Name: Chain Letter
ISBN: 9781444901276

Christopher Pike

Seven friends, one secret deadly chain letter. One by one they will regret they were ever involved...

Chain Letter

They all shared the same secret...now they would share the same terror

When Alison first read the chain letter signed 'Your Caretaker', she thought it was some terrible sick joke. Someone, somewhere knew about that awful night when she and six other friends committed an unthinkable crime in the desolate California desert. And now that person was determined to make them pay for it.

One by one, the chain letter came to each of them... demanding dangerous, impossible deeds... threatening violence if the demands were not met.

No one out of the seven wanted to believe that this nightmare was really happening to them.

Until the accidents started happening - and the dying...
--back cover

Sarah Sammis

I missed Christopher Pike's books when I was a kid. I've only recently started reading them but I like his take on the horror genre. His books are complex enough to be interesting but short enough to only take about a day's worth of reading.

Chain Letters either through the mail (pre internet days) or via email always close with a threat of bad things happening if the chain is broken. Chain Letter follows a group of high school friends who witness those bad things first hand.

Alison and her friends are listed on a chain letter sent by the mysterious "Caretaker". Someone wants to make them pay for a crime they committed last summer. Did they actually kill a man on a desert highway? Is the Caretaker trying to avenge his death?

Chain Letter looks at how cruel teens can be to each other. It's an examination of "man's inhumanity to man" and the resolution to the mystery is tight and satisfying.

The characters return in Chain Letter 2: An Ancient Evil. The sequel while also entertaining is very different in tone and theme. Although Chain Letter isn't as highly rated as its sequel, I enjoyed both and think they complement each other.

the ancient evil

Chain letter 2

Alison and the surviving friends of the chain letter troubles have moved on with their lives. Some are off to college and others are working locally. Just as things seem to ge going perfectly a new chain letter arrives signed by the Caretaker. How can this be? The person responsible is dead.

Meanwhile, Alison and Tom hit a rough patch in the relationship that started near the end of the first book. Tom doesn't want Alison to go cross country to college. He starts to date a local college girl and this new girl friend is trouble. She convinces Tom that Alison is cheating on him with a young detective.

In the middle of all this lovers angst the new chain letter mayhem turns deadly. Has another friend betrayed the group or is the Caretaker something worse?

As the cover art and subtitle of the book, The Ancient Evil, imply, the Caretaker is something much worse than a jealous friend. The second half of the book takes on a decidedly supernatural tone as Alison and her friends learn of satanic cults, blood sacrifices and other ghoulish stuff.

The ending was a bit too "sunday school" for me but the rest of the story was entertaining enough to forgive the sappy and preachy final pages.

Alexa M

**3.5/5** 
This was good and the ending was very unexpected!!!

Seven teenage friends receive letters signed "Your Caretaker," who knows they committed an unthinkable crime in the desolate California desert.

Chain Letter; The Ancient Evil

Allison Urban

Holy cow. This was so good! I loved the characters so much :) I'm surprised it doesn't have many reviews. (view spoiler)[I was a little confused about the ending though. The genre completely changed in the last chapter of The Ancient Evil. (hide spoiler)]