Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: Witch Author: Christopher Pike ISBN: 0-671-69055-8 Publisher: Archway Paperback Type of book: Witch, supernatural, suspense, revenge, gifts, sacrifice Year it was published: December 1990 Summary: Julia is a young woman with extraordinary powers. She has the ability to heal people with her touch. She also knows things that are happening in far-of places when she looks in water that has sunlight shining on it. She comes from a tradition of witches—good witches. But before Julia's mother died, she warned her daughter never to look in water that had moonlight shining on it. Unfortunately, almost by accident, Julia does. What she sees is a vision of the future, a scene in which a young man she doesn't know is shot in a hold-up and dies in her arms. Only later, when Julia attends a football game at school, does she meet the young man. He is her girlfriend's new boyfriend. Julia immediately falls for the guy, but it is an ill-fated love. He d...

Name of Book: The Starlight Crystal Author: Christopher Pike ISBN: 0-671-55028-4 Publisher: Archway paperback Type of book: 2100s, infinity, repetition, eternal love, science fiction, aliens, war, young adult, genetics Year it was published: February 1996 Summary:  It is two hundred years in the future. Eighteen-year-old Paige Christian has been given a chance to join the crew of the Traveler- a special spaceship designed to circle the solar system at near light speed. One day aboard the Traveler is equal to ten years on earth. The Traveler is a time capsule as well as a spaceship. Its purpose is to study the changes on earth throughout two centuries, and then return home. But something happens to the Traveler. Something also happens to the earth, an awful thing. And the years pass, billions of them, and still Paige Christian lives, and remembers all those she left behind. Until the day she finally does come home, to a world and a future no human being could ...

Name of Book: The Tachyon Web Author: Christopher Pike ISBN: 0-671-69060-4 Publisher: Archway Paperback Type of book: future, aliens, relationships, nova, collapsing world, conspiracies. Year it was published: 1986 (version I have 1996) Summary: They did it for kicks. Five young thrill seekers in a stolen spaceship on a joyride to the stars. But one of them had a more dangerous plan- to blast beyond the Tachyon Web, the iron boundary that barred mankind from the worlds beyond. There they found danger, excitement and heart stopping adventure. And, on a strange alien world, one of them would also find love. Characters: The only characters I enjoyed are Rark and General Griffin who are minor characters but yet they have quite an impact and livened the story up. The characters of Erik, who has a knack of becoming the leader, his friends and friends' girlfriends as well as Vani, I didn't enjoy the characters, I'm sad enough to admit. Even though Pike a...

Name of Book: Remember Me 3: The Last Story Author: Christopher Pike ISBN: 0-671-87267-2 Publisher: Archway paper back Part of a Series: Remember Me Type of book: science fiction, good vs evil, 1990s, white lady savior, greed, death Year it was published: February 1995 Summary: Someone did not like Shari Cooper writing her stories. Shari Cooper had died once, and then returned to Earth as a Wanderer -- a soul who had been given permission to take the place of another soul in a mature body. Shari has regained her memory of her previous life. More than that she has realized her purpose in returning to mortal life -- to write stories for young people to help them understand the immortal life that is to follow. Her talent is inspired, her destiny great, and it is not long before Shari and her books are known all over the world. Then one special night a story of incomparable beauty and mystery comes to her. An ancient tale that speaks of the origin of mankind and t...

Name of Book: Remember Me 2: The Return Author: Christopher Pike ISBN: 0-671-87265-6 Publisher: Archway Paperback Part of a Series: Remember Me series Type of book: Hispanic, drugs, Wanderers, life after death, cripple, purpose, discovery Year it was published: September 1994 Summary: Shari Cooper is dead, the victim of a murderous attack. She is on the other side, in a place of spirits, an eternal realm of light and love. But she is given a rare offer. To return to Earth without having to be reborn. Into the body of a depressed teenage girl. A transfer of souls, they call it. Shari is given a chance to be a Wanderer, and to do a great service for humanity. It is an offer she gladly accepts. Then she is back, in a human body. Yet she does not remember being Shari Cooper. At first she recalls nothing of the afterlife. Perhaps it is just as well. Not everybody on Earth welcomes Wanderers. Of the few who know of their existence, some want them dead. And others, the...

