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harriet_toad_maradona's review against another edition
why do I feel like somebody skins somebody else in this novel? I am almost 100% certain that that doesn't happen, but I don't think it would be out of place. this is one of the gnarly Pikes.
odinblindeye's review against another edition
2.0
Old Children's Book. Liked it as a kid, but haven't read it in years.
pantsless_aaron's review against another edition
5.0
This book surprised me again and again. Every time I thought I knew what was going to happen next, I was proven wrong. Well-written and tightly ended, brilliant stuff, one of my favorites from this author.
lynn_k's review against another edition
5.0
I was a bit disappointed with the Christopher Pike books that I had read so far. I started to think that I was remembering the books I read as a teenager wrong, and that they weren't as insane as I remembered. Well, I'm glad that I continued to read through Pike's books because this one was BONKERS and I loved every minute of it!
I love books that have riddles and scavenger hunts so this hooked me right away. The prologue hints at the craziness to come and it jumps right into the scavenger hunt. The hints are a mix between things that the reader can solve and things that only the characters can figure out. Even though the scavenger hunt part ends about halfway through the book the mystery and the final reveal kept me hooked until the end.
I love books that have riddles and scavenger hunts so this hooked me right away. The prologue hints at the craziness to come and it jumps right into the scavenger hunt. The hints are a mix between things that the reader can solve and things that only the characters can figure out. Even though the scavenger hunt part ends about halfway through the book the mystery and the final reveal kept me hooked until the end.
Spoiler
Come for the riddles. Stay for the ancient lizard people.renatasnacks's review against another edition
2.0
*whispers* I never read any Christopher Pike books in the 90s and I am here to tell you that this one, at least, does not read well for a non-nostalgic 20-something.
http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-05-scavenger-hunt/
http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-05-scavenger-hunt/
nicolamb's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to rate this one higher. The plot was very interesting for the first 100 or so pages but went downhill drastically after that. I know its not the kind of book you can expect to be believable but it was way too far-fetched for my liking. Billed as a horror novel, it really didn't have that much horror in it. The style of writing was also quite stilted and hard to follow. I did find myself caring about the characters though, and what happened to them.
corkycorcoran's review against another edition
3.0
Noticing a theme of caves in the California desert, evil beings with mind control patterns, over-sexualization
familiar_diversions's review against another edition
2.0
This book begins with a cryptic scene of a young man running from something, possibly either a demon or a cult. He takes refuge in a church, where he tells the priest his story. Then the book switches over to Carl, a young man living in a nearly dead desert town. His best friend Joe was killed in a freak flood nearly a year ago, and he's basically just been existing since then. The only reason he's at all excited about the scavenger hunt that's about to begin is because Cessy, a sexy newcomer, has asked him to be on her team.
Tracie would have liked to have had Carl on her team, but unfortunately Cessy managed to ask him first. Tracie has had a crush on Carl for a while, but she's shy, and then Joe's death happened, and she and Carl just sort of drifted apart. The scavenger hunt at least gives them one last chance to interact before she leaves for college, although some of their team members make things awkward.
Carl's team consists of Cessy, her brother Davey, and Tom (Carl's brain-injured former football player friend). Tracie's team consists of Paula (Joe's girlfriend, who's been angry since his death), and Rick (Paula's genius younger brother, who's in a wheelchair due to muscular dystrophy). Both teams get off to a strong start, but it isn't long before they become aware that there's something odd about this scavenger hunt.
This is technically another one of my nostalgia reads, but only insofar as it's another book by Christopher Pike. I honestly don't think I read this when I was a teen. I'm pretty sure I would have remembered at least some of the stuff at the end.
I figured out one of the book's twists only 40 or so pages in. I thought I had the rest of it figured out by the halfway point, but, as usual, Pike just kept on making things weirder. I can't even say it was the good kind of weird. It was like Pike pulled a few nouns out of a hat and crammed them into one big plot twist.
I hated how things turned out with And the scene with the dog was awful, even though it happened off-page.
All in all, this definitely wasn't Pike's best work. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that I did read this when I was a teen, but just forgot about it.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
Tracie would have liked to have had Carl on her team, but unfortunately Cessy managed to ask him first. Tracie has had a crush on Carl for a while, but she's shy, and then Joe's death happened, and she and Carl just sort of drifted apart. The scavenger hunt at least gives them one last chance to interact before she leaves for college, although some of their team members make things awkward.
Carl's team consists of Cessy, her brother Davey, and Tom (Carl's brain-injured former football player friend). Tracie's team consists of Paula (Joe's girlfriend, who's been angry since his death), and Rick (Paula's genius younger brother, who's in a wheelchair due to muscular dystrophy). Both teams get off to a strong start, but it isn't long before they become aware that there's something odd about this scavenger hunt.
This is technically another one of my nostalgia reads, but only insofar as it's another book by Christopher Pike. I honestly don't think I read this when I was a teen. I'm pretty sure I would have remembered at least some of the stuff at the end.
I figured out one of the book's twists only 40 or so pages in. I thought I had the rest of it figured out by the halfway point, but, as usual, Pike just kept on making things weirder. I can't even say it was the good kind of weird. It was like Pike pulled a few nouns out of a hat and crammed them into one big plot twist.
Spoiler
Lizards, gold mining, acid (the burning kind, not the drug kind), and dead people.I hated how things turned out with
Spoiler
Rick - it felt like a form of euthanasia, a way for Pike to avoid having to deal with Rick's medical prognosis and the horrors of the American medical insurance system.All in all, this definitely wasn't Pike's best work. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that I did read this when I was a teen, but just forgot about it.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
paperbackstash's review against another edition
4.0
Re-reading this one was fun. It was interesting as it's a short young adult horror novel, yet there is nothing that speaks of it being a horror story at all until after the middle of the book, even buildup. While this is so, the story is still interesting due to the characters and the unraveling of the scavenger hunt. The ending of the book a pretty dark and disturbing, especially for a teenage novel. Still a fun book though and I loved the characters.
daveyjames's review against another edition
2.0
It’s cute, it’s nostalgia, it’s YA horror. Deus ex machina after deus ex machina and no motivation for the characters whatsoever. The epilogue is literally plot holes fixed with question & answer dialogue. Love me a sinister scavenger hunt though.