Silent Witness

by Carol Ellis

When Lucy Monroe's friend Allen dies, his mother sadly gives her some of his belongings. A few CDs, a couple of posters. . .a videotape.

Lucy had seen Allen making videos of his friends.

But this one is different.

It reveals a crime. A deadly crime.

Now that Allen isn't alive, the tape is the only witness.

And someone will do anything to make sure Lucy never sees it.

Genres: Horror, Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Teen

10 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1994

About the author

Carol Ellis is an American author of young adult and children’s fiction. Her first novel, My Secret Admirer, was published in 1989 by Scholastic as part of their popular Point Thriller line.

She went on to write over fifteen novels, including a few titles in the Zodiac Chillers series published by Random House in the mid-1990s, and two titles in The Blair Witch Files series for young adults, published by Bantam between 2000 and 2001.

Reviews

[ItzSmashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Another solid point horror entry for Carol Ellis, she does a great job of building a compelling mystery and I was actually intrigued as to who was responsible. Slightly repetitive in parts and it's quite low in horror moments, but i would still recommend as a decent mystery.

Lucy's friend has passed away and left her some of his possessions. One of these is a video tape of all there friends hanging out. But when she tells them she has this tape, somebody starts stalking her and going through her things. One of her friends wants that tape and will go to any means to get it. But for what reason? And what lengths will they go to get it back?

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was never much into Christopher Pike. I prefer to check out the less well-known YAs of the early 90s. I'd never read Carol Ellis before, but I liked her writing style and thought she did some pretty good dialogue (a lot of the teen dialogue back then sounded like 50-somethings talking). This is a mystery centered around a VHS tape! So 90s! So thrilling! This was decent and I will read this author again if I come across another of her books.

[Kerri · Rating 3 out of 5]

🎥📼
I found a few Point Horror books in the Hospice shop recently, so I've been on a bit of a roll with them. This one was very well done, tense and genuinely creepy. The suspense built nicely over the course of the book until I just wanted to know what was on that tape! The interruptions and reasons for delaying solving the mystery felt plausible, the heroine actually discussed her concerns with those around her, including her parents, and she acted in a believable manner. I also liked that the cat featured quite prominently throughout the course of the book, rather than just as a passing mention.

Point Horror are YA, so they don't usually turn into full-blown horror, but many of them are still quite spooky. It was Goosebumps, Fear Street and Point Horror that introduced me to scarier books and I still enjoy reading them now.

[Grace Chan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this one. I mean, look at the cover, with that Giallo-inspired black gloved hand lol. And it's about a VHS tape! I love VHS tapes!

TBH I expected more from a Carol Ellis book. This was boring!! It felt super formulaic, as if Ms. Ellis was just on autopilot to crank out another Scholastic horror...but with no horror.

So our protag Lucy's friend and next door neighbor Allan has perished in an accident, and his mom gives her a box of his belongings to disperse amongst his friends. One of the items is a VHS tape. She watches it, and of course the VCR breaks before she can finish the tape. Alas, the tape holds a secret that someone wants to keep that way, and will do anything to do so.

A few hang-up phone calls, a car following her, her locker broken into, everything is just so TAME! By the time we find out what the secret is and who is after our protag, I had long stopped caring.

If you want to read a great one by Ellis, definitely read The Window, which I loved! This one doesn't pass muster.

[Courtney Gruenholz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another really good Carol Ellis read. She builds up the suspense and tension very nicely. We also get a kind of fake out which I didn't expect.

Lucy Monroe lived next door to Allen Torrance for most of her life in teenage years since the second grade. They were friends, never more than just friends, but now he's gone.

If only he had moved away but instead he died. It was almost a month ago and Lucy still can't bring herself to look through the box of stuff his mother brought over after the funeral.

She thought Lucy could have a few things and give the rest to Allen's other friends. Waking early and thinking she heard Allen shooting hoops outside, Lucy finally digs through the box.

