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Whisper of Death
by
Roxanne and Pepper are a teenage couple with problems. They leave their small town for a weekend to try and solve 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 fi ...more
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 fi ...more
Mass Market Paperback, 180 pages
Published
December 1st 1991
by Archway Paperbacks
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There are many books I've read in my youth that mean something completely different to me today. Whisper of Death's actual meanings changed completely because I never fully understood some of its plot points - I first read it in middle school and then a few times in high school. I always remembered it being one of my favourite Pike books, and maybe that was because it doesn't have a neat, happy ending.
However, there's an overarching storyline about the main character, Roxanne, getting an abortio ...more
However, there's an overarching storyline about the main character, Roxanne, getting an abortio ...more
This is some heavy shit. The main character is killed by the unborn (and born? it's whacked) baby/teenager she aborted. But unborn/born also sleeps with her dad and gets impregnated by him? I mean, I'm not even sure I'm getting this right and it is a book for 13 year olds. There is also a character named Helter Skater. I might want to burn this book.
...more
This was by far one of my most favorite books by Pike. It has the most interesting premise of several teenagers waking up to find they are the only inhabitants of their small town. Everyone else is gone, with no signs of what may have happened. It is one of the creepiest of his books, with a little bit of Agatha Christie style suspense thrown in, and the characters are all people you feel connected to. I won't say more as I'll keep the spoilers out, but this is in my top 5 favorites out of all o
...more
Ooof. This one, like The Midnight Club, is very heavy and sad, which I like. And damn, this book was also very effed up. Which I liked? I think? I am very conflicted though. The ending is bizarre and doesn't make *total* sense, but I also kinda like that.
At the end of the day, this is a tough one to review because (being published in the early '90s) it isn't always in line with today's political correctness, but it isn't totally clear. Sometimes it's the fault of unlikable characters (Pike write ...more
At the end of the day, this is a tough one to review because (being published in the early '90s) it isn't always in line with today's political correctness, but it isn't totally clear. Sometimes it's the fault of unlikable characters (Pike write ...more
I have one word for you: abortion ghost.
That's two words, but it's a Pike novel: expect inconsistencies. ...more
That's two words, but it's a Pike novel: expect inconsistencies. ...more
This story of a troubled teenager who uses stories to manipulate those around her could have been great, but re-reading it as an adult made me look at it differently.
The plot is driven by an 18 year old's abortion, every horror in the book is linked back to that choice. It was frustrating to see responsibility laid at the feet of a teen in a difficult situation rather than, you know, the actual murderer.
There was also a nasty little suggestion that a rape victim had magically coerced her own ass ...more
The plot is driven by an 18 year old's abortion, every horror in the book is linked back to that choice. It was frustrating to see responsibility laid at the feet of a teen in a difficult situation rather than, you know, the actual murderer.
There was also a nasty little suggestion that a rape victim had magically coerced her own ass ...more
Feb 16, 2013
Ashley Ehlers
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
paranormal-2013-challenge,
ya-2013-challenge
Was originally posted on Paranormal Sisters: http://www.paranormalsisters.blogspot...
I heard R.L Stine had the same style as Christopher Pike but after reading Whisper of Death I find Christopher Pike’s work so much stronger! His storytelling is hypnotizing and absolutely spine chilling, much more in-depth with his stories than R.L Stine.
I love R.L Stine books, don’t get me wrong. I mean, that’s where I get my fix when I want a little horror in my life but that’s all they are, a bunch a slasher ...more
I heard R.L Stine had the same style as Christopher Pike but after reading Whisper of Death I find Christopher Pike’s work so much stronger! His storytelling is hypnotizing and absolutely spine chilling, much more in-depth with his stories than R.L Stine.
I love R.L Stine books, don’t get me wrong. I mean, that’s where I get my fix when I want a little horror in my life but that’s all they are, a bunch a slasher ...more
"If I hadn't loved him so much it couldn't have hurt so much. But that is, I believe, why God gave us love. So that we could feel pain. It made us that much more mortal. It made us much less than God."
This is the very book that made me an avid Pike reader back in my pre-teen, and will continue giving me the creeps even after years after my first reading of it.
Returning home one day, Roxanne and Pepper find their small town--and surrounding towns--empty. Finally they find three other teens (jerk ...more
This is the very book that made me an avid Pike reader back in my pre-teen, and will continue giving me the creeps even after years after my first reading of it.
Returning home one day, Roxanne and Pepper find their small town--and surrounding towns--empty. Finally they find three other teens (jerk ...more
Christopher Pike remains one of the most talented YA writers. He actually manages to create stories and characters that stick with you. Yes, he has had a few clunkers(I was not a fan of The Last Vampire series) but overall his writing is strong and the characters are very likable. They also end often on a rather tragic note which is something most YA writers do not do.
