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Steepleton Chronicles #2
Following Christopher Creed
Years later . . . what really happened to Christopher Creed?When Torey Adams posts on his blog that a body has been found in Steepleton—four years after Christopher Creed disappeared—college reporter Mike Mavic sells his laptop and hops a plane to capture the story that will undoubtedly launch his journalistic career. But what Mike finds is a town suffering under a cloud of bad frequency and people with an underlying streak of meanness. To the teens of Steepleton, Chris is nothing more than history—but to Justin Creed, a teen obsessed with his older brother’s memory and balancing on the edge of sanity, discovering what really happened to Chris Creed is a matter of life and death.
405 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
24 people are currently reading
700 people want to read
About the author
Carol Plum-Ucci
12 books182 followersCarol Plum-Ucci is a young adult novelist and essayist. Plum-Ucci’s most famous work to date is The Body of Christopher Creed, for which she won a Michael L. Printz Award in 2002 and was named a finalist to the Edgar Allan Poe Award. Describing her subjects as "the most common, timeless, and most heart-felt teenagers," Plum-Ucci is widely recognized for her use of the South Jersey shore to set scenes for engaging characters embracing suspense themes.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
December 20, 2011
If you're a reader like me, you probably finished The Body of Christopher Creed feeling like it finished well. Mysteries remained, but the story was over as far as we were concerned. If you're like me, you were probably at least a little surprised to see Following Christopher Creed on the shelf, a sequel to the story that didn't seem to need a sequel.
And if you're a reader like me, you're intrigued anyway.
Following Christopher Creed picks up four years after the events of Christopher Creed's still-unsolved disappearance, with Mike Mavic. Mike is a hopeful college reporter investigating a recently-found dead body, thinking it might be that of the long-lost teen. Mike is also nearly blind, and dealing with some pretty severe trauma of his own. With the help of his girlfriend, he meditates and struggles through his many boundaries using the power of positive thinking and concentration.
If you're a reader like me, here's where you'll start to wonder how some of this is relevant. Mike's story sometimes veers off into long discussions about quantum thought and bad frequency, and while many familiar characters appear in these pages, they seem sidelined somehow. It ends up being important to the ending, and (I think) to the point of the story - but even so, the book drags some in the middle, due largely to the perspective of its narrator, seeing in the shadows and questioning everything. To be honest, it was a struggle to get through some of this.
But, if you're a reader like me, you'll see a glimmer of potential there in those shadows. And I'm happy to say that in this case, the potential pans out into a pitch-perfect ending that made this reader want to read it all over again to see how that trick was pulled off. I really did go back to read a few key passages to see what I missed, how I didn't see it. But the truth is simple - I didn't see it because Carol Plum-Ucci didn't want me to.
Following Christopher Creed may look like an unnecessary sequel there on the shelf, or it may read at times like an irrelevant side-trip in the story of Christopher Creed. Trust me on this: it's neither. Perhaps you'll see the ending coming. I didn't - and for a reader like me, an ending that can surprise and delight and satisfy as this one did makes it all worth it.
And if you're a reader like me, you're intrigued anyway.
Following Christopher Creed picks up four years after the events of Christopher Creed's still-unsolved disappearance, with Mike Mavic. Mike is a hopeful college reporter investigating a recently-found dead body, thinking it might be that of the long-lost teen. Mike is also nearly blind, and dealing with some pretty severe trauma of his own. With the help of his girlfriend, he meditates and struggles through his many boundaries using the power of positive thinking and concentration.
If you're a reader like me, here's where you'll start to wonder how some of this is relevant. Mike's story sometimes veers off into long discussions about quantum thought and bad frequency, and while many familiar characters appear in these pages, they seem sidelined somehow. It ends up being important to the ending, and (I think) to the point of the story - but even so, the book drags some in the middle, due largely to the perspective of its narrator, seeing in the shadows and questioning everything. To be honest, it was a struggle to get through some of this.
But, if you're a reader like me, you'll see a glimmer of potential there in those shadows. And I'm happy to say that in this case, the potential pans out into a pitch-perfect ending that made this reader want to read it all over again to see how that trick was pulled off. I really did go back to read a few key passages to see what I missed, how I didn't see it. But the truth is simple - I didn't see it because Carol Plum-Ucci didn't want me to.
Following Christopher Creed may look like an unnecessary sequel there on the shelf, or it may read at times like an irrelevant side-trip in the story of Christopher Creed. Trust me on this: it's neither. Perhaps you'll see the ending coming. I didn't - and for a reader like me, an ending that can surprise and delight and satisfy as this one did makes it all worth it.
December 4, 2013
I thought this book was actually pretty boring throughout most of it. There wasn't really anything exciting happening. I didn't really care about all the boring crap that went on in Justin's life. I did, however, enjoy reading about Darla and Danny's suicide in connection with Justin. I also enjoyed getting to know Mike Mavic throughout the story. I thought his life was interesting. The rest of the story had me falling asleep, though. All I thought throughout most of the story was "I don't care. I just want to know what happened to Chris Creed!" This is why the ending really surprised me. I suppose I should have made a connection. Chris and Mike both had crazed mothers. Mike wasn't even his real name and he ran away when he was 17, same time as Chris. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Mike was really Chris. I liked the fact that Tory knew it, too. That's why he stared at Chris/Mike in the bar. Chris knew that Tory knew as well. The ending was quite satisfying, so it made the rest of the book worth reading. Overall, this is a decent read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 15, 2018
It’s been five years since Christopher Creed disappeared, four since Torey Adams launched his website, ChrisCreed.com, in an attempt to make sense of the the way his classmate vanished into thin air. Five years - and not a single, solitary trace of Chris Creed has ever been found. Then Torey posts a new message on his website: a body has been discovered in the woods outside of Steepleton.
