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Zodiac Chillers #3
In Leo's Lair
No One Can Hear Their Screams... Nina and Jess... Sworn blood sisters - separated by a psycho. One girl is his prisoner. But one isn't enough, so he lures the other to his lair. Nina and Jess...Gemini twins - in the clutches of a Leo. Now he's got them trapped together, and Leo's roaring mad...
- GenresHorror
164 pages, Paperback
First published September 26, 1995
2 people are currently reading
103 people want to read
About the author
Carol Ellis
90 books91 followersCarol 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 13, 2025
It was a decently entertaining read. 2 Gemini best friends get kidnapped by a Leo, but theres 2 main Leo guys so it was hard to know who it could be as they both had motives. It got really insane at the end so I’ll add a half star for all of that which makes this a 3.5 star read.
Also- as an astrology girlie, they really went in hard on all the astrology talk. I wouldn’t be kidnapped with my best friend and be like “it’s all because you picked a Leo!”
Also- as an astrology girlie, they really went in hard on all the astrology talk. I wouldn’t be kidnapped with my best friend and be like “it’s all because you picked a Leo!”
August 11, 2025
Two Gemini teen girls and two Leo guys. It’s a kidnapping story. But goes all bat shit crazy at the end. Lots of twists and turns. The Leo imagery was a bit heavy handed.
March 20, 2022
3.5, maybe even 3.75
This book is so bonkers and entertaining, but I have to deduct some points for the ableist mental illness slurs that promote the idea that all people who do bad things are "crazy".
It's the touching story of two best friends, one of whom has two boys obsessed with her, and one of THEM is planning to kidnap her and keep her in a tornado shelter until she loves him. But don't worry, y'all, he brings her some of her favorite things to make it feel more like home - her swimming trophy, hairspray, her best friend . . . oh. Oh NO.
Read my full recap here: https://ogwnostalgia.wordpress.com/20...
This book is so bonkers and entertaining, but I have to deduct some points for the ableist mental illness slurs that promote the idea that all people who do bad things are "crazy".
It's the touching story of two best friends, one of whom has two boys obsessed with her, and one of THEM is planning to kidnap her and keep her in a tornado shelter until she loves him. But don't worry, y'all, he brings her some of her favorite things to make it feel more like home - her swimming trophy, hairspray, her best friend . . . oh. Oh NO.
Read my full recap here: https://ogwnostalgia.wordpress.com/20...
January 29, 2010
It was weird. Good. But weird.
August 28, 2024
THE WORKS OF CAROL ELLIS, 1945-2022
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.
IN LEO'S LAIR
Well, that was kind of wild! For some quick background, "In Leo's Lair" is the third Zodiac Chiller from Random House. Like the first two, "Rage of Aquarius" and "The Scorpio Society," it was written by my mother, Carol Ellis. I've already written reviews of those two books and, in the "Rage of Aquarius" review, I talk about the origins of the Zodiac Chiller line. Naturally I got into more detail about the two earlier novels in their respective reviews. But briefly, I found "Rage of Aquarius" to be pretty much a Point Horror (the famous line from Scholastic of which my mom was a mainstay) novel in all but name. "The Scorpio Society" was somewhat different, giving off a whiff of classics like "Jane Eyre" and "Rebecca," both favorites of my mother's. And this one... Gee, it certainly is...distinctive! I'm glad to report that's mostly in a good way but, even when it isn't, my mom couldn't be accused of not trying something new here.
One thing that struck me about "In Leo's Lair" is that, for the first time in the Zodiac Chiller line, the zodiac trappings are actually central to the plot. They're just window dressing in the first book and only somewhat more important in the second. Here, I really felt like this was a ZODIAC book. Closely related, this is a much more outright supernatural story than the other two. I'd say these developments were definitely positive. It had occurred to me that the surprising lack of occult overtones in two books launching a line called "Zodiac Chillers" might have irked some readers. "In Leo's Lair" certainly makes up for it!
Also in the positive category, the two best friends in peril are excellently drawn characters, and a very interesting move away from the "plucky girl in distress" model that was used in a lot of my mom's novels, and no doubt many books by her peers. Also, the danger to the protagonists is much more frightening and visceral than usual, which adds considerably to the suspense.
Along those lines however, there are issues. Some of them actually remind me of the problems I noted with one of my mother's Point novels, "The Stepdaughter." The kidnapping element at the center of "In Leo's Lair" is genuinely disturbing. That usually works in the book's favor but this element would have a clear cut sexual component in a novel written for adults. While my mother didn't totally shy away from that here, she was always severely limited by the rules of her publishers. Unfortunately that damages the menacing atmosphere that should pervade this book.
