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The Claw
Kelly is excited about her summer job at the local zoo—even after the threatening phone calls warning her away. Nothing can dampen Kelly's resolve to work with animals.
But wild animals can be very dangerous... and someone has left the door to the black leopard's cage open. Who could be that careless... or that malicious? As the leopard leaves a trail of terror all over town, Kelly soon realizes that the bloody claw marks are leading straight to her...
But wild animals can be very dangerous... and someone has left the door to the black leopard's cage open. Who could be that careless... or that malicious? As the leopard leaves a trail of terror all over town, Kelly soon realizes that the bloody claw marks are leading straight to her...
177 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
June 23, 2019
Another Point Horror that I’d not previously read, this was original published when the series was starting to lose popularity.
Which is a slight shame as the new batch of writers for the series added a new fresh approach, but for youngsters like me who’d been introduced to the series during its peak in the early 90’s had started to move on to more adult books (it was Stephen King for me).
Adams only entry to the series adds a much needed diversity amongst the characters in the series, I really liked the friendship between Kelly and Rachel.
The story itself was fine as the pair take up an internship at the local zoo, but not long after the group start their jobs a black panther is set loose.
Could it be a genuine accident or something more sinister.
I really liked the writing style with this one even through the story dragged slightly in the middle, the escaped panther did create a slight sense of menace throughout.
It’s a shame that the likes of Adams weren’t able to contribute to the range again.
Which is a slight shame as the new batch of writers for the series added a new fresh approach, but for youngsters like me who’d been introduced to the series during its peak in the early 90’s had started to move on to more adult books (it was Stephen King for me).
Adams only entry to the series adds a much needed diversity amongst the characters in the series, I really liked the friendship between Kelly and Rachel.
The story itself was fine as the pair take up an internship at the local zoo, but not long after the group start their jobs a black panther is set loose.
Could it be a genuine accident or something more sinister.
I really liked the writing style with this one even through the story dragged slightly in the middle, the escaped panther did create a slight sense of menace throughout.
It’s a shame that the likes of Adams weren’t able to contribute to the range again.
February 19, 2023
3.5 stars
July 6, 2024
I read this with my book club that I run on Instagram where we revisit Point Horror and other books from our childhood - @talespointhorrorbookclub
I always rate compared to other Point Horror Books and this one was such a crazy hilarious ride from start to finish and I LOVED IT! 😂
Each year Only 6 people get picked for zoo internships … and besties Kelly and Rachel are the lucky people (the what are the chances they both got picked!)
The Zoo is Kelly’s first real job to be professional and to make her feel important and although she scared of big animals she perseveres.
Even when the creepy calls start and the blood red creepy notes arrive!
There are also rumours Something happened to last years interns and that the owner of the zoo lets the animals roam free at night. So when some one goes all Jurassic Park and leaves the black leopard cage open and Luther escapes everyone is scared for their lives! Was this a careless mistake or was it malicious? And why is Kelly being terrified and targeted?
Other highlights include - Jungle Prison Camp, dodgy party fashion, zookeepers riding around on elephants backs naked and playing green sleeves to the primates, Frankenstein and Terminator Halloween masks and a unique way of getting rid of the parents!
There’s so much more I could write 😂
I always rate compared to other Point Horror Books and this one was such a crazy hilarious ride from start to finish and I LOVED IT! 😂
Each year Only 6 people get picked for zoo internships … and besties Kelly and Rachel are the lucky people (the what are the chances they both got picked!)
The Zoo is Kelly’s first real job to be professional and to make her feel important and although she scared of big animals she perseveres.
Even when the creepy calls start and the blood red creepy notes arrive!
There are also rumours Something happened to last years interns and that the owner of the zoo lets the animals roam free at night. So when some one goes all Jurassic Park and leaves the black leopard cage open and Luther escapes everyone is scared for their lives! Was this a careless mistake or was it malicious? And why is Kelly being terrified and targeted?
Other highlights include - Jungle Prison Camp, dodgy party fashion, zookeepers riding around on elephants backs naked and playing green sleeves to the primates, Frankenstein and Terminator Halloween masks and a unique way of getting rid of the parents!