Posters, CDs, baseball cards, his basketball, some comics and a video tape. Allen was into movies and always had a camera attached to his hand, filming Lucy and their friends.

Lucy watches the tape every time she can and each time, it reveals a little more and more. The back of the book blurb spoils it for you that something on the tape is a deadly crime.

Lucy has no idea what is so special about this tape and that it only belonged to Allen. She brings all of his other things to school to give to the others and mentions to all her friends that there was a tape but she's keeping it.

Her best Jenny Berger, class high achiever Robert Owen who works in the video lab alongside Jenny, tall jock Brad Forest, his tiny girlfriend Suzanne Gold and new kid in school Jon Eden. Allen was the first one to make friends with Jon back in August and Lucy has had a crush on Jon since he was always over at Allen's playing basketball.

Soon after Lucy has gotten rid of all of Allen's belongings in the box and had a little bit of her grief resolved, strange things start to happen.

Lucy feels like there is someone watching her, going through her duffel bag and locker as if looking for something and hearing footsteps outside her front door.

Also, all of her friends start acting a little weird or is Lucy just paranoid that they are giving her funny looks when she shares her thoughts?

Each time Lucy watches the tape, she comes closer and closer to discovering the horrific reveal so shocking...it might be worth dying for.

The fake out is also just what is on the tape. We think it is one discovery but then it leads to another and then finally the payoff. It's too bad the back of the book dampens some of the surprise of the actual reveal.

Who it is and what they did are still kind of shocking. Ellis gives us plenty of characters to choose from in being guilty but the only thing is...you find out very early on that one character has nothing to hide.

The ending is more of a tell don't show situation to wrap things up. We get some closure and a nod to being able to heal and move on after the death of a good friend. Light-hearted but decent.

If you haven't read Silent Witness by Carol Ellis, I would recommend it. You get your guard up and then drop it down before you are right back to biting your nails in suspense...that's good writing.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it so much, I've read it 4 times! I NEVER read a book more than once but this book, I'll make an exception.

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucy is asked to help clear through her dead neighbour Allen’s stuff, she is welcome to pass the various items to friends that want a keepsake to remember him by.
A video tape catches Lucy’s attention and decided’s she wants to keep it, but there’s something on the tape that someone doesn’t want anyone to see.
They will go to great lengths to make sure it doesn’t go public.

I absolutely loved this one, the story still feels relevant today. Maybe change the VHS tape to a USB stick, but it could easily be adapted into a movie today.

[gigi (literally futaba yoshioka) · Rating 2 out of 5]

the ending was so rushed and boring & it felt really unfinished. i love point horror so much though tbh this book was an easy read

[Mehsi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blij dat ik wat van deze boekjes vind in minibiebs! Deze las ik toen ik jonger was heel veel.
Een best redelijk spannend boek, maar het werd wel een beetje oogrollend hoe ze steeds een stukje meer keek, weer wat gebeurde, de hele band opnieuw bekeek maar niet alles maar een stukje verder en zo gaat het door tot het einde. Echt, kijk dat ding gewoon in een keer. Maar ja... dan hadden we geen boek gehad, nou ja misschien wel als de schrijver nog iets anders had kunnen maken van de waarheid die Paula dan al vroeg heeft.
Ik vond het mooi hoe Paula steeds wisselde tussen verdachtes. Van x naar y naar a naar y of x.
Ik vond Richard wel jammer, hij lijkt een toffe jongen die lief is maar zijn constante buien waren iets te vervelend voor mij.
Maar het was lekker spannend op tijden, dus ik heb genoten.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

A whole lotta nothing happens for about the first 140 pages. By the time the reader learns what’s on the tape there’s not a lot of pages left for much intrigue. Compared to The Window and My Secret Admirer this one doesn’t come close to being as satisfying.

[Erica Leigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is so…tame. Apart from getting locked in a closet and a light tripod tussle with the attacker, not much else happens.