Name of Book: Remember Me Author: Christopher Pike ISBN: 0-671-73685-X Publisher: Archway Paperback series Part of a Series: Remember me series Type of book: ghosts, death, life, incest, 1990s, clairvoyance, Ouija board Year it was published: April 1989 Summary: When Shari Cooper awoke at home after being at her girlfriend's birthday party, her family acted like she wasn't there. They didn't hear a thing she said. They wouldn't even look at her. Then the call came from the hospital. Her father and brother paled. Her mother started to cry. Shari didn't know what was wrong. Not until she followed them to the hospital. There she found herself lying on a cold slab in the morgue. The police said that it was suicide. Shari knew she had been murdered. Making a vow to herself to find her killer, Shari embarks on the strangest of all criminal investigations: one in which she spies on her friends, and even enters their dreams -- where she comes face-...

Name of Book: Bury Me Deep Author: Christopher Pike ISBN: 0-671-69057-4 Publisher: Archway paperback Type of book: Hawaii, vacations, past ghosts, 1990 Year it was published: August 1991 Summary: Jean is on her way to Hawaii for a week of fun in the sun. But the vacation gets off to a gruesome start. The boy sitting beside her on the plan suddenly chokes and dies. Jean tries to push the incident out of her mind when she arrives on the island, but finds it impossible. Part of the reason is because Mike keeps coming back to her in her dreams. Horrible dreams filled with cold blood. Two of Jean's friends are waiting for her in Hawaii—Mandy and Michele. They have already made friends with two young men who teach scuba diving at the hotel, Dave and Johnny. Jean and Johnny quickly become friends. But there are problems in paradise. Dave and Johnny have recently lost a partner in the ocean. No one knows how he died. No one can find his body. But then Jean finds Mik...

Name of Book: The Eternal Enemy Author: Christopher Pike ISBN: 0-671-74509-3 Publisher: Archway paperback Type of book: time travel, 1990s, origin of the universe, robots, future, sacrifice Year it was published: May 1993 Summary: A VCR that could tape tommorrow's news. Rela has just bought herself a new VCR. She sets the machine to tape a movie she plans to show at a party she is throwing. But instead of the movie she gets the news -- tomorrow's news. Soon Rela is regularly recording next week's news, even what is to happen in the far future. It's fun, at first, until she sees herself on the news. And learns that there is no future for her. But can she change destiny? Can Rela survive what is meant to be? Characters: There's is something endearing and sweet about Rela, something that caused me to like her strongly. I think of all the Pike's female heroines, she is the strongest and the most vulnerable. Rela lives in Pasadena with ...

Name of Book: Fall Into Darkness Author: Christopher Pike ISBN: 0-671-67655-5 Publisher: Archway Paperback Type of book: 1990s, murder, revenge, mystery, insanity, trial, young adult Year it was published: February 1990 Summary: The trail is for murder. Ann Rice is dead. Her best friend, Sharon McKay, stands accused. But there is no body. And the three witnesses to the crime only heard what happened, and did not see it. Nevertheless, the prosecution is almost certain of victory. Ann was alone in the dark with Sharon on top of the cliff when Ann fell the 500 feet into the torrential river that claimed her life. There was only one route leading to the cliff, and all the witnesses can remember hearing the girls arguing before the fall occurred. Sharon's only defense is that Ann committed suicide. But everyone who knew Ann, including Sharon, said she was not the suicidal type. And they were right. Ann was much more than suicidal. She was obsessed. Characters...

Name of Book: Monster Author: Christopher Pike ISBN: 0-671-74507-7 Publisher: Archway Paperback Type of book: vampires from outer space, horror, science fiction, asteroid belt, "Fifth world", 1990s Year it was published: November 1992 Summary: Mary Blanc walked into the party with a loaded shotgun. In the blink of an eye she blew two people away. She wanted to kill more, but was stopped by her best friend, Angela Warner, and the police. The next day, when Angel visits Mary at the jail she asks why she did it. Mary responds, "Because they were no longer human." Angela thinks she's crazy. At first. Until she probes deeper into Mary's claims and discovers a horror so unimaginable that she thinks she is going crazy. She even gets to the point where she wonders if she should have let Mary keep on killing. While there was still time to stop the thing from spreading. The very old thing. The hungry thing. Characters: The characters do have di...