There’s so much more I could write 😂
September 19, 2019
You know when somebody describes a dream to you and it's really weird and meanders from one ridiculous scenario to the next without ever really connecting up or making any sense? Remember how BORING it is when your friend describes a dream to you? That is how I felt reading this book, as though Carmen Adams was banging on '.. and then I did work experience at a zoo, and for some reason they gave me full access to the big cat enclosure, and there was a dude on an elephant or something, then I'm being chased, then I see a guy playing a flute to some chimps, then some hunk kisses me out of the blue, then I'm in an episode of Scoobie Doo and all of a sudden some person lets loose with a huge exposition dump, then I woke up."
I would have given it two points, but I added a point because this book has the rarest of all things in the Point Horror universe, that is, two female friends who don't secretly hate each other and who treat each other with kindness and respect.
I would have given it two points, but I added a point because this book has the rarest of all things in the Point Horror universe, that is, two female friends who don't secretly hate each other and who treat each other with kindness and respect.
April 28, 2024
“It was hard to believe that just a couple of days ago she was looking forward to an easy fun summer job and now she was enmeshed in a hideous web of sinister activity and deadly mystery “
Kelly and Rachael are excited about their new summer job working at the zoo but, one night someone leaves the cage to the black leopard open and as the big cat stalks and terrorises the town all roads lead back to Kelly.
One of the craziest point point horror books I’ve ever read this is both hilarious and creepy. The staff and most of the interns are weird and wacky and unlike most point horror parents, Kelly’s mum and dad are suffocating in their protection of her until they just disappear off to another state 😂
The zoo is overgrown and falling apart, the press are sensationalising what has happened, this is the most exciting thing that’s happened in their small town and honestly the black leopard seems to be having the time of his life. The zoo director is the weirdest character and I was howling at the elephant story and the monkey scenes!
The big cat keeper who is more cat than human, Kelly not recognising who is calling her, the suddenly possessive crush, the missing sister, the violence obsessed rich boy, the spoilt princess, a leopard is on the loose but let’s cycle through a dark creepy underpass, it is a litany of crazy that is just a sheer delight to read!
Kelly and Rachael are excited about their new summer job working at the zoo but, one night someone leaves the cage to the black leopard open and as the big cat stalks and terrorises the town all roads lead back to Kelly.
One of the craziest point point horror books I’ve ever read this is both hilarious and creepy. The staff and most of the interns are weird and wacky and unlike most point horror parents, Kelly’s mum and dad are suffocating in their protection of her until they just disappear off to another state 😂
The zoo is overgrown and falling apart, the press are sensationalising what has happened, this is the most exciting thing that’s happened in their small town and honestly the black leopard seems to be having the time of his life. The zoo director is the weirdest character and I was howling at the elephant story and the monkey scenes!
The big cat keeper who is more cat than human, Kelly not recognising who is calling her, the suddenly possessive crush, the missing sister, the violence obsessed rich boy, the spoilt princess, a leopard is on the loose but let’s cycle through a dark creepy underpass, it is a litany of crazy that is just a sheer delight to read!
February 17, 2023
These reviews are written in comparison with other point horror books only. I love reading point horror, and I’m part of a club where we read one each month. It’s a lot of fun. This book get five stars, not for its remarkable story, but for the humour that’s packed inside! I don’t think I’ve read such a funny book. I don’t know if it was trying to be funny, but it really was! It’s a very quick read, with a very different storyline, where we are based at a zoo! Young people are summer working, and someone is angry and on the attack, oh and a leopard has escaped! If your point horror fan, definitely pick this one up! You won’t know what your reading lol!
February 18, 2023
Here's another Point Horror that I don't remember reading back in the 90s. Two BFFs get a Summer internship at the zoo. A leopard escapes, there are threatening phone calls on their house phones, claw marks appear randomly....who is terrorizing them!?! This one fell flat for me and was predictable and Meh. Some fun lines though:
"She was enmeshed in a hideous web of sinister activity and deadly mystery."