Mike Mavic, a legally blind college reporter who sees more than most, has been a huge fan of ChrisCreed.com from the beginning. Chris’s story, told with both sympathy and honesty by Adams, is not so very different from his own - right down to the domineering and obsessively controlling mother. When he reads Torey’s latest post, Mike knows he has to get to Steepleton. Here is his chance to uncover a story that could well and truly launch his career as a journalist. More than that, he can face his own demons - but do it from a step removed by telling Chris Creed’s tale instead of his own. Determined to get to the root of the Creed disappearance, Mike sells his laptop and buys a plane ticket for New Jersey.
When he arrives in town, Mike learns two things right away. The first is that the body in the woods is not Christopher Creed’s, but that doesn’t necessarily kill his story. Because the second thing Mike discovers is that Steepleton has been living under a cloud of bad luck and ill feelings ever since Creed disappeared. To the current crop of high school kids, Chris Creed’s vanishing act is just another local legend - something from the past that doesn’t mean anything important to them, with one exception. Chris Creed’s brother Justin, now a high school student himself, has recently become obsessed with his brother’s vanishing act. Deeply troubled and falling quickly into drug addiction, Justin teeters on the edge of mental catastrophe. As he travels about Steepleton completing his interviews, Mike struggles to hang on to his journalistic objectivity and still find a way to help Justin learn what happened to Christopher Creed.
I loved The Body of Christopher Creed, so a sequel written along the same lines - a psychological mystery powered by an ever-increasing thread of tension - would have hard time living up to the standard that the first book set. But while Following Christopher Creed is undoubtedly another top-flight psychological mystery, it is also markedly different from its predecessor in some respects. Where the first novel was more like a cable being wound ever tighter, this sequel is that same cable as it frays and then comes steadily unwound. It is the unraveling of kinks and knots that leads to a central core of truth.
The Body of Christopher Creed was essentially two stories, a pair of excellent, intricate character studies. The life of Christopher Creed was revealed in absentia and the reader watched Torey Adams in the present as his relentless quest for the truth gradually alienated him from most of the other residents of Steepleton. Following Christopher Creed is also built around two stories. It’s about the events that have lead to Justin Creed’s slide toward drug abuse and mental illness since his brother’s disappearance and also about Mike Mavic’s journey toward making peace with his own difficult past. As with the first novel, Ms. Plum-Ucci has used prose, plot and pacing here brilliantly to hook the reader from the first scene and keep him or her feverishly turning pages until the very end.
Note: It is not strictly necessary to have read The Body of Christopher Creed before you read Following Christopher Creed (although you should, because it is amazing). Where information fro the first book is needed, Ms. Plum-Ucci has made clever use of Mavic’s exhaustive knowledge of the contents of ChrisCreed.com to fill in the necessary background.
Mike Mavic, a legally blind college reporter who sees more than most, has been a huge fan of ChrisCreed.com from the beginning. Chris’s story, told with both sympathy and honesty by Adams, is not so very different from his own - right down to the domineering and obsessively controlling mother. When he reads Torey’s latest post, Mike knows he has to get to Steepleton. Here is his chance to uncover a story that could well and truly launch his career as a journalist. More than that, he can face his own demons - but do it from a step removed by telling Chris Creed’s tale instead of his own. Determined to get to the root of the Creed disappearance, Mike sells his laptop and buys a plane ticket for New Jersey.
When he arrives in town, Mike learns two things right away. The first is that the body in the woods is not Christopher Creed’s, but that doesn’t necessarily kill his story. Because the second thing Mike discovers is that Steepleton has been living under a cloud of bad luck and ill feelings ever since Creed disappeared. To the current crop of high school kids, Chris Creed’s vanishing act is just another local legend - something from the past that doesn’t mean anything important to them, with one exception. Chris Creed’s brother Justin, now a high school student himself, has recently become obsessed with his brother’s vanishing act. Deeply troubled and falling quickly into drug addiction, Justin teeters on the edge of mental catastrophe. As he travels about Steepleton completing his interviews, Mike struggles to hang on to his journalistic objectivity and still find a way to help Justin learn what happened to Christopher Creed.
I loved The Body of Christopher Creed, so a sequel written along the same lines - a psychological mystery powered by an ever-increasing thread of tension - would have hard time living up to the standard that the first book set. But while Following Christopher Creed is undoubtedly another top-flight psychological mystery, it is also markedly different from its predecessor in some respects. Where the first novel was more like a cable being wound ever tighter, this sequel is that same cable as it frays and then comes steadily unwound. It is the unraveling of kinks and knots that leads to a central core of truth.
The Body of Christopher Creed was essentially two stories, a pair of excellent, intricate character studies. The life of Christopher Creed was revealed in absentia and the reader watched Torey Adams in the present as his relentless quest for the truth gradually alienated him from most of the other residents of Steepleton. Following Christopher Creed is also built around two stories. It’s about the events that have lead to Justin Creed’s slide toward drug abuse and mental illness since his brother’s disappearance and also about Mike Mavic’s journey toward making peace with his own difficult past. As with the first novel, Ms. Plum-Ucci has used prose, plot and pacing here brilliantly to hook the reader from the first scene and keep him or her feverishly turning pages until the very end.
