
110 reviews
March 12, 2014
Not as good as the first one. I don't have a whole lot to say beside the fact that the ending did not make sense. Bringing the car back to the past and destroying it does not make everything that happened because of it disappear. To do that you would have to destroy the car in the time it came from before they happened. The timey whimey detector is going ding all over this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Sassy Sarah Reads.
2,334 reviews306 followers
November 27, 2021
3 stars. I liked this one more than the second book because I loved the car racing aspect, but this story is absolutely ridiculous. There is no consistent or congruent narrative besides the ridiculousness of Catharine being chased by William throughout history and she is trapped in the body of a car. Silly. Review to come.
Profile Image for Alex.
Author 51 books11 followers
January 21, 2014
It wasn't as good as I thought it would be after reading all the great reviews. It was a bit confusing and it didn't leave me with that awesome twist that i wanted to feel... R.L. Stine has written better books than this. It's in the "it's okay" pile.
Profile Image for Brittany.
1,195 reviews28 followers
January 1, 2018
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 Elizabeth Mañalac.
3 reviews1 follower
May 15, 2013
the only book that made me goosebumped ...... it is the best ending I've ever read and because of that I haven't slept after reading it..
Profile Image for Amber "Epp".
1,134 reviews63 followers
June 4, 2017
I loved this series when I was younger it was one of my favorites ... :)
Profile Image for Alex.
6,638 reviews1 follower
July 5, 2016
I'm still just so glad I finally got to read this trilogy! It was laughably bad but SO fun to read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews

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