"She knew her hair was one of her best features, that other girls at school talked about it."
"She was enmeshed in a hideous web of sinister activity and deadly mystery."
"She knew her hair was one of her best features, that other girls at school talked about it."
March 29, 2023
One of the stupidest books I've read in a long time. Upping from one star because the writing was decent.
October 28, 2024
Just fell a bit flat for me. Some fun moments but there’s only so many times it can be a good idea to go investigate a strange noise.
June 19, 2019
Actual diversity and Steve Irwin levels of animal love, but it droops a little in the middle.
I read this for our podcast Teenage Scream, which dissects the best (and worst) of 90s Teen Horror.
https://soundcloud.com/teenagescream
I read this for our podcast Teenage Scream, which dissects the best (and worst) of 90s Teen Horror.
https://soundcloud.com/teenagescream
September 8, 2022
Carmen Adams had this one off here in the Point Horror series and its blurb on the back had some potential of being a really good story. The cover added to the intrigue and the premise does begin with some promise.
Kelly and her friend Rachel get an internship working at the zoo. Kelly likes animals, has a cat and a dog as pets, but larger animals make her nervous. She and Rach have been besties for a long time so as long as they get to work together it might put Kelly at ease.
Her family has been really tense since her older sister Heather ran away and her parents are way overprotective...they would rather have her stuffing envelopes and Xeroxing papers at her Mother's boring office job.
They meet some other kids their age at the job: Sandy from a Catholic school and three teens from a different high school. Jon is a bored geek and Melissa a spoiled boaster who both got roped into the program by their parents who work at the zoo. There's also handsome Griffin who is interested in working with the bears and Kelly can't help but take an interest in him.
Kelly and Rachel are assigned to work with Lloyd, who is in charge of all the big cats. Lions, tigers and black leopards oh my which thrills Rachel but leaves Kelly apprehensive. Lloyd has been working with animals for twenty years and they have a bond but he also knows these beautiful animals are wild...and dangerous.
Kelly gets a strange phone call the day before orientation that seems to be a warning not to take the job and Rachel receives a threatening note but the girls decide to go back to the zoo...this is just some sick joke.
It's no longer a joke when later that night...a cage is left open. Luther, the deadly black panther, is let loose to roam and he almost attacks Kelly and Rachel. They get away but the leopard escapes the confines of the zoo and begins wandering about their small, Illinois town.
The zoo director, Doctor Hoffstadter, is not happy to have the teens interning at the zoo to begin with and he looks for someone to blame. Kelly knows that she and Rachel would never do something so stupid or evil and Lloyd's whole life is working with the big cats...he wouldn't risk losing his job even if it was an accident.
With the leopard prowling the streets, no one is safe and everyone is on edge wondering if they will be attacked. Soon, claw marks are found at lockers of the teens, outside the windows of Kelly's house and Sandy gets away with her life but bloody welts on her arms...
When will they finally catch the fearsome beast and put the terror to an end is the question on everyone's mind but is it the answer? Could the real question be...is there a human behind the carnage? After all someone had to open that cage...didn't they?
We have enough characters to be red herrings and some are made more prominent than others to be behind releasing the black leopard. It's a thrilling mystery and there are some avenues where you think the story could be headed down but turn out to be dead ends.
All of the teen characters start off to be really mean-spirited and judgmental except for Sandy and Griffin. Sandy doesn't get as much attention as the others and that's a shame except for being a victim. There's this little love triangle thing between Kelly, Griffin and Melissa where I'm not really rooting for either one to get him but Kelly does get better as the story goes on.
Griffin is probably my favorite character...a few of his lines made me chuckle while I was reading that made me scare my dog.
I'll backpedal but the ending was just the right mix of corny, heartwarming and finality in tying up loose ends. The reason I jumped forward and come back is because...I didn't like the climatic reveal.
It wasn't very climatic to begin with and an earlier scene had more potential to be the moment we get our answer of who and why and how. Even then the answers to those three questions aren't what I expected: awful, dumb and stupid.
