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. Gr 10 Up-Jessie Ralle starts out as a typical teenager with a complicated love life. She and some friends, including her ex, all head to Las Vegas to celebrate graduation. Strange things start to happen, culminating in Jessie's getting murdered and mysteriously brought back to life-with superpowers. As if that weren't enough, she finds herself in a parallel version of Vegas. Luckily, her long-lost father turns up to explain everything. Less luckily, there is a lot of explaining to do. It turns out that Jessie is a witch, or a human with superpowered genetics. Now that she has "connected" to her true nature (by dying), she will start experiencing life in dual universes: one day in the regular world followed by the same day in the witch world. There are also two versions of herself, Jessie and Jessica, and Jessica, the witch version, has a baby named Lara who has been kidnapped by a rival group of witches who are trying to take over the world and . . . so on. The complications of the two universes and the fact that all of the characters have two versions of themselves make the already-convoluted plot completely unmanageable. Also off-putting is the way that the rules of Witch World seem to be inconsistently applied and the characters, including the protagonist, are frequently unsympathetic. Though the book is written for teens, the characters talk and act like adults, and there is no shortage of sex and violence, making the novel most appropriate for older teens. Even the most dedicated Pike fans may have trouble making their way through this messy tome.-Eliza Langhans, Hatfield Public Library, MAα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. There are two worlds, each mirroring the other—almost. One is populated by humans, the other by witches; one plays the card game Twenty-One, the other symbolically plays Twenty-Two, known as Red Queen. Jessie Ralle is introduced to this bifurcated world during her high-school graduation trip to Las Vegas, a trip that effectively murders her and brings her back to life not only as a witch but as a mother to a nearly perfect witch child coveted by the evil Lapras, one of the two covens within Witch World. It’s another Pike roller coaster ride, with Jessie plunging into dangerous situations and scrambling back out through her supernatural witch powers, only to plunge into yet another bizarre, terrifying mess. The Las Vegas glitter and gambling is juxtaposed with the barren desert, much like the good Tar witches morphing into the evil Lapras. The novel will force readers through a tug-of-war between two worlds and the powers that connect them: good and evil, pain and pleasure, love and hate. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Pike is the New York Times best-selling author of the Thirst series, and fans will be clamoring for his latest. Grades 9-12. --Frances Bradburn “[A] suspenseful thriller, with frank handling of such topics as sex, alcohol, violence, gambling, and witchcraft…a well-written, interesting, unpredictable story.” -- VOYA Christopher Pike is a bestselling young adult novelist and has published several adult books as well— Sati and The Season of Passage being the most popular. In YA, his Last Vampire series—often called Thirst—is a big favorite among his fans. Pike was born in Brooklyn, New York, but grew up in Los Angeles. He lives in Santa Barbara, California, with his longtime partner, Abir. Currently, several of Pike’s books are being turned into films, including The Midnight Club , which Netflix released as part of a ten-part series. The Midnight Club also draws from a half dozen of Pike’s earlier works. Presently, The Season of Passage is being adapted as a feature film by Universal Studios while Chain Lett