Slender Paperbacks (and spooky freaks)

Pike: Captain

Pike: Author

Before I ever crossed the nerd Rubicon that is Star Trek, I was a fan of writer Christopher Pike, who took his name from the captain who came before James T. Kirk. (I like how things weave together across time). 


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!