A little harsh but that's the only reason I liked the book...it just kept it from being amazing.
I'd still say The Claw by Carmen Adams is worth checking out if you haven't read it.
Kelly and her friend Rachel get an internship working at the zoo. Kelly likes animals, has a cat and a dog as pets, but larger animals make her nervous. She and Rach have been besties for a long time so as long as they get to work together it might put Kelly at ease.
Her family has been really tense since her older sister Heather ran away and her parents are way overprotective...they would rather have her stuffing envelopes and Xeroxing papers at her Mother's boring office job.
They meet some other kids their age at the job: Sandy from a Catholic school and three teens from a different high school. Jon is a bored geek and Melissa a spoiled boaster who both got roped into the program by their parents who work at the zoo. There's also handsome Griffin who is interested in working with the bears and Kelly can't help but take an interest in him.
Kelly and Rachel are assigned to work with Lloyd, who is in charge of all the big cats. Lions, tigers and black leopards oh my which thrills Rachel but leaves Kelly apprehensive. Lloyd has been working with animals for twenty years and they have a bond but he also knows these beautiful animals are wild...and dangerous.
Kelly gets a strange phone call the day before orientation that seems to be a warning not to take the job and Rachel receives a threatening note but the girls decide to go back to the zoo...this is just some sick joke.
It's no longer a joke when later that night...a cage is left open. Luther, the deadly black panther, is let loose to roam and he almost attacks Kelly and Rachel. They get away but the leopard escapes the confines of the zoo and begins wandering about their small, Illinois town.
The zoo director, Doctor Hoffstadter, is not happy to have the teens interning at the zoo to begin with and he looks for someone to blame. Kelly knows that she and Rachel would never do something so stupid or evil and Lloyd's whole life is working with the big cats...he wouldn't risk losing his job even if it was an accident.
With the leopard prowling the streets, no one is safe and everyone is on edge wondering if they will be attacked. Soon, claw marks are found at lockers of the teens, outside the windows of Kelly's house and Sandy gets away with her life but bloody welts on her arms...
When will they finally catch the fearsome beast and put the terror to an end is the question on everyone's mind but is it the answer? Could the real question be...is there a human behind the carnage? After all someone had to open that cage...didn't they?
We have enough characters to be red herrings and some are made more prominent than others to be behind releasing the black leopard. It's a thrilling mystery and there are some avenues where you think the story could be headed down but turn out to be dead ends.
All of the teen characters start off to be really mean-spirited and judgmental except for Sandy and Griffin. Sandy doesn't get as much attention as the others and that's a shame except for being a victim. There's this little love triangle thing between Kelly, Griffin and Melissa where I'm not really rooting for either one to get him but Kelly does get better as the story goes on.
Griffin is probably my favorite character...a few of his lines made me chuckle while I was reading that made me scare my dog.
I'll backpedal but the ending was just the right mix of corny, heartwarming and finality in tying up loose ends. The reason I jumped forward and come back is because...I didn't like the climatic reveal.
It wasn't very climatic to begin with and an earlier scene had more potential to be the moment we get our answer of who and why and how. Even then the answers to those three questions aren't what I expected: awful, dumb and stupid.
A little harsh but that's the only reason I liked the book...it just kept it from being amazing.
I'd still say The Claw by Carmen Adams is worth checking out if you haven't read it.
February 20, 2023
🐆🩸𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐛𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐬
Point Horror books are infamous for their lack of logic, but in this story all logic is well and truly thrown out the window. However, this did make it a very fun read.
Best friends Kelly and Rachel start a summer internship at Creighton Gardens Zoo, which is also dubbed as “Creeping Gardens” early in the book due to some questionable rumours. Kelly and Rachel settle in to their new roles with a bunch of other interns, and in Point Horror fashion, there’s a cute boy that catches our protagonist’s eye. However, it’s not all summer lovin’. Kelly and Rachel are put in charge of the zoo’s big cat house, and after Luther, the black leopard, is let out of his cage, Kelly’s world is turned upside down. Not only is she haunted by the leopard on the loose, but she’s receiving threatening phone calls, messages and notes from someone…
This one has a lot of what you’d expect from a Point Horror, but it also goes a bit “wild”, shall we say, when it comes to believability. The reveal at the end was a bit out there…okay, no it was totally nuts if truth be told, but it was good to not see the ending coming—I think?
