Waiting on Wednesday: Thirst No. 5

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine that gives us the opportunity to share what upcoming book releases we're most excited about.
As you know, I love all things Christopher Pike, so the book that I'm most looking forward to is: 

 Thirst No. 5: The Sacred Veil by Christopher Pike, out March 5th!

Goodreads summary:

Quench your Thirst with the finale to the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Christopher Pike.Sita has lived for centuries. She has seen more than most people could ever imagine.



She has loved and she has lost; she has killed many, and she has given life.



Now, at last, Sita’s story culminates in an epic—and satisfying—conclusion to the enormously popular Thirst series.

I'm not sure that this is really the end of Sita, I don't know that Pike will ever truly be done with Sita unless she goes skipping off with Krishna in the end.  Still looking forward to it.  

What book are you eagerly awaiting? 

Thirst No. 4 The Shadow of Death Review

Thirst No. 4 The Shadow of Death
by Christopher Pike
Genre: YA, Paranormal
Format: Owned Paperback
Midnight Minute: Sita/Alisa is back, with a new body and old enemies that she's determined to destroy.
From Goodreads:

 Alisa is a five-thousand-year-old vampire, stronger and more cunning than her adversaries. But now she's trapped in the body of a newborn vampire and at the mercy of a terrible thirst. Worst of all, she's facing enemies whose fierce desire for domination grows ever stronger.

The immortal race the Telar is threatening to release a virus to decimate humanity. But Alisa and her friends can't take down the Telar on their own, and they must turn to the mysterious organization the IIC for help. But the IIC has secrets of its own and may have ulterior motives.

With two rivals and no one to trust, Alisa must rely on her dark side to defeat them. But it could cost her life, or her soul...

Midnight Thoughts:

~ Sita has more lives that a damn cat- she will always come back.  If Pike ever truly decides to kill Sita off it's going to be like Elvis- lots of people will still believe she's out there somewhere.  And I'm sure lots of fanfiction would pop up with clever ways for Pike to bring her back, again.
~ Sita and her Scooby gang are up against a clock- they need to stop the Telar from releasing a devastating virus on the human race, but...
~ They also have to contend with the IIC and their deadly Array. Rock, meet hard place. 
~ Our last vampire, Sita, tries hard not to kill innocent people, but in a new body her thirst is overwhelming, and so she does some bad, bad things.  
~ Despite the fact that everyone that ever gets close to Sita dies, she's mellowed some and has an actual circle of friends.  Her friends are a source of both strength and weakness for Sita, because she will always be more vulnerable because of how strongly she cares for others.
~ I get that Matt is all upset over Teri, but I'll admit, I was hoping that he and Sita would hook up.  I'm shallow that way.
~ I admire how Christopher Pike never dumbs down his YA novels.  Mysticism, ESP, complicated weapons, ancient gods?  Pike brings it all, and introduces quite a few topics you just don't see in YA these days. 
~ The gang soon learns the Array isn't the weapon they must fear- it's The Cradle! Dun dun duuuun!
~ Uses for Vampire Blood #909: Decoding secret passages in journals.  Human blood does not work, I know this because like Sita, I added a few drops of my blood to a spray bottle and sprayed it on the pages of my Harry Potter books, in the hopes that J.K. Rowling had some secret message only for me.  But she doesn't. :(
~ In order to defeat the Telar, Sita wants to join up with the IIC, which quite frankly I thought she should have done in the last book (because then maybe she wouldn't have gone all cannibal like she did in Thirst No. 3). 
~ So, at some point Sita is dealing with the evil Telar, the corrupt IIC, and then she gets this freaky, creepy familiar.  Can this vamp ever catch a break?  She doesn't even take a day off to watch movies or veg around the house.  This makes me sad, what's the point of immortality if every day is full of People/Ancient Races/Aliens/Creepy Children you must kill in order to have a day off? Sita needs to start a vampire union...
~ At times, reading this book is like the scene out of Pulp Fiction when Uma Thurman's character overdoses and gets a shot of pure adrenaline to the heart- the action is intense.  Pike balances this with down time, but Sita goes through A LOT in this fourth book.
~ Sita is an interesting character, for all of her strengths she has a lot of weaknesses, she can be stubborn, she can be impulsive.  It would have been easy to make her a Mary Sue because of all her abilities, but Sita is still very much human at heart. 
~ There is a decision that Sita makes in the end that left me cold, and I kept hoping it would turn out not to have happened, but I understand her reasoning even if I can't support it. 
~ I feel that there were some loose ends involving the police detective and his doctor wife that Sita tangles with early in the book, but again, there's a lot going on in this book- I'm glad I took notes! 
~ I am not in love with the cover model for Sita, she looks nothing like her. Not that I'm knocking the model's looks, since the only chance I have of making a book cover is if they ever use my picture for one of those People of Walmart books... The male model is tasty though.

