Echoes [Paperback]

Melinda Metz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 27, 2010

Can't believe she did that . . .

. . . at four-thirty I have to . . .

. . . I hate this place . . .

Rae Voight is losing her mind. When she walks down the halls of Sanderson Prep, she hears voices . . . even when no one is talking. Other people's thoughts crowd her head, a confusing tangle of insecurities and dark secrets. Just when Rae reaches her breaking point, one voice comes screaming through the din, loud and clear:

. . . Rae must die . . .

If Rae doesn't figure out who the thought belongs to soon, she could lose more than just her sanity.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Melinda Metz has long been fascinated with the paranormal. She explored the world of aliens with her Roswell High series and now enters the mind of a psychic girl in the Echoes books. She was on the writing staff, along with writing partner Laura J. Burns, of the TV shows Roswell (based on her series) and 1-800-Missing. Melinda lives in Concord, North Carolina, with her pen-eating dog, Dodger.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: HarperTeen; 1 edition (July 27, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061968781
• ISBN-13: 978-0061968785
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,081,438 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Melinda Metz grew up in San Jose, California. People sometimes ask if she knows the way there. She kinda does, but she has an off-kilter sense of direction, so to be confident of arriving, it's better to consult some kind of navigational device.

Her mother tried to teach her to read in kindergarten, but Melinda had no interest. She also had no interest in learning to write her name. (FYI, when Melinda was in kindergarten it was all about finger-painting, play time, and naps.) Eventually, she mastered both and even majored in English at San Jose State University.

After college, Melinda moved to Manhattan to seek her fortune, which involved learning to identify fruits and vegetables while working at a grocery store,
making $2.73 working backstage for an off-off Broadway play (her part of the box-office profits), and editing books.

Melinda and the lovely and talented Laura J. Burns pretty much became unofficial writing partners when they were editors at the same company. They teamed up to brainstorm story ideas, and at some point their brains fused in some key places. Later they worked on the Roswell High book series, Laura developing and editing the series, Melinda writing.

That series led to Melinda and Laura, now an official writing team, writing two TV pilots, moving to L.A. to work on the Roswell TV show, and briefly living in Toronto while on the writing staff of 1-800-Missing. They both continue to write books, together and separately.

Melinda has never regretted learning to read and write her name.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Read!, July 29, 2010

By 

Cari "Cari's Book Blog" (Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Echoes (Paperback)

How does Rae Voight, the popular girl end up in a mental hospital? Rae had a breakdown in school when she was hearing thoughts that weren't her own. Being that her mother died in a mental institution after murdering someone Rae thinks the same is happening to her.

While forced to attend group therapy she meets Anthony who is very short tempered. Anthony figures out that when Rae touches a finger print she hears what the person was thinking at the time. As Rae spends more time with Anthony she realizes he always goes out of his way to help his family and friends. When accidentally reading Anthony's prints Rae finds out he never knew his father and a lot of anger comes from having a learning disability.

Just as Rae is coming to term with her gift she finds out that someone is trying to kill her. She also starts receiving packages and weird notes that later lead to her mother. The entire time Anthony is at her side trying to help her.

[Anthony KISS HER!]

I really like that Rae has a good handle on all the obstacles thrown her way. I also love that Anthony is sweet and is often misunderstood. I only wish that Rae had picked up on what Anthony felt sooner.

Echos was published earlier as Fingerprints 1-3. The cover is stunning and will make you want to pick it up in bookstores. The stories are easy to devour! My only thought is CLIFFHANGER!!!! Fans of The Body Finder will love this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Phenomenal Book (Series), November 14, 2010

By 

CoLiamPet (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Echoes (Paperback)

Echoes is actually a re-release of books one through three of the Fingerprints series which was originally published in 2000/2001. Contrary to what another reviewer noted, the entire series is easy to locate, I found it in its entirety on Amazon in two seconds and bought each one for Kindle ($4.99/book). Anyway, I digress. This is, hands down, the best series I have ever read. Melinda Metz has a true gift for creating vibrant characters and drops them into such a fascinating world and the reader is compelled to stay seated until the final page is read. I think what I love most about her writing is that she has an uncanny ability to meld suspense and tension with everyday life. In one scene you're falling through a skylight in the search for a kidnapped friend, in the next you're running late for group therapy. And it works! What's more, there is so much happening that you simply don't notice that you've killed three hours devouring a book.

This book has everything, mystery, suspense, love, heartbreak, teen angst, etc. and it's all blended masterfully into a story that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The dynamics between Anthony and Rae are electric yet the budding romance is subdue and tender. These two are, at the core of everything, good friends. It's a wonderful lesson for teens, especially in this age where most books tout epic love affairs, that at the heart of it all you should fall in love with your best friend. The paranormal element are truly original and the unfolding mystery is so gripping you simply can't pull yourself away.

This is a must read! And once you've finished, do yourself a favor and complete the series by reading Fingerprints books four through seven.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 7 book series.. not a trilogy!, November 7, 2010

By 

CRISTY "Mommy of twins" (Bluffton, SC, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Echoes (Paperback)

This is a fun well written story that is easy to get sucked into.. which I did.
The story is based on a High School Jr, Rae Voight, who finds out that she can pick up "echoes", of other peoples thoughts by touching her fingers to theirs, or to the fingerprints left behind on objects they've touched. When the "not-her" thoughts started popping into her head, Rae fears she was going insane like her mother, who had died in a mental hospital when Rae was a baby. The new revelation of Fingerprinting causes Rae to question whether her mother really was crazy or if they had more in common then just their looks.
Rae is a likeable and relatable character, as is hard-to-resist bad boy Anthony. The two form a close friendship after Rae uses her special gift to clear Anthony's name in a criminal case.. which reveals evidence of a much more disturbing conspiracy that could cost them both their lives.
This story has it all.. non-stop action, romance, assassination attempts, kidnapping and murder. Fans of books like the Body Finder and Whisper will enjoy this paranormal mystery which is captivating and hard to put down.

Unfortunately I was unaware that is was a reprint of a older series (books #1-3).. which is great, aside from the fact that the series is a collection of 7 total books (not a trilogy)... and books #4-7 are nearly impossible to get your hands on. Incredibly frustrating!!.. I REALLY hope that HarperCollins Publishing plans to do a reprint of the final 4 books soon, although I was unable find any encouraging evidence of that on the web. I recommend this book.. if you don't mind hunting down the final 4 books, other wise you'll have to be content with the story ending quite unfinished and a huge cliffhanger to chew on.