As always, we get some interesting characters (shout out to Jon and his love for material arts and violent horror movies set in a jungle), a very very petty motive and a lack of parents to make sure their child doesn’t get involved in these crazy plots. If you’re looking for a fun, comical read in the huge back catalogue of Point Horror titles, then The Claw is the one.
Point Horror books are infamous for their lack of logic, but in this story all logic is well and truly thrown out the window. However, this did make it a very fun read.
Best friends Kelly and Rachel start a summer internship at Creighton Gardens Zoo, which is also dubbed as “Creeping Gardens” early in the book due to some questionable rumours. Kelly and Rachel settle in to their new roles with a bunch of other interns, and in Point Horror fashion, there’s a cute boy that catches our protagonist’s eye. However, it’s not all summer lovin’. Kelly and Rachel are put in charge of the zoo’s big cat house, and after Luther, the black leopard, is let out of his cage, Kelly’s world is turned upside down. Not only is she haunted by the leopard on the loose, but she’s receiving threatening phone calls, messages and notes from someone…
This one has a lot of what you’d expect from a Point Horror, but it also goes a bit “wild”, shall we say, when it comes to believability. The reveal at the end was a bit out there…okay, no it was totally nuts if truth be told, but it was good to not see the ending coming—I think?
As always, we get some interesting characters (shout out to Jon and his love for material arts and violent horror movies set in a jungle), a very very petty motive and a lack of parents to make sure their child doesn’t get involved in these crazy plots. If you’re looking for a fun, comical read in the huge back catalogue of Point Horror titles, then The Claw is the one.
March 12, 2023
This is one of the later point horrors so I didn't read it back in the 90s. I'd already moved on to Pike and other horror books in 95/96. I think I would have liked if I had read it though. It is really funny and illogical. I'm not sure if Adams intended it that way!
Rachel and Kelly have a nice relationship, and after a questionable set up at the start the book does attempt to redress some of the lack of ethnic diversity in the majority of the Point titles. However, as Rachel is the character who really wants to work at the zoo and wants to be a Zoologist and is keen on learning all about big cats, I can't help but think this book would have been better had it been written from her point of view rather than Kelly's, who, as it turns out, is a scaredy cat tag-along character who just goes to the zoo internship to keep Rachel happy. Kelly has no real motivation to be invested in finding out what's going on, whereas Rachel would have done, wanting to prove its not the animals at fault. Nevertheless there is a lack lustre attempt to show some growth in Kelly's character by the end. The sub-plot around Kelly's sister is also interesting and I think Adams could have done more with this.
The finale is fairly predictable and anti climatic but the book is worth reading anyway for the laughs along the way.
Rachel and Kelly have a nice relationship, and after a questionable set up at the start the book does attempt to redress some of the lack of ethnic diversity in the majority of the Point titles. However, as Rachel is the character who really wants to work at the zoo and wants to be a Zoologist and is keen on learning all about big cats, I can't help but think this book would have been better had it been written from her point of view rather than Kelly's, who, as it turns out, is a scaredy cat tag-along character who just goes to the zoo internship to keep Rachel happy. Kelly has no real motivation to be invested in finding out what's going on, whereas Rachel would have done, wanting to prove its not the animals at fault. Nevertheless there is a lack lustre attempt to show some growth in Kelly's character by the end. The sub-plot around Kelly's sister is also interesting and I think Adams could have done more with this.
The finale is fairly predictable and anti climatic but the book is worth reading anyway for the laughs along the way.
August 14, 2023
This is a book for teens, and because I read it as an adult, it seemed easy to solve who-dun-it and was not suspenseful. Maybe if I had read it when I was a teenager, I'd have liked it better. This is another book that my daughter and I read aloud together. That is always fun.