Timeless Characters:

SO MANY CHARACTERS- I wish I'd had this list, because it's been awhile since I read book 3!
Sita- the last vampire, has a target on her back.
Seymour- Sita's very human, very brilliant writer friend.  I wish he'd get his own book!
Teri- Sita's great-great-a thousand times great-granddaughter and Olympian, her role is pretty small in this book.
Matt- Teri's boyfriend, the object of my lust, and half-vampire, half-Telar hottie. 
Shanti- telepath and part of Sita's gang.
Lisa French- teacher who is on the edges of Sita's gang, but the one who originally informed Sita of the IIC.
Paula- mother of John and possibly a modern day version of the Virgin Mary.
John- possibly a reincarnation of Christ or Krishna, plays a lot of video games.
Cynthia Brutran- leader of the IIC and all around bad ass woman.
The IIC- a billionaire company that uses psychics to make money, gain power, and kill.  
The Telar- ancient, immortal race who want to destroy humanity because they don't see them as worthy to walk the earth.  
Umara- Matt's Telar mom, and wife of Sita's lost love, Yaksha.
The Source- the high ranking jackwagons who run the Telar.
Professor Sharp- the man who mentored Cynthia and the other founders of IIC before his technology was stolen by them. 
Freddy- hippie, and ex-boyfriend of Cynthia, used to be part of IIC before things got so heavy, man.
Mary- Freddy's amazing partner who's got some big secrets.
Jolie- psychic and psycho daughter of Cynthia.
Lark- leader of the children that make up the Lens of The Cradle- sociopath of the highest order. 
Haru- leader of the Telar- related to Umara.
Yaksha- yeah, he's been dead awhile, but his memory looms large in this book.

Midnight Moment:

I found several scenes in the book midnight-able.  I enjoyed Professor Sharp's explanation of how the IIC began and the ESP trials, I found it fascinating. Also, I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 100- what is it? 

When Sita comes back to life, she can't remember what happened to her in the afterlife, and I really enjoyed the chapter that dealt with what went down.  It was very Greek mythology-ish, and I loved it!

Stop The Clock:

Honestly, if you've already read the first 3 books, then you just need to keep going.  Sita is never boring! 


Christopher Pike— Website |Simon & Schuster's Page (his official site is still under construction)

Thirst No. 4 gets a Midnight Book Rating of: 

Challenges: A-Z challenge, Christopher Pike reading Challenge, TBR and Mt. TBR challenge. 

Witch World Review

Witch World 
by Christopher Pike
Expected Publication:
From Goodreads:

Witches are real—and each of us may be one—in this all-new paranormal suspense novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Christopher Pike.Heading off for a weekend in Las Vegas with her friends, Jessie Ralle has only one worry—how to make it through the road trip in the same car with her Ex, Jimmy Kelter. The guy who broke her heart five months ago when he dumped her for no reason. The guy who’s finally ready to tell her why he did it, because he wants her back.



But what Jessie doesn’t realize is that Jimmy is the least of her problems.

In Las Vegas she meets Russ, a mesmerizing stranger who shows her how to gamble, and who never seems to lose. Curious, Jessie wants to know his secret, and in response, alone in his hotel room, he teaches her a game that opens a door to another reality.

To Witch World.

Suddenly Jessie discovers that she’s stumbled into a world where some people can do the impossible, and others may not even be human. For a time she fears she’s lost her mind. Are there really witches? Is she one of them?

#1 Bestselling author Christopher Pike offers up another classic edge-of-your-seat thrill ride that keeps you guessing right until the last page.

Midnight Thoughts

"What if they torture me? You know, I just graduated high school, I'm not psychologically prepared to have my fingernails slowly ripped from my hands"
     ~Jessie, ARC edition.

~A new Christopher Pike book always feels like a birthday present!  Thank you, Mr. Pike. 

~I've mentioned this a few million times, but I really love Christopher Pike.  So much.  In a way that probably would be a problem for him if he wasn't such a recluse.

~Witch World starts like old school Pike, the main character has a semi-hopeless crush on her ex-boyfriend, her friends are funny and witty.  There's a road trip.  Then come the witches!

From Goodreads

~The witches aren't typical incense burning, spell muttering witches, and they aren't even that close to the witch in Christopher Pike's earlier book Witch.  Witch is just a name those with powers adopted.

