Series Books- Fear Street Seniors Book 4: No Answer by R.L. Stine

"The phone line is DEAD!!"


Fear Street Seniors: No Answer (Book 4)

by R.L. Stine

Most of the plots and stories in the Fear Street Seniors series to date have felt contrived or just played out in other Fear Street books that I had read in the past. This one though felt fresh and interesting. This book focuses on one of the girls in the senior class that has recently been released from a mental health institution after the death of her sister. There is a part of the book where you understand that the main character, Clarisse, had a bond with her sister which doesn't happen frequently with Stine's books. Many of them simply are devoid of human emotion. You could literally change the name of any character and fit them into another role without taking something away from the book. This isn't true with "No Answer". The main characters are not interchangeable. Each has a personality and serves the purpose of the plot to discover who killed the person in the book. 

The book continues with the cliched surprising chapter endings with a not so shocking reveal of what really is happening at the beginning of the next chapter, but some of that has dwindled in this volume. There is actual payoff with some of the chapter endings. We see that horrible things are really happening to Clarisse, which makes this by far a better book than the three previous volumes of the Senior series. To date if you only wanted to read a single book in this series this would be the one to read. This story is quick to read, interesting, and leaves you gasping at the ending. I wish more of the series was like this one, but alas most to date have just been fun trips down a street that used to be entertaining for a young high schooler. It is ceasing to be as entertaining to a 31-year old adult who wants a little bit more thoughtful plot development. I still plan on finishing out this series, but Fear Street may be a road I don't find myself going down as often in the future.

Until next time... Stay Optimistic!!!