You don’t even know what the mysterious scene on the tape is until there’s only a few chapters left.

[Liam Underwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have found Carol Ellis to be a somewhat reliable Point Horror author so far, consistently delivering books that I enjoy such as My Secret Admirer , The Window , and Camp Fear . Whilst her output doesn't quite match some of the other Point Horror regular contributors like R.L. Stine or Diane Hoh or Caroline B. Cooney or Richie Tankersley Cusick, their quality can all vary drastically. Carol Ellis, meanwhile, might not be as prolific, but she provides a decent entertaining read, and although Silent Witness is the weakest of her work that I've read so far, it's still fine.

In defense of Silent Witness, it doesn't really do anything wrong, it just doesn't really do much different and retreads a few familiar beats from other Point Horror books. This is disappointingly one of those entries that is predictable, and therefore a little slow as I was finding myself a couple of steps ahead of the protagonist waiting for them to catch up. I did enjoy the videotape element, although I do think this concept had way more potential than the direction this story ultimately went in.

Lucy is a likeable enough lead character, and she's surrounded with a group of characters that provides Ellis with ample opportunity to throw in misdirects. I wouldn't have minded seeing some of these loose threads more efficiently tied up by the end, as quite honestly the climax here is pretty uninspired as it is. Silent Witness certainly has potential, it just never quite comes to fruition.

2.5/5

Point Horror Ranked
1) The Girlfriend - 4/5
2) Thirteen More Tales of Horror - 4/5
3) The Dead Game - 4/5
4) Trick or Treat - 3.5/5
5) Camp Fear - 3.5/5
6) Nightmare Hall - The Silent Scream - 3.5/5
7) Dream Date - 3.5/5
8) Fatal Secrets - 3.5/5
9) Teacher's Pet - 3.5/5
10) The Baby-Sitter II - 3.5/5
11) The Cheerleader - 3.5/5
12) The Hitchhiker - 3.5/5
13) Nightmare Hall - The Scream Team - 3.5/5
14) April Fools - 3.5/5
15) My Secret Admirer - 3.5/5
16) The Lifeguard - 3.5/5
17) Freeze Tag - 3/5
18) Thirteen Tales of Horror - 3/5
19) The Accident - 3/5
20) The Vampire's Promise - 3/5
21) Funhouse - 3/5
22) Nightmare Hall - Pretty Please - 3/5
23) The Stranger - 3/5
24) Nightmare Hall - Deadly Attraction - 3/5
25) The Window - 3/5
26) Nightmare Hall - Guilty - 3/5
27) The Invitation - 2.5/5
28) Nightmare Hall - The Wish - 2.5/5
29) Help Wanted - 2.5/5
30) The Perfume - 2.5/5
31) The Train - 2.5/5
32) The Waitress - 2.5/5
33) The Snowman - 2.5/5
34) Nightmare Hall - The Roommate - 2.5/5
35) The Yearbook - 2.5/5
36) Silent Witness - 2.5/5
37) Halloween Night - 2.5/5
38) Beach House - 2.5/5
39) The Mall - 2.5/5
40) Nightmare Hall - The Experiment - 2.5/5
41) The Boyfriend - 2/5
42) The Fever - 2/5
43) The Cemetery - 2/5
44) Mother's Helper - 2/5
45) The Baby-Sitter III - 2/5
46) The Phantom - 2/5
47) The Dead Girlfriend - 2/5
48) The Baby-Sitter - 1.5/5
49) Hit and Run - 1.5/5
50) The Return of the Vampire - 1/5
51) Beach Party - 1/5

[Alex (The Bookubus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teenager Lucy is dealing with the accidental death of her childhood friend and neighbour Allen. Allen's mum brings her a box of his things that she or the others in their circle of friends might like to keep. Allen was a keen filmmaker and always had his camcorder on hand. One of the items in this box is a videotape which contains something that someone doesn't want Lucy to see.

