Minder by Kate Kaynak

A while ago, author Kate Kaynak e-mailed me asking if I’d read and review her debut novel, Minder. Once I read the description, I knew this book would be right up my alley.

So, I agreed to check it out.

“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…”

– Description from GoodReads

Minder starts off really quickly. The action is nonstop from the get-go. I had a hard time putting it down!

I really enjoyed how the abilities of the G-Positives were tied to their genes. They just weren’t superheroes by accident…there was a rhyme and reason to their powers. You could definitely see the author’s psychological background in that.

And it was neat to see those powers put to logical applications. Ganzfield is not funded by some unnamed source — Dr. Williamson uses his mind-reading ability to invest in the stock market.

I liked all of the different abilities that you get to see at Ganzfield — there is a wide range and there seemed to be even different abilities among the main types.

The relationship between Trevor and Maddie was one of my favorite parts of the story — it happened very fast, but I imagine that was just a side effect of their mental connection. I enjoyed the aspect of “soul-mating” and how they did not have to get physical to truly connect with one another.

Maddie is a great character with a strong voice. And Trevor is adorable.

One thing that bothered me was the amount of sexual violence in the novel. Early in the book, some of Maddie’s classmates attempt to gang rape her. That seemed like a very extreme act.

And then, one of the male Charms at Ganzfield uses his ability to take advantage of girls there.

I may just be sheltered here, but do guys really tend toward that kind of extreme violent behavior?

But it all works out in the end. I would not recommend this story for younger teen readers, due to the graphic nature of some content.

If you are looking for an interesting story with unique twists and super-cool abilities, look no further.

Minder by Kate Kaynak is available from Amazon.

**Thanks to the author, Kate Kaynak, for the chance to read this book. She provided a signed copy for my review. It did not affect my opinion of this novel.**