And then there's the twists and turns. Oh boy, if you like your books twisty, "In Leo's Lair" will have a special place in your heart! Now this isn't necessarily bad and, at times, I felt like it made this book more entertaining. But there are just too many of them. To be sure, my mom always writes them effectively; she always wrote like the seasoned pro she was. Still, especially towards the end it was hard to avoid an "everything and the kitchen sink" vibe. I found myself laughing out loud a couple of times, saying "Now THIS, too?!" All the same, none of this ever hampered my pure enjoyment of "In Leo's Lair." It's a tremendously enjoyable read, just somewhat undisciplined. Go into this preparing for more than the usual dose of camp, and you should have a fantastic time.
Alas, readers back in '95 weren't feeling it. I've discussed some of the possible reasons in my "Rage of Aquarius" review and it always makes me particularly sad to contemplate the Zodiac Chillers' failure. The line hobbled on for a few more books after "In Leo's Lair." They were written by different authors and I'd love to know more about them. As I've written before, I think there were plans for my mom to return later on, but the line was cancelled when sales were clearly subpar. I feel tremendously lucky to have all three of my mother's Zodiac Chillers since copies are pretty hard to come by today. If you happen to come across any Zodiac Chiller, by my mom or one of the other authors, snap it up quickly. The Zodiac Chillers are a real semi-forgotten treat for fans of the Point Horror, Fear Street, Goosebumps and etc. books. In terms of my mom's work, they weren't the peak of her career but they're an awful lot of fun nonetheless!
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.
IN LEO'S LAIR
Well, that was kind of wild! For some quick background, "In Leo's Lair" is the third Zodiac Chiller from Random House. Like the first two, "Rage of Aquarius" and "The Scorpio Society," it was written by my mother, Carol Ellis. I've already written reviews of those two books and, in the "Rage of Aquarius" review, I talk about the origins of the Zodiac Chiller line. Naturally I got into more detail about the two earlier novels in their respective reviews. But briefly, I found "Rage of Aquarius" to be pretty much a Point Horror (the famous line from Scholastic of which my mom was a mainstay) novel in all but name. "The Scorpio Society" was somewhat different, giving off a whiff of classics like "Jane Eyre" and "Rebecca," both favorites of my mother's. And this one... Gee, it certainly is...distinctive! I'm glad to report that's mostly in a good way but, even when it isn't, my mom couldn't be accused of not trying something new here.
One thing that struck me about "In Leo's Lair" is that, for the first time in the Zodiac Chiller line, the zodiac trappings are actually central to the plot. They're just window dressing in the first book and only somewhat more important in the second. Here, I really felt like this was a ZODIAC book. Closely related, this is a much more outright supernatural story than the other two. I'd say these developments were definitely positive. It had occurred to me that the surprising lack of occult overtones in two books launching a line called "Zodiac Chillers" might have irked some readers. "In Leo's Lair" certainly makes up for it!
Also in the positive category, the two best friends in peril are excellently drawn characters, and a very interesting move away from the "plucky girl in distress" model that was used in a lot of my mom's novels, and no doubt many books by her peers. Also, the danger to the protagonists is much more frightening and visceral than usual, which adds considerably to the suspense.
Along those lines however, there are issues. Some of them actually remind me of the problems I noted with one of my mother's Point novels, "The Stepdaughter." The kidnapping element at the center of "In Leo's Lair" is genuinely disturbing. That usually works in the book's favor but this element would have a clear cut sexual component in a novel written for adults. While my mother didn't totally shy away from that here, she was always severely limited by the rules of her publishers. Unfortunately that damages the menacing atmosphere that should pervade this book.
And then there's the twists and turns. Oh boy, if you like your books twisty, "In Leo's Lair" will have a special place in your heart! Now this isn't necessarily bad and, at times, I felt like it made this book more entertaining. But there are just too many of them. To be sure, my mom always writes them effectively; she always wrote like the seasoned pro she was. Still, especially towards the end it was hard to avoid an "everything and the kitchen sink" vibe. I found myself laughing out loud a couple of times, saying "Now THIS, too?!" All the same, none of this ever hampered my pure enjoyment of "In Leo's Lair." It's a tremendously enjoyable read, just somewhat undisciplined. Go into this preparing for more than the usual dose of camp, and you should have a fantastic time.
Alas, readers back in '95 weren't feeling it. I've discussed some of the possible reasons in my "Rage of Aquarius" review and it always makes me particularly sad to contemplate the Zodiac Chillers' failure. The line hobbled on for a few more books after "In Leo's Lair." They were written by different authors and I'd love to know more about them. As I've written before, I think there were plans for my mom to return later on, but the line was cancelled when sales were clearly subpar. I feel tremendously lucky to have all three of my mother's Zodiac Chillers since copies are pretty hard to come by today. If you happen to come across any Zodiac Chiller, by my mom or one of the other authors, snap it up quickly. The Zodiac Chillers are a real semi-forgotten treat for fans of the Point Horror, Fear Street, Goosebumps and etc. books. In terms of my mom's work, they weren't the peak of her career but they're an awful lot of fun nonetheless!
October 28, 2009
Old Children's Book. Liked it as a kid, but haven't read it in years.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews