I took a trip back to my youth for my TBR Challenge June book. The book I read was The Blind Mirror, by Christopher Pike. I say this took me back to my youth because when I was in my early teens, I discovered Christopher Pike.
Christopher Pike wrote thriller mysteries for young adults, but he wrote as if he was writing to adults. He did not talk down to his audience, and he wrote mysteries that I could not figure out. There was always a twist, a surprise that I didn't see coming. There were adult themes and interesting plots. I loved his books. After being introduced to his books, I discovered Lois Duncan, and then R.L. Stine came onto the scene and L.J. Smith (although I read only her early books). I really enjoyed all these books, but I thought nothing was as good as Christopher Pike.
As I got older, I stopped reading his books and moved on to other, older material, but my love for him and his books remained in my heart. He did come out with a few adult books, and I read and really enjoyed Sati and The Season of Passage. He took a few years off (there might have been a book or two I missed in there), and I stopped looking for him.
A couple years ago, I was telling my husband about how much I loved Christopher Pike books and mentioned that he had written some adult books. Londo asked me if he'd written anything recently, so I checked. And I found this book, The Blind Mirror, on Amazon. I immediately ordered it, but I didn't read it right away. It had been a long time since I read scary books and I wasn't quite up for a thriller, nostalgia or no.
I finally read it for my June book. And I'm glad I did.
The Blind Mirror was a good book. It had interesting characters, an intriguing plot, mysterious twists (including a couple I didn't see coming), and some classic Christopher Pike themes (which I enjoyed but did see coming). The book was about a man who left town after his girlfriend broke up with him, but on his return he discovers a dead body on the beach. Is it his girlfriend's body? The one who is calling him and wanting to get back together again? And what's going on with his old high-school crush who is suddenly all over him? And there is also some unanswered questions from the man's friends who died back in his high school days.
The book keeps you guessing about many different subplots. It kept my interest and kept me constantly guessing, wondering if anything was connected and in what way. I was able to keep up with all the different characters and themes, and in fact I thought they added interest.
I must say that it wasn't a perfect book. I was a little bit dissappointed in the end of the book. Not because it left me hanging, because he did answer all the different unanswered questions and mysteries. But some things were never adequately detailed. I never did understand why some of the things happened or what were the motivations of certain characters. I was left seeing what happened, but not always understanding why they happened.
Overall, I really liked The Blind Mirror, for all the reasons I've always liked Christopher Pike. I think it was a good book, one that could have been great. It was pretty short, and a definitely fast-paced read that was worth the time. If you like interesting thriller mysteries with a side of paranormal, I suggest you try this book and others by Christopher Pike.
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