Note: It is not strictly necessary to have read The Body of Christopher Creed before you read Following Christopher Creed (although you should, because it is amazing). Where information fro the first book is needed, Ms. Plum-Ucci has made clever use of Mavic’s exhaustive knowledge of the contents of ChrisCreed.com to fill in the necessary background.
August 31, 2011
I remember reading The Body of Christopher Creed in high school and LOVING it because it was just so creepy. It was a well-done psychological thriller. And it was my first (psychological thriller, that is), so automatically it has a soft spot in my heart. When I first heard of Following Christopher Creed, I was a bit put-off. The Body of Christopher Creed was so amazing that I feel that it didn't need a sequel. And, unfortunately, I was right. Following Christopher Creed never lives up to the brilliance that is its predecessor.
Following Christopher Creed was, most of the time, a bloated, boring book. Sure, some interesting things happened here and there, but reading most of the book was tedious. I also found the characters in The Body of Christopher Creed more developed and therefore more intriguing. While I did like Mike and RayAnn, I never got a clear reading of them, particularly when it comes to Mike. Now maybe this was the author's intention, but it made me feel very disconnected to Mike. Revisiting with the characters of the previous novel was pretty cool, but that only lasted for a few chapters.
Another thing I didn't understand was why the author built up this side-plot at the beginning with Steepleton having bad karma, yet never elaborated on it. I thought that should've been the focus Following Christopher Creed. What makes Steepleton tick? Why is it that while most towns see change, Steepleton remains the same and never evolves? She brings up these questions, but answers are never forthcoming. Normally, the lack of answers doesn't really tend to bother me, but I guess I was latching on to the Steepleton theory because it was really the only thing in Following Christopher Creed that intrigued me. I found the rest meh.
So, two stars for the ending which I really did NOT see coming (but really should have. I think I'm off my game) and for some moments of interest. But really, I found Following Christopher Creed to be an unnecessary sequel that never reaches the awesomeness that was The Body of Christopher Creed, let alone surpasses it.
Following Christopher Creed was, most of the time, a bloated, boring book. Sure, some interesting things happened here and there, but reading most of the book was tedious. I also found the characters in The Body of Christopher Creed more developed and therefore more intriguing. While I did like Mike and RayAnn, I never got a clear reading of them, particularly when it comes to Mike. Now maybe this was the author's intention, but it made me feel very disconnected to Mike. Revisiting with the characters of the previous novel was pretty cool, but that only lasted for a few chapters.
Another thing I didn't understand was why the author built up this side-plot at the beginning with Steepleton having bad karma, yet never elaborated on it. I thought that should've been the focus Following Christopher Creed. What makes Steepleton tick? Why is it that while most towns see change, Steepleton remains the same and never evolves? She brings up these questions, but answers are never forthcoming. Normally, the lack of answers doesn't really tend to bother me, but I guess I was latching on to the Steepleton theory because it was really the only thing in Following Christopher Creed that intrigued me. I found the rest meh.
So, two stars for the ending which I really did NOT see coming (but really should have. I think I'm off my game) and for some moments of interest. But really, I found Following Christopher Creed to be an unnecessary sequel that never reaches the awesomeness that was The Body of Christopher Creed, let alone surpasses it.
October 24, 2014
This book is a thrilling adventure following Mike Mavic, a visually-challenged college newspaper reporter, as he goes into the search 4 years after the disappearance of Christopher Creed in Steepleton, New Jersey. I liked how they kept it in Mike's perspective throughout the book. And how the author created an event to bring the original characters back into play. I loved that the book would make you have to go back and read over it to make sure you were not just thinking they had said something and you read over it. And finally I love how the author made the atmosphere in the book very gloomy and mysterious, even the cover has a mysterious gloom upon it that makes you just want to find out what hides inside it.
October 23, 2012
I remembered absolutely loving "The Body of Christopher Creed" and not being able to put it down. When I found "Following Christopher Creed" I was beyond excited. I started by re-reading "The Body of Christopher Creed" this morning, and read "Following Christopher Creed" right after. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the latter. To me, "Following Christopher Creed" was drawn out up until around the last 20 pages or so. Only then, did I develop any sort of appreciation for how the novel had been crafted (and yes, I am slow to admit it but the ending did take me by surprise!).
June 28, 2012
I loved the first book The Body of Christopher Creed, naturally I was surprised as well as ecstatic when I found out Plum-Ucci was writing a fallow-up novel.
I couldn't find the book so I got it on audible and put it on my ipod. Loved it! In the beginning I had a lot of questions about why she would choose to write about a character not in the original book, but by the end it all made sense. If you liked the first one I strongly suggest you read the second.
I couldn't find the book so I got it on audible and put it on my ipod. Loved it! In the beginning I had a lot of questions about why she would choose to write about a character not in the original book, but by the end it all made sense. If you liked the first one I strongly suggest you read the second.