This was great! It definitely falls in the more realistic and believable end of the Point Horror series, it felt like something that could actually happen. The story is very suspenseful in a subtle way rather than relying on jump scares and cliffhangers at the end of each chapter. It's a bit of a quiet, slow-burn but well written and I was completely absorbed by the story. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

[Julia Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

They're never long enough! But perfect for lunches <3 I was pretty surprised with the culprit in this one! Definitely had a way of getting his point across!

[Bri Morrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

really good! I liked the progression and suspense. It had me spooked most of the way through to the point I started checking if my own doors were locked or not.

[Casey Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

My mother, Carol Ellis, passed away on November 5th, 2022. While she'd been retired for some time, she spent years making her living as an author for children and young adults. When I was a kid, I was tremendously proud of her status as a writer, but she always seemed vaguely embarrassed by it. As I grew older, she told me she didn't enjoy the process of writing, and I'm sure that was part of the problem but there was also something deeper. My mother was an extremely self-deprecating person, inclined to critique herself to a fault. As such, I think she was uncomfortable with her public status. Also, as an avid reader herself, I think she decided early on she would never measure up to the books and authors she admired. It saddened and confused me to hear her dismiss her writing and, from time to time, even become cynical about the whole concept of telling stories. This never lasted very long because she enjoyed reading too much, but it was still depressing. Later on, I would occasionally try to change her perspective by pointing out the long and (in my view) proud tradition of popular fiction authors, people who, yes, wrote largely for money but gave years of joy to millions of readers. She would just shrug and say something like "Sure, but I wasn't even that good." Even in the past few years, when I would tell her how so many people online would respond with comments like "Oh wow, I LOVED your mom's books growing up!" if I mentioned her in a comment to a post or video, she would brush it off. "Doesn't it make you happy, knowing people still like your work?," I'd ask. She'd shrug or look away and reply, "Sure, I guess so."

Despite her indifference, my mother's career as a YA and children's author was substantial. A conservative estimate would put the number of books she wrote or co-wrote somewhere north of 50, and there were shorter works as well. She's best remembered as a fixture of Scholastic's Point Thriller line from the late 80s to the mid 90s, but her work ranged over several genres and publishers, her career lasting from the late 1970s till 2017; in the weeks following her death, I started discovering material she never even mentioned to me.

Through the years, despite sharing my mother's passion for reading, I rarely read her work. While she didn't exactly come out and say so, it was pretty clear she'd prefer I not. There were occasional exceptions and, towards the end of her career, I sometimes assisted her, both as a researcher and as an uncredited co-author. But her main body of work seemed like something she didn't want to get into much, so I largely avoided it. Now I've lost her forever and, partially to distract myself from the grief but also to try and create some sort of memorial to her, I've decided to read through her works and comment on them here.

As I mentioned, my mother's writing career was extensive. A large portion of her work was ghostwriting for others and even a fair amount under her own name were series works where she was more less told what to write. There were also nonfiction works which were pretty tightly controlled by the editors as well. While I know she gave every project her all (no matter how little she enjoyed some of them) and no doubt put her stamp on all she wrote, I'm primarily interested in the peak of her career, that is novels written under her own name and over which she had at least some degree of artistic control. This comes out to 20 or so books. While I have most of these works, there are still some I'll have to search for online and in used bookstores.

There's no point in pretending these "reviews" will be objective. All the books will get 5 stars, although I will be honest about elements of my mom's work I don't care for. Mixed in with my comments on the books will be memories of the creation of those I was old enough to be aware of, memories of my mother and her thoughts and comments on the books, and thoughts about the culture and industry that shaped her career.

I have no illusions that my mother was some sort of literary genius. But her work touched many readers nonetheless. She was also an incredible human being, one of the kindest people anyone could hope to meet. I will miss her terribly for the rest of my life. My hope is these commentaries will act as a tribute to her and bring back some good memories for those who grew up with her work, just as they preserve some cherished memories for me of a very cherished person.