Name of Book: Master of Murder Author: Christopher Pike ISBN: 0-671-69059-0 Publisher: Archway Paperback Type of book: young adult, murder, mystery, who did it Year it was published: July 1992 Summary: Marvin was an eighteen-year-old senior high school. He was also America's bestselling author of teenage fiction. Millions of kids read his book. In fact, his latest series-The MYSTERY AT SILVER SPRING- was the craze at his high school. But Marvin wrote under a pen name, and no one knew who he was. He was rich and famous, but he couldn't even get a date for Friday night. Yet Marvin wanted to remain unknown. He was worried that his incredible career was aboutt ot hit a birck wall. The final installment of his famous series was overdue. His millions of fans were dying to know what was going to happen in his his series, but so was Marvin. He had no idea how the story was supposed to end. Then one night he opens a fan letter. It has come from his publisher-in the ...

Name of Book: Slumber Party Author: Christopher Pike ISBN: 0-590-43014-9 Publisher: Point Scholastic Type of book: horror, suspense, murder, 1985, competition, friendship Year it was published: 1985 Summary: Lara thought the ski trip should be a blast. The old gang was getting together again for the first time in years. What could be better than six single girls out for sun and ski and apres ski- plus a huge house and a warm fire? Even with the memory of what had happened the last time, it looked like the perfect weekend. Until things started to go wrong... It wasn't much at first-a snowman that melted when it shouldn't have, a weird phone call. But then somebody went out for "one last run" and didn't come back. And the storm they heard about on hte radio was getting worse. Lara thought everyone was up there for a good time. But she was beginning to realize that someone was up there for murder. Characters: I think there is a lot of informati...

Name of Book: Weekend Author: Christopher Pike ISBN: 0-590-44256-2 Publisher: Scholastic Type of book: who did it? Mystery, supernatural, illness, betrayal 1986, young adult Year it was published: 1986 Summary:  The weekend in Mexico sounded like a dream vacation. Four guys, five girls- and a gorgeous oceanside mansion all to themselves. It should have been perfect. Except nothing was going the way they'd planned. There was the girl upstairs who was fighting for her life. The phone lines that went dead. And the explosion in the garage that could have killed them all. But not even that prepared them for what happened next. Because while they were getting some sun, someone else was getting revenge- and the terror wouldn't stop until the weekend was over. Characters: I had a hard time relating and caring about the characters in the book. I honestly don't know why. They seemed kind of predictable and a lot was tell and not show. Theme: You never kno...

Name of book: See You Later Author Name: Christopher Pike ISBN: 0-671-02025-0 Publisher: Archway Paperback Type of book: Young adult Year it was published: April 1990 Summary: Mark has just graduated from high school and has just fallen in love for the first time. THe girl's name is Becky. Unfortunately for Mark, Becky has a boyfriend. Mark tries his best, but he is unable to win Becky for himself. THen Mark meets a young couple: Vincent and Kara. Both look extremely familiar to him, although he could swear he's never seen them before. They quickly become good friends. Kara does not want Mark to give up on Becky. In fact, Kara is obsessed that Mark and Becky get together, and she comes up with an elaborate scheme to break up Becky and her boyfriend. Mark thinks the scheme is cruel. He tries to stop kara. He doesn't succeed. Suddenly Becky is a free woman, and Mark can't help but ask her out on a date. THen things start to get very strange. AN evil ma...

Name of book: Scavenger Hunt Author Name: Christopher Pike ISBN: 0-671-67656-3 Publisher: Archway Paperback Type of book: Young adult Year it was published: July 1989 Summary: School was almost over. A secretive club on campus had organized a scavenger hunt for the entire senior class. In small groups, and with the help of cleverly planted clues, the kids are led throughout the city, and then deep into a nighttime desert. The sponsoring club has promised a wonderful prize for the first group to reach the goal of the hunt. But for Carl Timmons, a troubled young man who has recently lost his best friend, the hunt will become a nightmare. Led astray by his love for a strangely beautiful girl, he will wander far from the others, and back into a haunted past, where the line between hte living and the dead is blurred and broken. Characters: The characters are second dimensional but are interesting. In particular its hard for me to find a character I disliked. Also th...