Whisper Of Death is a book that stayed with me from the first time I read it. This is one of the few books I do not reread often ...more
Whisper Of Death is a book that stayed with me from the first time I read it. This is one of the few books I do not reread often ...more
I read this year's ago and forgot the whole story. It was a great read for this time of year and spookathon! Love the writing and the plot just keeps getting better. There were a few things that bugged me, but overall a great book.
...more
Check out this and other reviews on my young adult book blog, Here's to Happy Endings!
I have had multiple copies of this book throughout the years, and I have read it countless times. However, between moving from my parents' house, to moving into an apartment, and finally into my house (and failing to ever completely unpack all of my things, I guess), over the years I have lost them. So since I often thought about this book (and how freakin' awesome it is), I found a copy on eBay for like $3 (it ...more
I have had multiple copies of this book throughout the years, and I have read it countless times. However, between moving from my parents' house, to moving into an apartment, and finally into my house (and failing to ever completely unpack all of my things, I guess), over the years I have lost them. So since I often thought about this book (and how freakin' awesome it is), I found a copy on eBay for like $3 (it ...more
Words cannot convey how massively influential this book was to me as a youngster. It's not just that the premise is wildly inventive, nor that the characters are intriguing. For me, the finest thing about it was its atmosphere. As a teen, I read it over and over - and it always stayed with me long after I'd finished the final page. Haunting, nostalgic, oddly sweet in places - such a great book. Mind you, most of Christopher Pike's books are!
...more
This competes with Remember Me as my favorite Pike book, but in terms of sheer creepiness it takes the cake. Don't drop that cigarette!
...more
Man. Christopher Pike is a great storyteller and I am enjoying my reread of the books I still own. But this one...it’s got themes that were lost on me when I read it at age twelve, and they don’t sit well with me as an adult. The story of a teen girl who could write stories that came true, manipulating and harming people around her? Very interesting and spooky. But the terrible things that happen all circle back to one girl’s decision to have an abortion, implying that the abortion causes all th
...more
this book is so fked up and i can’t believe i read it when i was 12 and loved it so much. i knew way too much about suicide and death at such a young age. i’ve known too much darkness all my life. the theme of time being a loop will never fail to make me want to scream.
Jan. 2002 reread:
I hadn't read Christopher Pike since high school, but I remembered bits of this book very clearly and so wanted to read it again. It was a bit creepier than I remembered. I liked the stories within the story.
Nov. 18 - Dec. 3, 2011 reread:
I remember this book fondly as my favorite Christopher Pike book... reading this book again (for at least the third time), I was struck by a number of things:
1. Adult content: I was probably 12 when I first read this book - published in 1991, an ...more
I hadn't read Christopher Pike since high school, but I remembered bits of this book very clearly and so wanted to read it again. It was a bit creepier than I remembered. I liked the stories within the story.
Nov. 18 - Dec. 3, 2011 reread:
I remember this book fondly as my favorite Christopher Pike book... reading this book again (for at least the third time), I was struck by a number of things:
1. Adult content: I was probably 12 when I first read this book - published in 1991, an ...more
No matter that this is a work originally for young adult, don't let that fool you. The plot was creative as hell, clever, with interesting twists and an unpredictable ending. The scenes work together evenly, not feeling rushed or out of place. The only section I had minor issues with was the first chapter - while revealing back-story, I grew a little impatient for the action to begin. It took off from there like a firework though, and I finished the rest of the book admiring the beauty that kept
...more
I'm feeling nostalgic this week so I've bought up a few of these teenybopper horror stories I used to consume by the bagful....this was much better when I was 14. pepper's a jerk...in fact all the characters are jerks. I remember quite liking this one, perhaps because it appeared to deal so reasonably with the subject of abortion which was rare for a YA book at the time (and still is, I assume?) however between betty sue "making" helter rape her and what a JERK pepper is about roxanne's pregnanc
...more
Ok, I know this book is for kids, I read it in 7th grade and it was my favorite book for years so I had to add it. I think it still ismy favorite book...I read it while at home for Christmas a year or two ago and STILL loved it! And since its a young adult novel it takes like 2 seconds to read. Should I be ashamed? I don't care. Christopher Pike rules!
...more
I read this book years and years ago during a flight from NYC to the Philippines. I think I read this book twice just because my other books were packed away in my luggage. This was my favorite Christopher Pike book - eery and thrilling!!!
May 29, 2012
Carrie (brightbeautifulthings)
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
horrorshow,
ya-fantasy
Like so many of Christopher Pike’s books, Whisper of Death scared the daylights out of me when I was a kid. Even the cover with its gruesome hitchhiker still gives me chills. I can tell it’s been a rough week or a totally lackluster reading list when I’m reaching for Hamilton and Pike in succession. I’m not sure what it says about me that my comfort books are some of the most demented I’ve ever read. Trigger warnings: death, rape, abortion, gore, suicide.
Roxanne hasn’t been with her boyfriend, P ...more
Roxanne hasn’t been with her boyfriend, P ...more
First Line: I SIT ALONE IN A DEAD WORLD. THE WIND BLOWS HOT AND dry, and the dust gathers like particles of memory waiting to be swept away.
Roxanne and Pepper are a teenage couple with problems. They leave their small town for a weekend to try to solve them. They dont really succeed, and when they return home they find their town empty.They call other towns. They find the whole world empty.But eventually find 3 other kids their age who are still alive in the town. They cannot imagine why the 5 of them seem to be the only ones left in the human race. They were each involved in the death of betty sue-the plain shy girl that committed
...more
One if my very favorite Christopher Pike books; I've read it multiple times since I was a teenager. It never gets old.
...more
Yo, I don't know how I missed this one when I was a kid (I could have sworn that I read all of his books- maybe 5th to 6th grade?). This one must have been released sometime after I had moved onto reading adult horror.
Remember Me will always be my favorite but this one is batshit crazy. Cra-zy!!! When I heard about the new Pikecast Podcast I had to read Whisper of Death and then give it a listen.
First of all, Roxanne is a bit of a badass, so the story is as blunt and outspoken as she is. It a ...more
Remember Me will always be my favorite but this one is batshit crazy. Cra-zy!!! When I heard about the new Pikecast Podcast I had to read Whisper of Death and then give it a listen.
First of all, Roxanne is a bit of a badass, so the story is as blunt and outspoken as she is. It a ...more
This was a twisted one, even by Christopher Pike’s standards. Overall, I liked it more than I didn’t. It was a good use of real-life trauma as a means of framing a horror story. There were some truly gruesome and unsettling scenes, which is what I’ve come to expect from Christopher Pike. There were also a few really strong characters and a few that were confusing. My main issue stems from the book wanting to be an allegorical account on the issue of abortion but falling short of a fully coherent
...more
This is pure nostalgia-rating: this is one of the two Christopher Pike books I would read over and over and over again as a second-grader, because I was homeschooled that year and somehow I got my hands on two Christopher Pike books (The other was The Ancient Evil.)
...more
Nov 19, 2019
Jair
added it
The story was very interesting, the thrill it has, all of the drama behind it is crazy!
3.5*s Review to come!
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What's the Name o...: SOLVED. A flaming red haired-woman on the cover, a group of people remain in a town where people disappear overnight [s] | 3 | 32 | Sep 07, 2013 02:03PM |
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Christopher Pike is the pseudonym of Kevin McFadden. He is a bestselling author of young adult and children's fiction who specializes in the thriller genre.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
McFadden was born in New York but grew up in California where he stills lives in today. A college drop-out, he did factory work, painted houses and programm ...more
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
McFadden was born in New York but grew up in California where he stills lives in today. A college drop-out, he did factory work, painted houses and programm ...more
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“I sit alone in a dead world. The wind blows hot and dry, and the dust gathers like particles of memory waiting to be swept away. I pray for forgetfulness, yet my memory remains strong, as does the outstretched arm of the oppressive air. It seems as if the wind has been there since the beginning of the nightmare. Sometimes loud and harsh, a thousand sharp needles scratching at my reddened skin. Sometimes a whisper, a curious sigh in the black of night, of words more frightening than pain. I know now the wind has been speaking to me. Only I couldn't understand because I was too scared. I am scared now as I write these words. Still, there is nothing else to do.”
—
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“There is much debate in this country over abortion. I have always found it puzzling. There are the right-to-lifers who say that abortion is the equivalent of murder. Then there are those who say a woman's right of free choice must be preserved. What has always struck me as odd is that each side is convinced that only it is right, and the other is wrong.
I feel they are both wrong. No one should take away another person's right to choose. And no one should kill an unborn infant. Of course I could just as easily say both sides are right, but I won't. It's a paradox that can't be resolved. I think it is better to admit that than pretend there is a resolution.”
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I feel they are both wrong. No one should take away another person's right to choose. And no one should kill an unborn infant. Of course I could just as easily say both sides are right, but I won't. It's a paradox that can't be resolved. I think it is better to admit that than pretend there is a resolution.”
