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| Pike: Captain |
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| Pike: Author |
I mentioned in another post that I was probably reading Pike’s work before I was old enough for it, and for that I blame R.L. Stine, who was “the big thing” for middle school readers.
The
library shelved Stine’s teen novels, like the Fear Street series, with Pike and I was quickly drawn in by covers
like these:
So what am I doing reading teen novels now? I’ve already
covered the debate surrounding YA lit, so suffice it to say that I feel a
little silly returning to titles I read at 12… but when they popped up on
openlibrary, I couldn’t resist the pull of nostalgia! I also wanted to see how
much I remembered...
I hadn’t read this one as a teen (our library must not have
gotten it in)… and I wasn’t missing much! Of all the Pike novels I’ve recently
read, this one had the highest gore factor. The inclusion of cocaine as a plot
point was surprising as well; I don’t remember Pike being quite that adult… The whole thing kicks off
because the nerdy photographer wants to take pictures of the cheerleaders in
the locker room. When he develops the photos, he finds evidence of a murder…
and the bodies just pile up from there…
This was the title I was looking forward to the most. A group
of friends go on a camping trip together. Two of the friends go on a walk, are
heard arguing, and one vanishes over the side of the cliff (supposedly pushed
to her death). The work opens with the supposed murderess Sharon on trial for
the death of her friend Ann… but there are several surprising plot twists, the
biggest of which I had quite forgotten about! Juvenile? Certainly, but still a
fun little read!
While reading Fall
into Darkness, I noticed that it referenced Ann reading a book about a girl
who pretends to drown in order to get back at her friends. Turns out that Pike
wrote that one, too! The villain-in-plain-sight
was done well in this one and the revenge plot was very interesting (and convoluted).
I think my younger self had more sympathy for the protagonist, though. When she
reappears at the end in the arms of a sympathetic police officer, all I could
think was that she caused a whole lot of damage!
This was another title I had fond memories of. On this
go-round I found most of the characters to be very strange, making it harder to
pin down a murder suspect. It’s like Fall
into Darkness in that it opens with a girl on trial for the murder of a
classmate, but the play at the center of the story is what really makes it
work!
This title is more mired in fantasy than most Pike titles
(outside The Last Vampire series)
complete with two hitchhikers, Poppy Corn and Freedom Jack, who turn out to be
not fellow travelers but an angel and a demon warring for her soul (you know,
normal teenager stuff). Strange as can be in some parts, but I’d definitely recommend
this one for Halloween!