May 26, 2012
I really liked The Body of Christopher Creed when I first read it, and I really didn't care for this one. I'm not sure if it's a weaker book or I'm just a different reader, to be honest. It might be the difference between being a high school reader and an adult reader, but I was way less interested in the protagonist, and had some real issues with the depiction of women. The twist at the end though was satisfying, and I didn't see it coming until right before it happened.
July 14, 2012
This sequel certainly wasn't necessary. And after I began reading about Mike, I wasn't convinced that this book would go anywhere, and it didn't. I'm glad that I skipped the middle 250 pages of this unnecessarily long book to FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO Christopher Creed! I wasn't particularly surprised at the twist that Mike is Chris, and I have no problem giving it away now because everyone should be satisfied with the first book and ignore this sequel.
Want to read
December 19, 2012I never realized that The Body of Christopher Creed had a sequel. Christopher Creed doesn't particularly stand out in my mind, but I love Streams of Babel and sequel, so I'll give this a shot.
October 6, 2011
At first, I was considering giving this book a 3 star rating, but then I got to the last 10 pages and it threw me for such a loop that it caused me to reevaluate the entire novel. Carol Plum-Ucci has written a worthy follow up to The Body of Christopher Creed, and one that I'm thinking I'll read again.
October 7, 2017
What an ending!! Words cannot describe the plot twist in this book... I'm usually so on top of characters and usually can foresee the ending but this one really got me. Loved the characters of Mike and Rayann and definitely kept me on my toes the whole read. I don't think I've ever loved the second book in the series more than the first, so this is a first for me.
May 2, 2011
Read the galley on the plane to Tampa. Whizzed through it. I had not anticipated there ever being a sequel to "The Body of Christopher Creed" and I was so happy to see it! It absolutely lived up to my expectations. A wonderful read.
May 18, 2014
I was worried about this book, but I trusted Carol and she did me good, guys, she did me good.
It was a little difficult to get through at times but I'm so glad I stuck through it cause OOHHMAANNN.
I obviously can't form words. But all you need to know is AWESOME.
It was a little difficult to get through at times but I'm so glad I stuck through it cause OOHHMAANNN.
I obviously can't form words. But all you need to know is AWESOME.
May 18, 2020
Listened to this on audio for a long car ride and it had many twists! Great mystery! Highly recommended!
July 18, 2014
I read "The Body of Christopher Creed" before reading this one and truly enjoyed it, although I didn't realize at the time that it was one of two. I was of course pleasantly surprised when I discovered that there was indeed a second book that supposedly answered the questions raised in the first, but a little disappointed when I realized it was being told through the eyes of a completely new character.
I will admit that I cheated and looked in the back to see whether Chris was ever found, when I realized that Mike and Chris are the same person, I returned to where I had been reading feeling extremely confused because I definitely did not see that twist coming. Finishing the book made the whole thing a little less confusing when I realized that Mike had simply lied about his past to RayAnn, but it still left me with too many questions for me to give this book the 5 it would have gotten otherwise. For example, why was Mike so obsessed with learning about Chris that he started following Torey's website? He presumably went to New Jersey to determine whether the body found was that of Chris, but since he is indeed Chris, shouldn't he obviously know that the body belongs to someone else? And how does Justin hang around his older brother for so many days without even realizing who he was? What was up with the psychic aunt? She obviously could tell that Chris was alive, and knew that he went to Torey's concert, but then she said that Chris could "see the forest and the full moon" while she was speaking, but how is that possible if Chris was standing right in front of her? If nothing else, shouldn't the psychic at least have been able to see who he really was? Mother Creed apparently recognized her oldest son when he visited with Justin while she was drunk, but not when he was with RayAnn in the forest?
Maybe I am being too critical because the book overall wasn't too bad (albeit these plot holes and perhaps being a little too slow at times). If I could award fractional stars, it would probably be closer to 3.5 but since its not quite a 4, I will make do with only 3.
I will admit that I cheated and looked in the back to see whether Chris was ever found, when I realized that Mike and Chris are the same person, I returned to where I had been reading feeling extremely confused because I definitely did not see that twist coming. Finishing the book made the whole thing a little less confusing when I realized that Mike had simply lied about his past to RayAnn, but it still left me with too many questions for me to give this book the 5 it would have gotten otherwise. For example, why was Mike so obsessed with learning about Chris that he started following Torey's website? He presumably went to New Jersey to determine whether the body found was that of Chris, but since he is indeed Chris, shouldn't he obviously know that the body belongs to someone else? And how does Justin hang around his older brother for so many days without even realizing who he was? What was up with the psychic aunt? She obviously could tell that Chris was alive, and knew that he went to Torey's concert, but then she said that Chris could "see the forest and the full moon" while she was speaking, but how is that possible if Chris was standing right in front of her? If nothing else, shouldn't the psychic at least have been able to see who he really was? Mother Creed apparently recognized her oldest son when he visited with Justin while she was drunk, but not when he was with RayAnn in the forest?
Maybe I am being too critical because the book overall wasn't too bad (albeit these plot holes and perhaps being a little too slow at times). If I could award fractional stars, it would probably be closer to 3.5 but since its not quite a 4, I will make do with only 3.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 19, 2016
3.5
This book got too long winded for me at parts. First of all, what kind of quack sequel has the nerve to be longer than the predecessor? Why did readers need to learn so much about quantum thinking and limestones?
