Christopher Pike (author)

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For the Star Trek character, see Christopher Pike

Christopher Pike is the pseudonym of Kevin McFadden (born November, 1954), an American writer. He is a bestselling author of young adult and children's fiction who specializes in the thriller genre.

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 programmed computers before becoming a recognized author. Initially unsuccessful when he set out to write science fiction and adult mystery, it was not until his work caught the attention of an editor who suggested he write a teen thriller that he became a hit. The result was Slumber Party (1985), a book about a group of teenagers who run into bizarre and violent events during a ski weekend. After that he wrote Weekend and Chain Letter. All three books went on to become bestsellers.

His other well-known works include The Last Vampire (a series of six books), Remember Me (a trilogy), The Lost Mind, Witch, Bury Me Deep, Tachyon Web, and Fall into Darkness. The last three titles have also been released on audio. In 1996, Fall into Darkness was made into a television movie directed by Mark Sobel. It starred Tatyana Ali as Sharon and the late Jonathan Brandis as Chad.

McFadden is also the author of the popular children's series Spooksville and several novels: Sati, The Season of Passage, The Listeners, Alosha, The Cold One, and The Blind Mirror.

Although his books are best known for being thrillers, they are often more focused on aspects of science fiction, spirituality, and whodunit. References to Egyptian, Greek and Hindu mythology are also common in his stories.

In the end, McFadden is a highly private person and not much is known about him. What is known about him are gathered from his books and the rare instance of interviews conducted with him.

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[edit] Notes

  • His pseudonym is taken from the fictional character Christopher Pike, who was the captain of the USS Enterprise in the original Star Trek pilot.
  • He lists his interests as astronomy, meditation, reading, running, surfing and making sure his books are prominently displayed in his local bookshop.
  • He acknowledges Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, Agatha Christie and Stephen King as his influences.
  • Many of Christopher Pike's books include a reference to an Ann:
    1. In Master of Murder, the protagonist — who is a writer — inserts references of his sister Ann into his work.
    2. Many of the references in 'Master of Murder' are believed to be directly linked to Pike. In a for-word in 'Tales of Terror' Pike says that many fans have thought that Marvin and he are the same person, which he doesn't deny.
    3. Chained Together (Chain Letter and Chain Letter 2: The Letters of Death) is dedicated to Ann.
    4. The protagonist of Remember Me is named Shari Ann Cooper.
    5. In Last Act, Rindy Carpenter's middle-name is also Ann.
    6. Fall into Darkness has an Ann Rice.
    7. Much of the plot of the Final Friends trilogy focuses around the circumstances surrounding the death of Alice McCoy in the first book, The Party. At the end of the last book (The Graduation) we learn that her middle name, and the forename of lead protagonist Michael Olsen's newborn sister, is Ann.
    8. In the Spooksville series, there is a woman called Ann Templeton who is suspected of being a witch. She appears many times along the different books of the collection.

[edit] Alphabetical Bibliography

[edit] Teen Thrillers

  • Bury Me Deep
  • Chain Letter
  • Chain Letter 2: The Ancient Evil
  • Die Softly
  • The Eternal Enemy
  • Execution of Innocence
  • Fall into Darkness
  • Final Friends 1: The Party
  • Final Friends 2: The Dance
  • Final Friends 3: The Graduation
  • Gimme A Kiss
  • The Grave
  • The Hollow Skull
  • The Immortal
  • Last Act
  • The Last Vampire
  • The Last Vampire 2: Black Blood
  • The Last Vampire 3: Red Dice
  • The Last Vampire 4: Phantom
  • The Last Vampire 5: Evil Thirst
  • The Last Vampire 6: Creatures of Forever
  • The Listeners
  • The Lost Mind
  • Magic Fire
  • Master of Murder
  • The Midnight Club
  • Monster
  • Remember Me
  • Remember Me 2: The Return
  • Remember Me 3: The Last Story
  • Road to Nowhere
  • Scavenger Hunt
  • See You Later
  • Slumber Party
  • Spellbound
  • The Star Group
  • The Starlight Crystal
  • The Tachyon Web
  • The Visitor
  • Weekend
  • Whisper of Death
  • The Wicked Heart
  • Witch

[edit] Short Stories

  • Tales of Terror #1
  • Tales of Terror #2
  • Thirteen: 13 Tales of Horror by 13 Masters of Horror T. Pines, ed. -- very good anthology of Point authors; contains great Pike story.

[edit] Adult

  • Alosha Trilogy 1: Alosha
  • Alosha Trilogy 2: The Shaktra
  • Alosha Trilogy 3: The Yanti
  • The Blind Mirror
  • The Cold One
  • Falling (March 2007)
  • Sati
  • The Season of Passage

[edit] Other

  • Cheerleaders #2: Getting Even (1985)
  • Spooksville -- series of 24 kiddie books

[edit] References

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