Kelly, one of the leads, was irritating and wimpy. Her friend, Rachel, was rather bossy. The character I liked was Griffin, the boy stud with compassion and brains. Running in the background was the search for her missing older sister who had run away. As this story line was introduced it seemed like it didn't fit into the book. Later, it made some sense.
One big flaw had to do with Kelly being trapped in a building and passing out. Next thing we know she is in the hospital. Nowhere in the rest of the book is told who found her and how she ended up in the hospital. Major booboo.
Not a keeper on our shelves.
Kelly, one of the leads, was irritating and wimpy. Her friend, Rachel, was rather bossy. The character I liked was Griffin, the boy stud with compassion and brains. Running in the background was the search for her missing older sister who had run away. As this story line was introduced it seemed like it didn't fit into the book. Later, it made some sense.
One big flaw had to do with Kelly being trapped in a building and passing out. Next thing we know she is in the hospital. Nowhere in the rest of the book is told who found her and how she ended up in the hospital. Major booboo.
Not a keeper on our shelves.
November 23, 2024
A very off-kilter late entry into the Point Horror series, this book follows interns at a zoo. The plot is sadly where logic goes to die, but this book did have some great one-liners. I noted the inclusion of a black character for (possibly) the first time in my Point Horror reading? The friendship between Rachel and Kelly was nicely done.
January 23, 2020
A blast from the past!!!
Bough t a few of these point horror books as I wanted to show my daughter the books I read as a teenager.
It was very well written, paced very well and had enough horror in it.
Bough t a few of these point horror books as I wanted to show my daughter the books I read as a teenager.
It was very well written, paced very well and had enough horror in it.
February 7, 2023
A quick, easy YA read from the 90s series. The usual fare of crazy plot lines, unhinged characters, and a dash of romance. This one hasn't aged particularly well due to the spattering of casual racism and sexism throughout. 3 stars is probably a bit generous!
July 3, 2019
One of the better PHs overall.
September 2, 2020
Solid but the ending was a bit lame.
July 30, 2021
A bit of a nothing book until the last 5 pages. I know it's aimed at children but there are much better kids books out there I can assure you.
December 20, 2021
Really light on the horror..
February 19, 2023
We're going to the Zoo Zoo Zoo ❤️
August 13, 2023
1.5 rounded up.
February 15, 2024
This was a really really poor Point Horror. I don’t remember reading this one back in the day, I’m pretty sure I would have hated it back then too!
May 3, 2024
2.5 stars. Such a build up for the quickest payoff. And how does someone have a thick sleep ? Gotta love the weirdness of a point horror.
August 29, 2024
Actually 1.5. Really wish we could do half stars. I really thought this book was kind of dumb but it was entertaining a bit.
October 2, 2021
One-Line Review: Every salad should have M&Ms and every person should have a friend who’ll break and enter with you dressed as The Terminator.
Full Review:
Another single-author-title here, by which I mean one of the few Point Horrors written by an author who wrote nothing else for this imprint. (Others include John Hall's Homecoming Queen, Francesca Jeffries' Sweet Sixteen and Jane McFann's Hide and Seek.) Having never read anything else by Carmen Adams, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Kelly and her best friend Rachel have got summer internships at the local zoo. Rachel loves all animals, while Kelly applied for the job in the hopes that she'll shed some of her fear of them. But it doesn't look like that's going to happen when someone leaves the door to the big cat enclosure open, and Luther, the black panther, escapes. But was it an accident or a deliberate stunt? And is Luther the one behind all the slashings that seem to centre around Kelly, or is it a more human force?
This is a different sort of Point Horror. There aren't a lot of scares - although the idea of a panther on the loose is quite unsettling - and for half the book it's hard to know if there's a bad guy or just a bunch of coincidences and accidents. Although I wasn't expecting to, I kind of enjoyed the change from the typical teen slasher (no pun intended) fare.
Part of my enjoyment came about because I really enjoy Adams' writing style and characterisation. Right from the first page, I found Kelly to be a strong heroine with a compelling voice and a very welcome pragmatism (particularly in light of some of the melodramatic heroines I've been reading about lately!):
"Did you get anything in the mail today?"
