Whisper of Death

I read this when I was in middle school and absolutely loved it. I admit I was a little young for the mature subject matter but he wrote it brilliantly. It has been stuck in my head to this day and I am actually buying it to read again. I would recommend this book.

Wow. Wow. Wow. And wow some more. This book has an amazing plot for a young adult thriller. In fact, I would recommend it to just about any adult I know. The story is amazing. There's twists, bends, curves, scrapes, and bumps. The ending is a shocker of sorts, each scene is an unpredictable event that makes your heart beat with more than just suspense, but pure emotion - yes, definately emotion. I even cried. Twice. (Or maybe more times...yes, I'm a softie, what can I say??) I don't care that this is a YA, this one was INTELLIGENT. Plenty of hidden meanings, commentaries, explorations of life. Again, wow. The atmosphere was simply frustrating and depressing - good! Characters were convincing, I loved nearly every one. Pike writes amazingly well. Sometimes he has long paragraphs with stylish words that could be almost considered poetry - other times it's shorter and clear, forward and to the point. This type of work, with its creativity, originality, genuineness, and passion - is, and forever remains, timeless.

As a teenager I read all of Christopher Pike's books, but this has always stood out in my mind as one of his very best. I love Stephen King, but this book affected me like no King ever has. I still remember the moment when I closed the book and felt like the earth was falling away. The book touched my perception of reality like no other. The last chapters contain some of the most harrowing passages I have ever read. The characters are great! A MUST-read for suspense & horror fans of all ages.

I read this book in day because I could not put it down. It draws you in the first sentence, and you cannot give it up. Roxanne and her boyfriend Pepper had a slight problem-Rox was pregnant. But in the middle of her abortion, before the actual surgery, Rox gets up and leaves. One the way home, she sees a mysterious figure in the sun, who disappears when Rox turns. She pays no attention to it; its just a hitchhiker, right? But at home, Pepper and Rox discover an empty town; they call people in other places in the world-no one. They find three other teenagers; Leslie, the perfect girl, Helter, the tough guy and the class brain, someone else whose name I can't remember. They are all directly or indirectly involved with Betty Sue McCormack, the odd girl who doused herself with gasoline and set herself on fire. They find Betty Sue's diary, which reveals secrets the people in the group had, secrets which shouldn't have been revealed . . . Then there's the stories; stories which have their names in them-if the names are slightly different. They are stories of death, pain. Soon, they begin to wonder who . . . or what Betty Sue really was. Definitely read this. It is so great, and it will leave you going "wow".

This book was pure genius. The ending affected me like nothing else ever had. If you pick a Pike book to start out with, choose this.