SILENT WITNESS

Unlike many of my mother's books, I have very little memory of this one's creation. There's no reason I can think of why that should be; it was probably just written at a busy time. The one thing I do recall is a discussion about the title, which I think I may have been asked to approve. In any event, I wasn't in a hurry to read this one due to my lack of connection with it till I read another review here on Goodreads that found it to be one of her best books. My thanks to that reviewer because, based on what I've read so far, I totally agree!

I've said before that, naturally, I can't help but be biased when commenting on my mother's work but that I'll try to be honest about things I don't like. As such, it's great to be able to talk about this one and know that emotions are not blinding me. "Silent Witness" is a real treat! Set amidst a gloomy and well wrought autumnal atmosphere, the book centers on Lucy Monroe. Yes, she's another plucky heroine but, honestly, while that gets repetitive in my mom's books (and probably in a lot of these YA novels), I do find it a very likable character type. There's also a bit of a difference here from the usual "just moved to a new town/started at a new school/met a new guy" formula. The situation facing Lucy at the start of the book is much more internal and unsettling. She's in mourning for her good friend Allen, who recently died in an accident. Aside from being unusually dark for these books, this element made Lucy a character with much more of an inner life, which also left room for more character development than usual.

More on the characterization later but I want to discuss the plot a bit. About a month after Allen's death, his mother gives Lucy some of his belongings, including a homemade videotape. You can probably guess a fair amount of where this is going. The tape-centered story does date the book somewhat, but in a way I'd imagine most would find charming. As for the unfolding (don't worry, no spoilers) I think it's handled amazingly well here and, unlike in my mother's better known "My Secret Admirer," there are no "Oh come on!" decisions by the heroine. Some of the twists are easy to spot coming, though still enjoyable, but one took me totally by surprise and was, I felt, concealed with all the devilish care of a top-notch mystery writer.

Returning to the characters, they're all rock solid but, interestingly, I felt that my mother was much more focused than usual on the feelings of the protagonist. Because of Lucy's emotional state, we get a sense of her growth as a character that, while never overdone, provides a richer dimension than the average thriller. That was something my mom always prized in a book: a story that fulfilled its genre requirements unpretentiously but found ways to slip in more off kilter elements. She pulled that off herself here, beautifully.

Along those same lines, there's even a bit of a, not twist exactly, but slight surprise (again, no spoilers) involving Lucy's personality. It reminded me of my mom. She was a woman who considered compassion and kindness the most important things in the world. She had no patience for cruelty and could not bring herself to revel in anyone's pain, no matter what they'd done. That being said, she did have flashes of rage against people who were deliberately vicious to others, and her sense of humor had a streak of vengeance (within humane limits) to it. This came out rarely so it could be something of a jolt. I enjoyed experiencing that again in "Silent Witness."

That personal connection also cropped up with some minor details in the book. Lucy's cat's name, the nickname for a local forest, these came from our life, my childhood. Coming across them made me stop reading several times but, ultimately, they are things I'll be grateful to have preserved in such a wonderful book for the rest of my life.

[Trevor Wells · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plot Synopsis: It's been a month, but high school student Lucy Monroe still can't move on from the death of her best friend and neighbor, Allen Torrance. So when her mother gives her some of Allen's possessions to give away, Lucy isn't very thrilled. But among though items is a videotape Allen made--one that one the surface appears completely innocuous. But little did Lucy know what was hidden on that videotape.....or the lengths someone will go to keep their secret under wraps.

It feels weird to categorize Silent Witness under "other horror books" because this book is FAR from scary. It's also pretty far from interesting, as the plot is as bare-bones as a horror story can get. This is not helped by the bland writing, which basically pushes the story through the motions without really allowing the reader to become invested in the characters or the peril Lucy found herself drawn into. There were also a few continuity errors, such as one instance when Lucy is instead referred to as Jenny, her best friend.