~Pike is not afraid to bring up deep issues or complicated science in YA books- part of the reason I respect him so much.  However, because science was my absolute worst subject in school, I don't know if those who actually have science-y knowledge would have a problem with Pike's theories.  But it sounds sufficiently complicated to me. ;)

~Jessie is our main girl, ex-boyfriend Jimmie is the love interest.  Her best friends are Alex, Debbie and Ted.  Debbie and Ted get a bit lost in the book, which took some of the potential fun away.  I really thought Ted was going to have a larger role.  Maybe in the next book!

~Witch world is a parallel world to ours (or vice versa?) and the rules are intriguing, even if they're a bit confusing.  Except: Jessie is Jessica in Witch world, Russ is Russell, Jimmy is James, and so on.  Can you still exist in both worlds if you don't have a nickname? With all the changes P. Diddy has gone through, exactly how many freaking alternate worlds does he exist in?

~This book has some mature themes.  It explores the question of sacrificing the few to benefit the many.  Julius Caesar and President Eisenhower- are they heroes for the lives they saved, or barbarians for the lives they took?  And there's sex and teen pregnancy.  Obviously if you have lots of witch genes you don't just take your sex partner's word for it that they've got the birth control covered. 

~The book is a fast paced read, but there's a lot going on, so you are going to need your thinking cap.  Mine is purple with green paisleys on it.  What does yours look like?

~Favorite characters- Kendor and Al.  I would have no problem with the CW picking this series up and hiring a bunch of hotties to play them.  Although, this could probably fit in with HBO or Showtime, just amp up the sex and curse words.  {side note: does it sometimes feel like everyone on cable series are suffering from some form of Tourettes or is it just me?}

~I hate the names of the opposing forces in Witch world- Tar and Lapras.  Tar is the worst though.  I'm not admitting to being shallow enough to pick sides based on name alone, but Team Lapras does have nicer ring to it then Team Tar.  And the Tar are the good guys... I think...

~While I like the cover, the girls look like they have blonde hair.  Which bothers me, because Jessie has reddish hair. Yes, I realize that the cover is all red and black, but still, it just looks to much like Sita from the Last Vampire books.  Still, I dig the redness. 

~Kendor has some of the best quotes, but here is my favorite:

"You want heroes who only perform noble acts.  But the greatest heroes often make the most bitter decisions."

~If you enjoy The Last Vampire series then no doubt Jessie and gang with satisfy your Pike needs.  Although I will always prefer Pike's earlier books (Weekend, Chainletter, the Final Friends series), he still entertains the hell out of me. 

Witch World gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

**Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through Around the World ARC tours in exchange for my honest review.  All opinion, snark and wit are my own.  The book was, sadly, only mine for a week  before I passed it on to the next blogger.**

The Tachyon Web Review

The Tachyon Web
by Christopher Pike
From Goodreads:

Originally published in 1986, this long out-of-print book has been frequently requested by Pike fans. It is the story of five young thrill-seekers who take a stolen spaceship out for a joy ride and blast beyond the Tachyon Web--the iron boundary that barred mankind from the worlds beyond. There they find danger, excitement and heartstopping adventure. And, on a strange alien world, one of them also finds love

My Thoughts: I think it's the only Pike book from the 80's and 90's that I haven't already read (and that includes the one Cheerleader series book he wrote early in his career!). Although I never read his middle school books.

I'm a HUGE Pike fan, but I prefer his thrillers to his science fiction books- of which this was his first.. I'm not much of a science fiction fan, most that I have read for pleasure have been more sci-fi fantasy then pure science fiction. But because Pike is the author that he is, I was able to enjoy the characters and the drama of deep space adventure.

Eric goes along with his friends on a dangerous space run, they're already breaking the rules by not having the owner of the ship on board, but Eric's friends Shrem and Sammy are planning on breaking even more rules. They're going to jump the Tachyon Web.

I'll admit, I'm bad with the science fiction parts of the book. Maybe that's why it works for me? This book was written in the 80's so I'm not sure how some of the science has withstood the test of time, or how unrealistic it may seem to sci fi aficionados. So, while I was impressed with some of the plot details, I'm not sure someone with a more sophisticated knowledge of, oh, let's say how the blender works, would enjoy it as much.

I liked the romance and usual teenage angst. I would have liked to see even more of what made some of the minor characters tic- Cleo and Sammy in particular. I liked the ending, it's a little happier than some of Pike's later science fiction-y books like See You Later. Pike has a thing for downer endings, something which reading R.L. Stine did not prepare me for.  What, the main character doesn't end up happy, or even alive?  I appreciate it now, because few YA authors back then wrote without some major fluff.

Overall I enjoyed it, but when it comes to Pike I prefer Final Friends or Chain Letter (the first one, not the second). Will I still read everything he ever writes? Yup. I can't help it, I'm a fan for life.

The Tachyon Web gets a Midnight Book Rating of: