


More than one person has an agenda, and everyone is shocked by the revelations.Īll three books of the trilogy are fast-paced and offer enough clues that an observant reader can begin to put together a theory or two on the who, what, and why. Everyone who had been present during the party when a life was lost, will be on that boat. Their all-night senior party aboard a cruise ship to Catalina is to be a great celebration, but someone has other plans. They’ve all experienced many ups and down during their last year of high school.

The Dance concludes with Homecoming and another tragedy.īook Three: The Graduation picks up on the last day of high school for this band of seniors. There’s ample witty dialogue, teen crushes, and general high school drama woven in as well, but the main thread continues to be the mystery. Author Pike takes readers on a ride exploring the various reactions/coping mechanisms each character employs while also attempting to deal with daily teenage life. Like many good mysteries, The Party ends with a dead body and a lot of questions.īook Two: The Dance is the aftermath of that tragic party. Most of the story is told from the perspective of Jessica Hart and Michael Olson.īook One: The Party introduces the main characters and sets the stage for the tragedy that will bring them all together and tear many of them apart. Set in California, the story follows a group of friends and acquaintances attending the same high school. Because it was written in the late 1980’s, the pop culture references reflect that time, ie: mention of the “big TV movie The Day After ” and of course, no cell phones plus what now would be considered archaic computer technology. The Final Friends trilogy or Until the End is a YA mystery/thriller that’s contemporary. It took all I had not to plop down in the aisle and begin reading right there. When I picked up Until the End and discovered that it was the entire Final Friends trilogy in one, super-thick book-I knew it was coming home with me. As a teenager and into my early twenties, I bought and devoured every Christopher Pike book available.

The squeal came from stumbling upon the “Pike” name on the book’s spine. Squealed loudly and most likely frightened the couple browsing in the next aisle over. When I found Until the End at a bookstore during some travel, I squealed. I wish they would have kept the original Final Friends title, because it’s an actual line in the book and I think it ties the trilogy together a bit better. The Party and The Dance were both originally released in 1988 and The Graduation came out in 1989. Until the End contains the three books: The Party, The Dance, and The Graduation. Until the End by Christopher Pike is his original trilogy titled Final Friends.
