diff --git a/assembly/buffer/index.ts b/assembly/buffer/index.ts
index 66866bf..b42edf7 100644
--- a/assembly/buffer/index.ts
+++ b/assembly/buffer/index.ts
@@ -22,4 +22,9 @@ export class Buffer extends Uint8Array {
     result.dataLength = size;
     return result;
   }
+
+  readInt8(offset: i32 = 0): i8 {
+    if(<u32>offset >= this.dataLength) throw new RangeError(E_INDEXOUTOFRANGE);
+    return load<i8>(this.dataStart + usize(offset));
+  }
 }
diff --git a/assembly/node.d.ts b/assembly/node.d.ts
index 80075a8..52f1eba 100644
--- a/assembly/node.d.ts
+++ b/assembly/node.d.ts
@@ -3,4 +3,6 @@ declare class Buffer extends Uint8Array {
   static alloc(size: i32): Buffer;
   /** This method allocates a new Buffer of indicated size. This is unsafe because the data is not zeroed. */
   static allocUnsafe(size: i32): Buffer;
+  /** Reads a signed integer at the designated offset. */
+  readInt8(offset?: i32): i8;
 }
diff --git a/tests/buffer.spec.ts b/tests/buffer.spec.ts
index 1596845..d202073 100644
--- a/tests/buffer.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/buffer.spec.ts
@@ -42,4 +42,19 @@ describe("buffer", () => {
     // TODO: expectFn(() => { Buffer.allocUnsafe(-1); }).toThrow();
     // TODO: expectFn(() => { Buffer.allocUnsafe(BLOCK_MAXSIZE + 1); }).toThrow();
   });
+
+  test("#readInt8", () => {
+    let buff = new Buffer(10);
+    buff[0] = 5;
+    buff[9] = 255;
+    expect<i8>(buff.readInt8(0)).toBe(5);
+    expect<i8>(buff.readInt8()).toBe(5);
+    // Testing offset, and casting between u8 and i8.
+    expect<i8>(buff.readInt8(9)).toBe(-1);
+    // TODO:
+    // expectFn(() => { 
+    //   let newBuff = new Buffer(1);
+    //   newBuff.readInt8(5);
+    // }).toThrow();
+  })
 });