There were some other parts that annoyed me. On page 352, Plum-Ucci calls animals crackers RayAnn's favorite fruit. Torey gets called Torey and Adams interchangeably, and Bo speaks with more Southern lingo than in the first book (although maybe I forgot how he talked, as I read it in 2011).
I was sad when I finished the first book, with that non ending. But when I started reading this book, I wasn't sure it needed a sequel anymore. It picked up quickly, with some interesting insight on newish characters, like Justin, and others that were one note video game sidekicks that just show up to give relevant advice and leave, like RayAnn. I was annoyed at Mike by the end for his exploitation of everyone else's stress, and when Justin was ranting on his coke binge in the Pine Barrens, I thought Mike should've just call it a day and give up and cover basketball games like any other budding college journalism student. But that plot twist! Wow. I definitely didn't think Mike would turn out to be Chris, even if I picked up on the fact that Chris's middle name was Mike. It makes sense, with how he idolized Torey and his crew. I don't really know how it's gonna work out in the long run- will Chris be called Chris from now on? How will his family react? But it definitely was exciting. While I feel like she tried capturing the magic of classism one more time, the author had a hard time making me invested for Darla and everyone else. I guess it's good to know that, just like my 11th grade book club members told me, Chris Creed is alive and well, even if he's stalking Torey and the gang now.
Maybe this book is about nostalgia? You can't go back to something you left behind without cleaning up its mess. That's how I feel after reading this, anyway.
And if Carol Plum-Ucci ever reads this, I thank you personally that you didn't make us read descriptions about Torey practicing music, what kind of music he practices, and so on, to the extent that other novels do.
This book got too long winded for me at parts. First of all, what kind of quack sequel has the nerve to be longer than the predecessor? Why did readers need to learn so much about quantum thinking and limestones?
There were some other parts that annoyed me. On page 352, Plum-Ucci calls animals crackers RayAnn's favorite fruit. Torey gets called Torey and Adams interchangeably, and Bo speaks with more Southern lingo than in the first book (although maybe I forgot how he talked, as I read it in 2011).
I was sad when I finished the first book, with that non ending. But when I started reading this book, I wasn't sure it needed a sequel anymore. It picked up quickly, with some interesting insight on newish characters, like Justin, and others that were one note video game sidekicks that just show up to give relevant advice and leave, like RayAnn. I was annoyed at Mike by the end for his exploitation of everyone else's stress, and when Justin was ranting on his coke binge in the Pine Barrens, I thought Mike should've just call it a day and give up and cover basketball games like any other budding college journalism student. But that plot twist! Wow. I definitely didn't think Mike would turn out to be Chris, even if I picked up on the fact that Chris's middle name was Mike. It makes sense, with how he idolized Torey and his crew. I don't really know how it's gonna work out in the long run- will Chris be called Chris from now on? How will his family react? But it definitely was exciting. While I feel like she tried capturing the magic of classism one more time, the author had a hard time making me invested for Darla and everyone else. I guess it's good to know that, just like my 11th grade book club members told me, Chris Creed is alive and well, even if he's stalking Torey and the gang now.
Maybe this book is about nostalgia? You can't go back to something you left behind without cleaning up its mess. That's how I feel after reading this, anyway.
And if Carol Plum-Ucci ever reads this, I thank you personally that you didn't make us read descriptions about Torey practicing music, what kind of music he practices, and so on, to the extent that other novels do.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 28, 2011
I absolutely loved The Body of Christopher Creed and it's gone down as one of my all-time favorite books. But as it's a coming-of-age novel that comments on both society (to take a large-scale view) and high school bullying (to take a smaller-scale view), I was doubtful as to how good a sequel would be. Novels of The Body's caliber and scope don't usually have sequels. Following Christopher Creed turned out to be decent. If not for the ending, though, it wouldn't have come anywhere near wowing me as much as did the first book. It wasn't as hard-hitting nor as thrilling, a lot of it being dialogue, and I was never sure where Plum-Ucci was trying to head with the story. Was it intended as another coming-of-age social commentary, a novel about moving on, or some book promoting the powers of positive and quantum thinking? It only became clear at the conclusion.
Fortunately, the author keeps the plot interesting; even with there being little action (at least in the physical sense), things move fast. The main characters are likeable, each having their own faults that they're trying to overcome with varying rates of success. I wish Plum-Ucci would have delved more into the "bad frequency" aspect of Steepleton, why there's a high cancer rate, why there have been unexplained, total-fatality car wrecks, why everyone is "mean" - mysteries that readers expect to be explained by the end but are dropped. Again, what makes this a totally worthwhile read rather than just an ok-ish one is the end when some shocking realizations finally come out about what really happened to Christopher Creed. There's no way you'll ever see it coming until the last few pages.
Note: Readers will need to have read The Body of Christopher Creed before this book in order to understand the basic plot and characters. I also noticed that there is much, much less profanity in Following Christopher Creed than in the first book.
Fortunately, the author keeps the plot interesting; even with there being little action (at least in the physical sense), things move fast. The main characters are likeable, each having their own faults that they're trying to overcome with varying rates of success. I wish Plum-Ucci would have delved more into the "bad frequency" aspect of Steepleton, why there's a high cancer rate, why there have been unexplained, total-fatality car wrecks, why everyone is "mean" - mysteries that readers expect to be explained by the end but are dropped. Again, what makes this a totally worthwhile read rather than just an ok-ish one is the end when some shocking realizations finally come out about what really happened to Christopher Creed. There's no way you'll ever see it coming until the last few pages.
Note: Readers will need to have read The Body of Christopher Creed before this book in order to understand the basic plot and characters. I also noticed that there is much, much less profanity in Following Christopher Creed than in the first book.
November 15, 2014
I loved the Body of Christopher Creed, so when I saw this title pop up I grabbed it.
It is a narrated by Mike- a budding journalist. (Yeah! a young person pursuing journalism- I really hope there is a job for him.) Mike attends Randolph College where he became legally blind when he was hit with a baseball pitch. He can sort of see some things as long as he is not stressed or moves his head too quickly he has to protect his eyes with dark sunglasses and uses a service dog.
The story takes place in Steepleton, the town Christopher Creed escaped years ago when a body is found in the woods. Mike is in town to write a story for the Randolph paper with Ray Ann. They make a great team, Ray Ann is smart, can drive, is socially adept and Mike really can write.
Mike wants to know who the body really is and what has happened. But he is stalled when many of the the people and many incidents in the tiny town continue to center on the disappearance of Christopher Creed. Mike finds that Chris' brother Justin is tortured by Chris' disappearance, he has become bipolar and is self medicating. Mother Creed is buried in alcoholism. Mike himself is bedeviled by personal demons. It appears that he is fascinated with the Creed mystery too. He has followed Torey Adams internet site about Chris Creed's disappearance and is delighted when Torey shows up in town before embarking on a band tour- Torey is about to be famous in his own right and move away from Christopher's shadow. Torrey has put aside much of his angst over the Chris Creed debacle that forced him to leave town years ago.
At times difficult to follow because the incidents and the people involved are confused or confusing we still come to really like the protagonists. We come to realize that the bullies that forced Chris out of town still have a free reign. I did not see the twist ending coming, in retrospect the clues are there...It is a great follow up to The Body of Christopher Creed.
It is a narrated by Mike- a budding journalist. (Yeah! a young person pursuing journalism- I really hope there is a job for him.) Mike attends Randolph College where he became legally blind when he was hit with a baseball pitch. He can sort of see some things as long as he is not stressed or moves his head too quickly he has to protect his eyes with dark sunglasses and uses a service dog.
The story takes place in Steepleton, the town Christopher Creed escaped years ago when a body is found in the woods. Mike is in town to write a story for the Randolph paper with Ray Ann. They make a great team, Ray Ann is smart, can drive, is socially adept and Mike really can write.
Mike wants to know who the body really is and what has happened. But he is stalled when many of the the people and many incidents in the tiny town continue to center on the disappearance of Christopher Creed. Mike finds that Chris' brother Justin is tortured by Chris' disappearance, he has become bipolar and is self medicating. Mother Creed is buried in alcoholism. Mike himself is bedeviled by personal demons. It appears that he is fascinated with the Creed mystery too. He has followed Torey Adams internet site about Chris Creed's disappearance and is delighted when Torey shows up in town before embarking on a band tour- Torey is about to be famous in his own right and move away from Christopher's shadow. Torrey has put aside much of his angst over the Chris Creed debacle that forced him to leave town years ago.
At times difficult to follow because the incidents and the people involved are confused or confusing we still come to really like the protagonists. We come to realize that the bullies that forced Chris out of town still have a free reign. I did not see the twist ending coming, in retrospect the clues are there...It is a great follow up to The Body of Christopher Creed.
November 19, 2013
I loved this book. Such an amazing sequel.
Synopsis: Years later . . . what really happened to Christopher Creed? When Torey Adams posts on his blog that a body has been found in Steepleton—four years after Christopher Creed disappeared—college reporter Mike Mavic sells his laptop and hops a plane to capture the story that will undoubtedly launch his journalistic career. But what Mike finds is a town suffering under a cloud of bad frequency and people with an underlying streak of meanness. To the teens of Steepleton, Chris is nothing more than history—but to Justin Creed, a teen obsessed with his older brother’s memory and balancing on the edge of sanity, discovering what really happened to Chris Creed is a matter of life and death.
Review: This was the perfect sequel to The Body of Christopher Creed. Just like the first book, there were twists and turns and an ending that the reader will not see coming. What made me smile was the reunion between Bo, Ali, and Torey and as I was reading it, I just loved feeling that melancholy feeling that only happens when characters grow over a period of time. Now everyone is grown up, and they are no longer immature teenagers. Not only does the author bring back old characters, but she introduces new characters, including different sides of familiar faces that the reader could never have guessed at. I think this was the perfect way to write a sequel, through the eyes of a stranger. The town of Steepleton hasn't changed much, and Mrs. Plum Ucci even ties is similar ideas from The Body of Christopher Creed. This book really was amazing. I could not put it down.
Conclusion: When I first picked up The Body of Christopher Creed as a required reading project for school, I did not know what to expect. I felt the same way for the sequel. I ended up loving both books, especially Following Christopher Creed. These books were filled with suspense, charisma, and heartwarming honesty. I loved it.
Synopsis: Years later . . . what really happened to Christopher Creed? When Torey Adams posts on his blog that a body has been found in Steepleton—four years after Christopher Creed disappeared—college reporter Mike Mavic sells his laptop and hops a plane to capture the story that will undoubtedly launch his journalistic career. But what Mike finds is a town suffering under a cloud of bad frequency and people with an underlying streak of meanness. To the teens of Steepleton, Chris is nothing more than history—but to Justin Creed, a teen obsessed with his older brother’s memory and balancing on the edge of sanity, discovering what really happened to Chris Creed is a matter of life and death.
