The Blind Mirror [Mass Market Paperback]

Christopher Pike (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 2004

David, a twenty-eight-year-old artist, is recovering from a bad breakup with the mysterious and beautiful Sienna when he discovers a woman's dead body half-buried on the beach near Lompoc, California.

To his surprise, David is interviewed not just by the local sheriff, but by FBI agent Krane, who declares that the woman was killed in a ritualistic manner. Soon the dead woman is identified as David's ex-girlfriend, and he becomes the prime suspect in her murder. But Sienna can't be dead; she keeps leaving messages on his answering machine. And no matter how badly their relationship ended, he couldn't have killed her. She was the love of his life.

In self-defense, David begins his own investigation, trying to find out who the dead woman really is and what's behind the satanic murder. He's both helped and hindered by his friends, especially Julie, whom he had a crush on in high school and who has suddenly reappeared in his life, and the Reverend Pomus, who tries to warn David of the reality of true evil.

David's search for Sienna and the truth about her disappearance take him from coastal California to New York City to Florida-and into the darkest night of his soul.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this workmanlike foray into horror from bestseller Pike (The Season of Passage), commercial artist David Lennon returns home from two months in New York after breaking up with his girlfriend, Sienna Madden, to Lompoc, Calif., where he promptly discovers the decomposed body of a woman, later identified as Sienna, in their old trysting place on the beach. He insists Sienna's not dead because she's still phoning him. The police say otherwise. In the course of trying to defend himself from a murder charge, David delves deep into his past and that of his friends, as well as into the kinky vampire novel whose cover he's supposed to paint. His release for insufficient evidence sets off a second, more gruesome, and even more sex-laden journey, which involves cultists, bootlegged organ transplants and pseudo-immortality through drug-induced personality transference. Tight, clean writing and engaging secondary characters, like the doomed FBI agent Krane, somewhat make up for a plot built on the tired theme of the corrupt underside of small-town America. Best known for his YA fiction, Pike has produced an entertaining, if instantly forgettable, dark fantasy.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Pike is better known for his wildly popular young-adult series fiction than for his adult novels, but that soon might change. His latest adult thriller, a story about a man who finds the body of a murdered woman on the beach two months after his own girlfriend walked out on him, begins with a mystery (Is it possible the dead woman is David Lennon's ex-girlfriend?); piles question on top of question (Could David be a murderer? Is that really his former lover's voice on his answering machine?); and fairly races to a natural and satisfying conclusion. Following David on his slightly surreal odyssey, never quite sure whether we should completely trust him, we sink into the novel, losing touch with our own world as we fall deeper into Pike's. Thriller fans who crave that hypnotic effect will find everything they need right here. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (August 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081253882X
• ISBN-13: 978-0812538823
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #569,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Christopher Pike is the author of over forty teen thrillers, including series REMEMBER ME, FINAL FRIENDS and CHAIN LETTER.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unique but flawed, July 13, 2003

By 

Ksuzy (Oklahoma) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Blind Mirror (Hardcover)

I was drawn into this book immediately and had a difficult time putting it down, and must say that it is definitely unique in terms of the plot twists and ultimate resolution. Usually, that is enough to make for a very satisfying read. There are, however, just a few flaws that should be mentioned for anyone thinking about reading this book:
1. Not everything in this book appears to make sense, even at the conclusion. Once you find out "what's going on," you will still wonder why some things happened the way they did.
2. Sometimes the actions of the characters, particularly the main character, do not seem realistic, or things that someone would do if the events were really unfolding. The motivations for the actions are weak: "...He decided without actually exercising his own will. He was a puppet, he thought, his strings were silver wire, so sharp they were capable of severing his very reason. And what was worse was that no one was pulling his strings." So the characters are just wandering around "stumbling" upon clues.
3. The writing is weak at times. Sometimes Pike is surprising with a sharp and on-target metaphor, and other times he writes with such simplicity it causes the plot to wear thin.
Don't get me wrong, I liked this book. The ending will blow you away, and the way Pike lays it out throughout the book shows he has talent. It actually took me a few days to get the ending out of my head. I couldn't decide whether I liked it or not; Pike broke one of the cardinal rules of book-writing and character survival, and I think I have come to appreciate that more as time goes by.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic Pike, June 17, 2003

By 

Vincent Firpo (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Blind Mirror (Hardcover)

I have read many reviews of this book, many of which were by fans of Pike on this site. Many of these reviews find fault in the "Blind Mirror" because it does not necessarily show a move forward in Pike's talents as an author. While this may very well be true, it was the fact that this novel was such classic Pike that had me turning the pages.

I've read all of Pike's books, and I have constantly been engaged and entertained by him. Pike has a way of weaving a tale that is both intriguing and surprising. Reaching the end of a Pike novel is always an exciting moment, as almost anything can happen and nine times out of ten the reader has not seen it coming. A master at twisting his plots to keep his readers hooked, Pike consistently writes exhilarating page turners. Many times novels classified as "mysteries" or "horror" have endings that are less then satisfying because the reader has remained one step ahead of the author, thus guessing the outcome before it is revealed. Rarely does this happen with Pike.

"The Blind Mirror" is no different. Yes, the prose is at times juvenile and the twists often come out of nowhere, but the overall effect is one I have come to expect from Pike, and I for one was not disappointed to find that he has stuck with what he does best - write exciting, spine-tingling, fun novels with plenty of outlandish twists and turns. As we follow our hero (or is he?) in his quest for the truth, we find that the truth is never what it seems to be and often not even what we think it might be. The ride is wild, fun, and often frivolous, and I would have it no other way. Always enjoyable, always entertaining, neither Pike nor "The Blind Mirror" disappoints.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's Pike . . . yet it's not., November 23, 2004

By 

Megan (Utah) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Blind Mirror (Hardcover)

I've always been a huge Pike fan. My absolute favorite book from *any* author is "The Season of Passage." It's on the top of my list. So I've been waiting a long time for something new.

The books starts out promising but soon begins to read just like Pike's YA novels. The characters are described as being adult, but their dialogue and actions are very juvenile.

I was disappointed by the ending. It was like a B movie; the "bad guy" spelled everything out for the lead character instead of the lead character discovering things for himself. During the book he was "stumbling" on clues entirely by chance, it seemed, and it was all laid out a bit too neatly.

If you're a Pike fan I recommend this book because even if I didn't, a true Pike fan would read it anyway. But if you're just starting to get into Pike's books, make sure you read "The Season of Passage" before you go any farther!