This was the first thing Kelly Reade heard when she picked up the phone. No "hello?" Of course, there was really no need for that sort of formality. She and Rachel McFarland had been best friends since fourth grade - since before it was cool for white girls and black girls to hang out together in their small town, Danube, Illinois. They could still remember the days when they got strange looks from some people, when they just had to be determined not to care. It was those early days that had bonded them together. Even way back then they had known they were friends for life.
A page later, Kelly goes on to tell the reader that she and Rachel got on so well because they were both "sensible". They are, and I find this to be a lovely change after several (okay, several dozen) books that I've read over the last few months where the teenage protagonists seem incredibly young and silly; much more so than most real teens I know. Kelly and Rachel's logical, practical approach to life is strangely likeable, and makes their occasional goofy moments (making salad with M&Ms; hiding in the zoo wearing Frankenstein and Terminator masks) all the more charming.
Supporting characters are not really fleshed out, but after reading so many YA books this fall I don't really expect that. (Few YA authors that I know can pull off an entire cast of realistic, complete characters in a 200-odd page book - L.J. Smith, Katherine Applegate and Christopher Pike are the only ones I know who bother to attempt it even some of the time.)
Despite that, though, Kelly and Rachel's characters shine. These are girls I'd like for my friends, which is one of the highest pieces of praise I can give to a novel. That, paired with an interesting if odd mystery, make this a very solid volume in the Point Horror series.
Verdict: Unconventional, but it worked a treat.
Full Review:
Another single-author-title here, by which I mean one of the few Point Horrors written by an author who wrote nothing else for this imprint. (Others include John Hall's Homecoming Queen, Francesca Jeffries' Sweet Sixteen and Jane McFann's Hide and Seek.) Having never read anything else by Carmen Adams, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Kelly and her best friend Rachel have got summer internships at the local zoo. Rachel loves all animals, while Kelly applied for the job in the hopes that she'll shed some of her fear of them. But it doesn't look like that's going to happen when someone leaves the door to the big cat enclosure open, and Luther, the black panther, escapes. But was it an accident or a deliberate stunt? And is Luther the one behind all the slashings that seem to centre around Kelly, or is it a more human force?
This is a different sort of Point Horror. There aren't a lot of scares - although the idea of a panther on the loose is quite unsettling - and for half the book it's hard to know if there's a bad guy or just a bunch of coincidences and accidents. Although I wasn't expecting to, I kind of enjoyed the change from the typical teen slasher (no pun intended) fare.
Part of my enjoyment came about because I really enjoy Adams' writing style and characterisation. Right from the first page, I found Kelly to be a strong heroine with a compelling voice and a very welcome pragmatism (particularly in light of some of the melodramatic heroines I've been reading about lately!):
"Did you get anything in the mail today?"
This was the first thing Kelly Reade heard when she picked up the phone. No "hello?" Of course, there was really no need for that sort of formality. She and Rachel McFarland had been best friends since fourth grade - since before it was cool for white girls and black girls to hang out together in their small town, Danube, Illinois. They could still remember the days when they got strange looks from some people, when they just had to be determined not to care. It was those early days that had bonded them together. Even way back then they had known they were friends for life.
A page later, Kelly goes on to tell the reader that she and Rachel got on so well because they were both "sensible". They are, and I find this to be a lovely change after several (okay, several dozen) books that I've read over the last few months where the teenage protagonists seem incredibly young and silly; much more so than most real teens I know. Kelly and Rachel's logical, practical approach to life is strangely likeable, and makes their occasional goofy moments (making salad with M&Ms; hiding in the zoo wearing Frankenstein and Terminator masks) all the more charming.
Supporting characters are not really fleshed out, but after reading so many YA books this fall I don't really expect that. (Few YA authors that I know can pull off an entire cast of realistic, complete characters in a 200-odd page book - L.J. Smith, Katherine Applegate and Christopher Pike are the only ones I know who bother to attempt it even some of the time.)