The characters continue their book's blandness, as they all have the depth of paper dolls. Ellis tries to make Lucy's grief over her friend's death and desire to discover the truth come to life towards the third act, but it does little to help the fact that Lucy has little personality to make the reader want to root for her. The other characters follow Lucy's footsteps, and really seem to exist just to occupy the standard Red Herring positions. Sadly, though, the sideplot involving Suzanne having an affair with classmate Dave opened itself up to a good opportunity to break Suzanne out of her generic Snobby Mean Girl archetype. But that never happens, and the ending leaves that plotline hanging free and unresolved. Silent Witness also suffers from a case of Romantic Plot Tumor: I am willing to bet that not ONE reader of this book cared the slightest whether or not Lucy and Jon remained a couple by the end of things. And to top it all off, the climax is as thrilling as watching a snail race and the ending just happens, like Ellis got bored with her own story and just wanted to end it as soon as she could.

(Also, as a bit of a nitpick, the title makes no sense as Lucy is ANYTHING but silent in her quest to find justice for Allen. This is the same case for Allen himself.)

That's not to say the book was a total dud. As I said, Ellis tries to give Lucy a personality and I will admit that the bland Smart Guy Robert does become much more interesting as a character after it was uncovered that he had been Allen's killer. But overall, Silent Witness looks like someone put a bunch of horror book cliches in a hat, picked a few at random, and wrote a story around them. The plot is bland, the writing lacks punch, the characters are lifeless, and the actions and thrills are nowhere to be found. I can see why this doesn't have a quality Goodreads pic, as Silent Witness is the kind of book that's destined to spend most of its' life in the bottom of a Goodwill clearance bin.

Pros: The attempt at Lucy's character development in the 3rd act and the antagonist's personality post-reveal
Cons: Bland writing & plot, flat characters, no action, and unsatisfying climax and ending.

[Vicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book that my daughter and I read aloud together. (This is a tradition I have had with my children ever since they were little.) This book was better than several of books like this one. I am actually giving it 3 stars instead of the usual one. The plot was good, and we were pleased that the main character, Lucy, was smart and not dim-witted like others in the past. Though we did guess some of the mystery it was still a fairly good read.

[Medina Muhaiudin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Someone mentioned that the ending seemed rushed and I felt the same way. Once Lucy found out who the killer was, there wasn’t more to the story after that. I was expecting more action and storyline but it kind of fell flat. The suspense was nice so it did have me wondering who it was the whole time.

[Robert Kirkup · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very enjoyable, tense read that keeps the tension building throughout. It has the same drawbacks as other books in the series - thin characters, predictable plotting - but for fans this will definitely please and has stayed with me since I first read it as a child a few decades ago.

[Nicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Okay, it’s YA and it serves me right for getting it out of a little free library, but I did think it would be a bit more entertaining than it was.
To be fair, if I was 12 I probably would have liked it.

[Konrad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nostalgia pick from my middle school days. The characters were a little more fleshed out than I thought they would be, which is good for a YA thriller. I was surprised by the fact this book wasn’t terrible, and it’s a quick, easy read.

[Mandy Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent kids point horror. All the rage back in the 90s.

[Andi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book and an easy read, story kept going and never got bogged down anywhere. It is for a younger reader than I hence why I guessed the end but I enjoyed the read and I enjoyed being right!

[Tehnehn Kaijaah Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

really enjoyed this one quite a bit, much better than the first novel i read from her.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this for our podcast Teenage Scream, which dissects the best (and worst) of 90s Teen Horror.

https://soundcloud.com/teenagescream

[Kirsty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this for Teenage Scream podcast (lovingly dissecting the best and worst of 90s teen horror)

https://soundcloud.com/teenagescream

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this one a few times in Highschool. I wouldn't mind reading it agian as an adult.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a super fun trip down memory lane.

[Angela Foster-Swailes · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid 3.5. I used to love these books when I was younger so it was nice to revisit.