Minder

Author: Kate Kaynak
Genre: Young Adult – Paranormal/Romance
Publication Date: June 18, 2010
Publisher:  Spencer Hills Press
Age Range: Young Adult
Pages: 249
Date Scoot Read: March 2011
Source: Paperback

Scoot's Rating: 7- Enjoyed most of it.

Synopsis (via Goodreads): Sixteen-year-old Maddie Dunn is special, but she needs to figure out how to use her new abilities before somebody else gets hurt. Ganzfield is a secret training facility full of people like her, but it's not exactly a nurturing place.

Every social interaction carries the threat of mind-control.

A stray thought can burn a building to the ground.

And people's nightmares don't always stay in their own heads. But it's still better than New Jersey. Especially once she meets the man of her dreams...

Scoot’s Review:
Maddie Dunn is attacked one afternoon and lashes out in a way she never knew was possible; with her mind. In the blink of an eye Maddie’s life is turned upside down as she is taken away from her mother and brought to a school called Ganzfield for gifted youth.  Thrown into a place where those with the most power rule, Maddie has to discover how to control her new powers.  Maddie struggles to find her place in the school and manages to find an unexpected romance in the process.  Minder is a well written and fast paced paranormal adventure.  I am not usually a fan of a fast romance (I am a full believer that you should have a few decent conversations before falling in love) but due to plot elements the fast romance in this novel worked out just fine for me. The romance was sweet and I enjoyed it.   The cover has a lot to be desired and makes you less likely (I feel) to pick up the book.  However, setting the cover aside this is a good novel! Slightly unrealistic at times – would there really be a school with basically NO authority?  And a few things managed to happen in record time.  Yet, I loved the different psychic powers and the way they were explained.  The novel had great character building and a solid lead character in Maddie.  There was probably only a moment or two of split personality syndrome, but even that didn’t last long.  The pacing of the story was great, with plenty of turns and action in the plot to keep you intrigued.  The story had a good conclusion but definitely leaves things open for more.  I look forward to reading Adversary the next book in the series!