Review: This was the perfect sequel to The Body of Christopher Creed. Just like the first book, there were twists and turns and an ending that the reader will not see coming. What made me smile was the reunion between Bo, Ali, and Torey and as I was reading it, I just loved feeling that melancholy feeling that only happens when characters grow over a period of time. Now everyone is grown up, and they are no longer immature teenagers. Not only does the author bring back old characters, but she introduces new characters, including different sides of familiar faces that the reader could never have guessed at. I think this was the perfect way to write a sequel, through the eyes of a stranger. The town of Steepleton hasn't changed much, and Mrs. Plum Ucci even ties is similar ideas from The Body of Christopher Creed. This book really was amazing. I could not put it down.
Conclusion: When I first picked up The Body of Christopher Creed as a required reading project for school, I did not know what to expect. I felt the same way for the sequel. I ended up loving both books, especially Following Christopher Creed. These books were filled with suspense, charisma, and heartwarming honesty. I loved it.
November 10, 2012
The thing I love most about all Plum-Ucci's novels is this underlying theme: Examine the unexamined truths of your life. No matter what the plot line is, she always asks of her readers (and puts her characters through hell in order) to understand the whys and seek truth as separated from popular opinion. It's why I can't really classify any of her stories as psychological thrillers, though they also are that. It's just that they're also so much more to me.
The Body of Christopher Creed was an excellent stand alone novel with a beautiful but ambiguous ending and I honestly never expected nor wanted a sequel. Just routinely, I checked in on Amazon to see if Plum-Ucci had published anything new, and lo and behold there was a sequel. I worried it would mar the existing story, but it does not. It makes it better.
It's the same as the first Chris Creed, but it's not. The story inhabits the world without having to pay homage to it. The protagonist, Mike Mavic, is at once personal and mysterious. Several times through the story I thought I had the mystery solved, but I did not (Never saw some things coming for sure!). And the ending, though satisfactory, did not end too concretely. The integrity of the whole story holds up.
Well, I always say read all her books (Seriously, read ALL her book), but I think you could pick this one up even without having read the first book. They both stand on their own two feet and they are both excellent stories. Love it!
The Body of Christopher Creed was an excellent stand alone novel with a beautiful but ambiguous ending and I honestly never expected nor wanted a sequel. Just routinely, I checked in on Amazon to see if Plum-Ucci had published anything new, and lo and behold there was a sequel. I worried it would mar the existing story, but it does not. It makes it better.
It's the same as the first Chris Creed, but it's not. The story inhabits the world without having to pay homage to it. The protagonist, Mike Mavic, is at once personal and mysterious. Several times through the story I thought I had the mystery solved, but I did not (Never saw some things coming for sure!). And the ending, though satisfactory, did not end too concretely. The integrity of the whole story holds up.
Well, I always say read all her books (Seriously, read ALL her book), but I think you could pick this one up even without having read the first book. They both stand on their own two feet and they are both excellent stories. Love it!
June 1, 2015
Carol Plum-Ucci
Ages 12+
This is one of those rare instances where the sequel lives up to the standard of the first book. Written by Carol Plum-Ucci, Following Christopher Creed tells the story of what happens four years after the events in The Body of Christopher Creed, in which the weird kid in the town of Steepleton suddenly disappeared without a trace. Now, Mike Mavic, a budding journalist, visits the town after hearing about the recent discovery of a dead body. He hopes to write a story on whatever happened to Christopher Creed. However he gets much more than he bargained for as he runs into the town’s inhabitants, who still house the same streak of cruelty as they did four years ago.
As Mike digs deeper into the town’s unsolved mysteries, he realizes the town is suffering from being the center of what he calls “bad frequency.” The last book left readers on what seemed to be a cold case, and this novel provides most of the answers in the tricky narration, a style unique to Plum-Ucci. The clues are so subtly hidden in coincidences here and there, skillfully weaved in—never sidetracking the reader. It is an interesting different perspective on the beloved characters from the first book. Fans of Christopher Creed will appreciate the compelling plot and the author’s honesty in the truth about human nature in this hard-to-put-down sequel.
Ages 12+
This is one of those rare instances where the sequel lives up to the standard of the first book. Written by Carol Plum-Ucci, Following Christopher Creed tells the story of what happens four years after the events in The Body of Christopher Creed, in which the weird kid in the town of Steepleton suddenly disappeared without a trace. Now, Mike Mavic, a budding journalist, visits the town after hearing about the recent discovery of a dead body. He hopes to write a story on whatever happened to Christopher Creed. However he gets much more than he bargained for as he runs into the town’s inhabitants, who still house the same streak of cruelty as they did four years ago.
As Mike digs deeper into the town’s unsolved mysteries, he realizes the town is suffering from being the center of what he calls “bad frequency.” The last book left readers on what seemed to be a cold case, and this novel provides most of the answers in the tricky narration, a style unique to Plum-Ucci. The clues are so subtly hidden in coincidences here and there, skillfully weaved in—never sidetracking the reader. It is an interesting different perspective on the beloved characters from the first book. Fans of Christopher Creed will appreciate the compelling plot and the author’s honesty in the truth about human nature in this hard-to-put-down sequel.
