Christopher Pike (author)  

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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), the Final Friends Trilogy, Remember Me (a trilogy), The Lost Mind, Witch, Whisper of Death, Alosha, The Shaktra, The Yanti, Bury Me Deep, The 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 Jonathan Brandis as Chad.

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

He is currently writing the next book in the Alosha series, Nemi.

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.

A movie to Alosha is supposed to be coming out sometime in 2009.

McFadden is a highly private person; what is known about him is gathered from his books and very few interviews.

Notes

• 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:

• In Master of Murder, the protagonist — who is a writer — inserts references to his sister Ann into his work. Many of the references in Master of Murder are believed to be directly linked to Pike. In a foreword in Tales of Terror Pike says that many fans have thought that Marvin and he are the same person, which he denies--claiming there are only some minor similarities.
• Chained Together (Chain Letter and Chain Letter 2: The Ancient Evil) is dedicated to Ann.
• The Season of Passage is also dedicated to Ann.
• The protagonist of Remember Me is named Shari Ann Cooper.
• In Last Act, Rindy Carpenter's middle name is Ann.
• Fall into Darkness has an Ann Rice.
• 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 (also the first time a main character's name was Ann and not a middle name).
• 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.
• In the "Whisper of Death" the main character's name is Roxanne.
• In the fifth book of The Last Vampire series, he dedicates it to his 'sister, Ann, who is a vampire'

Bibliography

Young adult

• Slumber Party (1985)
• Weekend (1986)
• Chain Letter (1986)
• The Tachyon Web (1986)
• Last Act (1988)
• Spellbound (1988)
• Final Friends 1: The Party (1988)
• Final Friends 2: The Dance (1988)
• Gimme a Kiss (1988)
• Remember Me (1989)
• Final Friends 3: The Graduation (1989)
• Scavenger Hunt (1989)
• Fall into Darkness (1990)
• See You Later (1990)
• Witch (1990)
• Whisper of Death (1991)
• Die Softly (1991)
• Bury Me Deep (1991)
• The Ancient Evil: Chain Letter 2 (1992)
• Master of Murder (1992)
• Monster (1992)
• Road to Nowhere (1993)
• The Eternal Enemy (1993)
• The Immortal (1993)
• The Wicked Heart (1993)
• Remember Me 2: The Return (1994)
• The Last Vampire (1994)
• The Last Vampire 2: Black Blood (1994)
• The Midnight Club (1994)
• Remember Me 3: The Last Story (1995)
• The Last Vampire 3: Red Dice (1995)
• The Lost Mind (1995)
• The Visitor (1995)
• The Last Vampire 4: Phantom (1996)
• The Last Vampire 5: Evil Thirst (1996)
• The Last Vampire 6: Creatures of Forever (1996)
• The Starlight Crystal (1996)
• The Star Group (1997)
• Execution of Innocence (1997)
• Hollow Skull (1998)
• Magic Fire (1999)
• The Grave (1999)

Short stories

• Thirteen: 13 Tales of Horror by 13 Masters of Horror - edited by T. Pines; an anthology of Point authors; contains the Pike story Collect Call 1'Collect Call 2: The Black Walker. (1991)
• Tales of Terror #1 - Includes a sequel to Master of Murder. (1997)
• Tales of Terror #2 - Includes a second follow-up to Master of Murder. (1998)
• 666: The Number of the Beast - an anthology released by Point in 2007; contains Pike's short story Saving Face. (2007)

Adult

• Sati (1990)
• The Season of Passage (1992)
• The Listeners (1995)
• The Cold One (1995; the sequel Seedling was never written.)
• The Blind Mirror (2003)
• Falling (March 2007)

Other

• Cheerleaders #2: Getting Even (1985)
• Spooksville - series of 24 children's books (1995 - 1999)
• Alosha series (more books are to come in this series)
  1. Alosha (2004)
  2. The Shaktra (2005)
  3. The Yanti (2006)
  4. Nemi (yet to be released)