Name of book: Spellbound Author Name: Christopher Pike ISBN: 0-671-68793-X Publisher: Archway Paperback Novel Type of book: Young adult Year it was published: April 1988 Summary: They found Karen Holly in the mountain stream, her skull crushed. There was only one witness to the tragedy, Karen's boyfriend, Jason Whitfield. He said a grizzly had killer her. But a lot of people didn't believe him. They thought Jason had murdered her in a fit of rage. And now weeks have passed, and Jason has another girlfriend, Cindy Jones. And there are the new kids in town. Joni Harper, the quiet English beauty that Cindy's brother, Alex, cannot get out of his mind. And Bala, the foreign exchange student from Africa, the grandson of a powerful shaman. Together they will return to the place where Karen was killed. Some will die. The others will come face to face with a horror beyond imagining. Characters: Although the characters seemed to be two dimensional in my view, t...

Name of book: Whisper of Death Author Name:  Christopher Pike ISBN:  0-671-69058-2 Publisher:  Archway Paperback, Simon and Schuster Type of book:  Young adult, horror, contemporary, science fiction Year it was published:  December 1991 Summary:  Roxanne and Pepper are a teenager couple with problems. They leave their small town for a weekend to try and solver them. They don’t really succeed, and when they return home they find their town empty. They call other towns. They find the whole world empty. But eventually they discover three other kids their age who are still alive in the town. They cannot imagine why the five of them seem to be the only ones left of the entire human race. They have only one thing in common. They were each directly or indirectly involved in the death of Betty Sue-the plain, shy girl who committed suicide only a short time ago. Betty Sue-the quiet, brilliant girl who wrote short stories about ...

Composition of a Soul The title: The Lost Mind Author: Christopher Pike ISBN: 0-671-87269-9 Publisher: Archway Paperback original Type of book: Young adult novel Year it was published: August 1995 Summary:   She awoke in the woods beside a dead body. There was a knife in her hand, blood on her clothes. Had she killed the young woman who lay beside her? She couldn’t remember. She couldn’t remember anything. Not even her own name. It was as if someone had stolen her mind. Stolen her soul. Characters: This novel is written in a first point of view from Jennifer. I enjoyed the characters a lot, everyone had interesting personality traits and were likable. Everyone also plays a part in one way or another. Jennifer can best be described as resourceful and brave, as in all of Pike's female protagonists, and isn't afraid to do what she can so evil can be stopped.  Theme: Pike, in my opinion, seems to be kind of obsessed with the idea ...

Becoming mature through Immortality Title: The Immortal Author: Christopher Pike ISBN: 0-671-74510-7 Publisher: Archway Paperback Type of Book: Young adult although anyone can enjoy it, historical, modern, Greece, Greek myths, fantasy Year it was published: July 1993 Summary:  Josie is on vacation in Greece with her father, his new girlfriend, and her best friend. While visiting the sacred island of Delos, she accidentally stumbles upon an artifact-a tiny statue of a Goddess. Immediately Josie is enchanted by the statue and she takes it with her when she leaves the island. Then the trouble starts. A guy takes her for a boat ride and she is almost killed. Then the image of the Goddess begins to haunt her dream. The goddess wants something from Josie that she doesn’t want to give. The immortal wants to be mortal. The Goddess wants Josie’s life. Characters: The characters within this book are round, in particular the main cha...

Hidden Mysteries The Midnight Club by Christopher Pike is about five teenagers that have incurable diseases and are dying. But they also created Midnight Club where every day at midnight they meet at a room to tell different tales. In particular it focuses on Ilonka Pawluk as the main character, and tells of her affection and love towards another member, Kevin. There is also focus on different stories that the members tell that range from past lives to modern society and lessons that can be gleaned from all. There is also a hint of a supernatural force at play. Published by Archway Paperback in February of 1994, ISBN is 0-671-87263-X. Despite the young adult label, this book should appeal to all ages (I doubt this will appeal to little children), especially those who love supernatural elements in stories, and to Christopher Pike diehard fans (I myself am almost one,) although due to eastern theories of reincarnation, I doubt this novel will appeal to serious Christians. This ...