September 30, 2011
Christopher Creed was bullied unmercifully in his hometown of Steepleton, NJ and his drunken, overbearing mother made his miserable life worse. He mysteriously disappeared four years ago and now Make Mavic, a college journalism major has appeared and so has a body in the woods. Mike and the rest of the world has found all about Chris Creed on Chriscreed.com a website dedicated to Creed and maintained by up and coming musician and singer/ songwriter Torey Adams. (Adams was the POV character in The Body of Christopher Creed.) The teenagers in town, especially Chris’ bipolar drug-using brother Justin, believe Chris is alive and coming back.
I liked this book a lot, and perhaps because I read it so slowly, and have so much going on in my life, is why I missed the great twist, or because it's really that good. Received this book as an ARC from the Amazon Vine program, released 9/15/11.
I liked this book a lot, and perhaps because I read it so slowly, and have so much going on in my life, is why I missed the great twist, or because it's really that good. Received this book as an ARC from the Amazon Vine program, released 9/15/11.
June 11, 2024
this was definitely one of those sequels that not only wasn't necessary to make, but so seriously and deeply pales in comparison to its predecessor that I kind of wish I hadn't read it. I decided to read it because I was intrigued by the effect of Chris' disappearance on his siblings, but aside from little brother Justin's insights and experiences (which only constitute a small portion of the book), the rest of the story was pure blah. the protagonist this time around was a chore to read -- the style of writing certainly fits the narration of a 16 year old boy better than it does a 20 year old young man. the unfolding of events felt scattered and directionless; the twist at the end felt dampened and cheap, caught up in the rush of the story ending in what I can only think to describe as dropping a load of dirty laundry onto the floor in a giant, flopping heap. I finished it to finish it, but woof. at the very least, it's a quick read.
February 2, 2015
I read The Body of Christopher Creed in 2004 at the recommendation of my 6th grade English teacher and it quickly became one of my favorites, and still is to this day.
Browsing the Kindle store yesterday I learned that there was a sequel, so naturally I had to read it. The result? Resounding disappointment.
One of my favorite things of The Body of Christopher Creed was that the ending was left fairly open to interpretation. My teacher told me that "at the end of this book, you know in your heart what truly happened."
I think the story should have been left there, the plot was fairly uninspired and I knew what the big plot twist of the novel would be approximately a quarter of the way through.
Browsing the Kindle store yesterday I learned that there was a sequel, so naturally I had to read it. The result? Resounding disappointment.
One of my favorite things of The Body of Christopher Creed was that the ending was left fairly open to interpretation. My teacher told me that "at the end of this book, you know in your heart what truly happened."
I think the story should have been left there, the plot was fairly uninspired and I knew what the big plot twist of the novel would be approximately a quarter of the way through.
September 22, 2011
The original book was suspenseful and addicting, but this one lacked a little something. While I did want to keep reading to find out what would happen, there were too many extraneous unexciting bits that dragged the story down. Actually, I think if they removed all of the quantum thought bits, it would have been fine. Or maybe made those bits more intriguing and less instructive? My 3 is really more like a 3.5. And lastly, I totally guessed the twist at the end about half way through the book. I wasn't positive, because I was a little uncomfortable with him lying to RayAnn about some important details, but otherwise, I was pretty sure.
April 20, 2018
Wow, this book totally blew me away. I'm a librarian and have read thousands of books in my lifetime, but I can honestly say, it's been a very long time since I've actually yelled, "OH MY GOD!!!" out loud when I realized what this author had done!! lol I was totally caught by surprise, and that is the best kind of mystery. I have a feeling these two books (#1 The Body of Christopher Creed) are vastly under-appreciated. They are excellent mysteries. I see that she's calling this book #2, so I'm wondering if there are more to come in this series. I hope so! Highly recommend. There is some mature content, so I would say 8th grade and up would be fine with this series.
June 30, 2012
i realy loved this book. part of the middle of the story got a bit boring, and some of it i could have done without, but i loved the twist ending. usualy i see that sort of thing comming before it happens in a story, but this one caught me off guard. i didn't realy like all the stuff about justin's problems, i thought it went into it a bit to much there, but i loved hearing about the suicide and how justin related to it. overall, i think this was a very good book and i loved the mystery of what happened to christopher creed.
July 30, 2012
I may or may not have read the first book in this series, although it's not necessary for this book to make sense.
It did take awhile for me to get into this book, and the only motivator was "something has to happen soon that will hook me". While that moment never happened, I was glad I read the entire book. Once you get to the last half of the last chapter there is a "Whoa." moment that had me a bit off kilter for awhile after finishing. I quite liked it, although I'm sure there are people out there who would say it was predictable.
It did take awhile for me to get into this book, and the only motivator was "something has to happen soon that will hook me". While that moment never happened, I was glad I read the entire book. Once you get to the last half of the last chapter there is a "Whoa." moment that had me a bit off kilter for awhile after finishing. I quite liked it, although I'm sure there are people out there who would say it was predictable.
June 29, 2014
This is more like a 2.5*. I would advise people who read The Body of Christopher Creed that this is more like a companion novel than a sequel. I had a hard time staying with the story and it didn't intrigue me enough to keep reading. It just didn't keep my attention. It would have been better had it been shorter, cut out the unnecessary bits, given us the twist at the end and been touted as a novella.
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