Despite that, though, Kelly and Rachel's characters shine. These are girls I'd like for my friends, which is one of the highest pieces of praise I can give to a novel. That, paired with an interesting if odd mystery, make this a very solid volume in the Point Horror series.
Verdict: Unconventional, but it worked a treat.
November 2, 2020
I read this obscure, teen horror 90s book a long time ago, probably sixth grade. It was a pretty fun read for one-time.
September 24, 2019
Kelly Reade is looking forward to her summer vacation - an easy internship at the local zoo, hanging out with her best friend Rachel, and maybe even some summer romance. Unfortunately, things take a frightening turn when Kelly starts receiving threats regarding her internship. Kelly's choice to be brave and ignore the threats is challenged when someone unlocks the leopard's cage at the zoo. Now Kelly's jumping at shadows, worried for her life. Can Kelly figure out who's behind everything before it's too late?
The thing about The Claw is that it presents itself as a mystery novel but there's no real mystery. The mystery itself has no twists or turns, only plodding action. However, I guess I shouldn't have been too shocked about this, considering most of the characters are pretty two-dimensional. Kelly and Rachel come across as somewhat shallow teenage girls who still get distracted by cute boys even when their lives are at risk. Additionally, even though certain sections of dialogue are arguably the strongest writing of the novel, the dialogue itself feels inauthentic - the words are powerful but not the kind of words people actually use in conversation, especially after suffering some kind of trauma like, I don't know, getting attacked by an escaped leopard. Overall I just felt like The Claw was boringly predictable and - due to its lack of dynamic characters - generally underwhelming.
The thing about The Claw is that it presents itself as a mystery novel but there's no real mystery. The mystery itself has no twists or turns, only plodding action. However, I guess I shouldn't have been too shocked about this, considering most of the characters are pretty two-dimensional. Kelly and Rachel come across as somewhat shallow teenage girls who still get distracted by cute boys even when their lives are at risk. Additionally, even though certain sections of dialogue are arguably the strongest writing of the novel, the dialogue itself feels inauthentic - the words are powerful but not the kind of words people actually use in conversation, especially after suffering some kind of trauma like, I don't know, getting attacked by an escaped leopard. Overall I just felt like The Claw was boringly predictable and - due to its lack of dynamic characters - generally underwhelming.
July 28, 2024
I enjoyed this PH novel. It was different as it wasn't a typical teenage slasher -thriller -whodunit. It was slightly predictable but the zoo setting was fun and the two strong female leads were well written
Re-Read 7.28.24
So, this was just as fun this time around. Very quick read ( 177 pages) that was done in basically one night ( and one coffee cup in the am, to wrap it up). Not so much a thriller, but a decent Whodunit. There were a lot of red herrings here.
2 best friends get a summer internship at a broken down zoo that is in jeopardy of going bankrupt. They both receive death threats before their first day and find out later on that other interns received the same too. Then a leopard cage gets left open and a leopard escapes. Some people get attacked ( no deaths) some get threatened some more, claw marks are left everywhere and we are left thinking, who has done this and why:
The cat house trainer?
The zoological doctor?
the head of the zoo?
THe other interns?
etc etc
There is embezzlement, jealousy, zoo politics, news media and some other fun stuff thrown into this one.
overall, 4 stars.
Re-Read 7.28.24
So, this was just as fun this time around. Very quick read ( 177 pages) that was done in basically one night ( and one coffee cup in the am, to wrap it up). Not so much a thriller, but a decent Whodunit. There were a lot of red herrings here.
2 best friends get a summer internship at a broken down zoo that is in jeopardy of going bankrupt. They both receive death threats before their first day and find out later on that other interns received the same too. Then a leopard cage gets left open and a leopard escapes. Some people get attacked ( no deaths) some get threatened some more, claw marks are left everywhere and we are left thinking, who has done this and why:
The cat house trainer?
The zoological doctor?
the head of the zoo?
THe other interns?
etc etc
There is embezzlement, jealousy, zoo politics, news media and some other fun stuff thrown into this one.
overall, 4 stars.
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