The Wrong Number (Fear Street #5) by R.L. Stine
Release: March 1st 1990
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: Amazon
Wrong Number Synopsis:
It begins as an innocent prank, when Deena Martinson and her best friend Jade Smith make sexy phone calls to the boys from school. But Deena’s half-brother Chuck catches them in the act and threatens to tell their parents, unless the girls let him in on the fun. Chuck begins making random calls, threatening anyone who answers. It’s dangerous and exciting. They’re even enjoying the publicity, and the uproar they’ve caused. Until Chuck calls a number on Fear Street.
To his horror, Chuck realizes he has called THE WRONG NUMBER. The jokes are over when murder is on the line. The murderer knows who they are and where they live — and they have nowhere to call for help.
Review:
I always feel like the initial Fear Street books were much more refined and fun to read than their successors. “The Wrong Number” is one of books that’s genuinely fun and campy to read.
The story doesn’t rely on gore or supernatural elements to make it interesting. It is a good old fashioned murder mystery that has a touch of the creepiness of Fear Street. In some ways, I felt like I was watching an Alfred Hitchcock movie set for the 90s teenagers. In many Fear Street novels, there are multiple red herrings and suspects that keeps you guessing who the culprit is. However, “The Wrong Number” is pretty straight forward on who is responsible, and the thrills lie on the protagonists solving the mystery. While there are readers who might dislike this book because for the same reason, I personally liked it. There are still lots of twists and turns that keep you guessing whether Deena and Jade will be successful.
The characters are ok but not really that memorable. The main characters, Deena and Jade are also fun to read when they are together. The book would have been better had it focused more on Jade than Deena, as Jade has a vibrant personality. Deena, on the other hand is not as interesting as her friend. She seemed very unsure of herself and kept relying on Jade to take the first step for almost everything. Chuck is mysterious and interesting in the beginning, but we really don’t get to know anything about him. I wish there was some reveal about his past so that we can get to understand why he behaves that way.
The only part I didn’t get were the scenes of the dead cat. I am not going to spoil it for those who are reading it, but what was the point of even having that elaborate scene? Why would someone go through all the trouble for a dead cat? There scene was very random and could have been avoided. Overall, I enjoyed reading “The Wrong Number” and thought it was one of the better “Fear Street” novels. I rate it 4 out of 5 stars.
I’ve thought about weeding this one out of my library because the whole concept of a “wrong number” is so foreign to my students! The Stine books I have are in bad condition because they are almost 30 year old paperbacks, but I still get some readers who love them. Glad to know this one held up for you. Curious to see what you think of Boy Bites Bug.
Hi 🙂 The Fear Street books were my guilty pleasure growing up and I revisit them now and then. LOL, I never thought about the fact that new readers wouldn’t understand the concept of a wrong number. Some of these books do seem outdated reading it now.