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Worlds Without End Blog

The Pretender: Rebirth Giveaway! Posted at 12:27 PM by Dave Post

Dave Post

The_PretenderThere are Pretenders among us, geniuses with the ability to become anyone they want to be. In 1983 a corporation known as The Centre isolated a young Pretender named Jarod and exploited his genius for their research. Then, one day, their Pretender ran away…

That’s the opening setup for one of the best shows to come out of 90’s television. Responding to the demands of an extremely loyal worldwide fan base, creators Steven Long Mitchell and Craig Van Sickle are bringing the 90’s hit NBC TV series, The Pretender, back in a series of original novels beginning with the release of book one; Rebirth. In addition to their Pretender novels, the duo will be releasing a series of graphic novels and numerous other types of fiction all inspired by The Pretender mythology.

In addition, Mitchell and Van Sickle are looking to expand the universe into a possible spinoff series and three feature films. They’ve just launched the official website: ThePretenderLives.com, which contains information about the upcoming books and their first graphic novel series that will give fans a look at the origin of The Centre.

As part of their marketing campaign, the folks at The Centre Universe, the publishing house established by the authors for the series, have given us 5 autographed trade paperback copies of Rebirth to give away.

You know the drill: re-tweet this tweet or comment here in the blog to enter the contest – easy peasy. Do both and double your chances! We’ll have a random drawing and announce the winners next Monday so tweet away and don’t forget to tell your friends.


The Pretender: RebirthThe Pretender: Rebirth
by Steven Long Mitchell & Craig W. Van Sickle

Written by the creators of the cult-hit TV show The Pretender – Rebirth is a slick mystery thriller about a brilliant human chameleon named Jarod who after escaping from the notorious Centre, plunges headlong into his newfound freedom. While also discovering the joys and intricacies of everyday life with the pure wonderment of the man/child he is, Jarod uses his unequaled abilities to literally become anyone he wants to be (a surgeon, a pilot, a physicist, etc.) as well as his dazzling mind over muscle vigilante-like skills to bring down the powerful and corrupt and protect those who can’t defend themselves.

All the while he must stay a step ahead of his relentless pursuers from The Centre.

First and foremost is the sexiest woman on the planet, the complex, bitch-on-wheels, Miss Parker who wants him recaptured at any cost – alive – preferably. Parker is a deliciously cunning woman Jarod has known since childhood and theirs is a truly multifaceted cat and mouse relationship – one driven by Jarod who holds the key to the emotional secrets at her very core, secrets that fuel her relentless drive to recapture him.

Then there is Sydney, Jarod’s surrogate father figure and psychologist who raised and nurtured his genius for The Centre’s disreputable purposes. To Jarod, Syd is both friend and foe, confidante and captor, counselor and betrayer. But Syd’s calm paternal connection to Jarod remains strong, often in conflict with The Centre agenda.

Jarod senses Sydney holds the emotional keys to his core – the truth about his past and the identity of the parents he was stolen from and whom he longs to reunite with.

In Rebirth, Jarod employs multiple sophisticated pretends in his quest to save one missing boy and hundreds of other innocent lives hanging in the balance at the hands of multi-national corporate terrorists and mercenaries.

Rebirth is at once an enthralling tale of one man’s exploration of life around him, intricate suspenseful mystery and intense edge-of-your-seat thrill ride – that captures and reignites the cult hit TV series for both loyal fans of the show and new readers alike.

There are Pretenders among us…


Craig W. Van SickleSteven Long MitchellAbout the Authors:
Steve Mitchell and Craig Van Sickle have written, produced and/or directed over two hundred hours of prime network programming including such series as Alien Nation, Murder She Wrote, Medical Investigation, 24 and NCIS. From situation comedy to drama, comic books to mystery, science fiction to action-adventure, their career has covered a broad imaginative spectrum. Together they have also created numerous television series, most notably, NBC’s The Pretender on which they served as Executive Producers for its entire five-year run of episodes as well as a series of two-hour movies.

In 2008 they were nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Mini-Series as the Writers/Executive Producers on Syfy Channel’s, TinMan, an updated re-imagining of The Wizard of Oz that, in addition to its critical acclaim, has broken ratings records both domestically and internationally. Recently the team completed their first novel, The Pretender: Rebirth and are near completion on the second book in the series, The Pretender: Saving Luke.

Both reside with their families in the Los Angeles area and can be contacted through their web site, ThePretenderLives.com.

I can’t tell you how excited I am to find out that there are new stories in the Pretenderverse! I loved it when it first aired and I’ve been back to re-visit The Centre this last week in what ended up becoming a Pretender Marathon over Thanksgiving. It’s been great to re-discover the show again after 12 years (thanks, Mallory!) and I’m happy to report that it has held up extremely well: Jarod is still awesome, Sydney is still brilliant, Broots is still under-appreciated and Miss Parker is still driven by her inner demons. I had almost forgotten how wicked short her mini-skirts were!

If you’ve never seen The Pretender, or you just want to see it again, you can watch the whole first season for free on Hulu. I’ve ordered the second season on DVD and I plan to work my way through the whole series and the movies. Once I’m done catching up I’m going to dive into these books!

Our thanks to Steven and Craig and everyone at The Centre Universe for the opportunity to bring this new chapter to our fans!

35 Comments

Airsay   |   02 Dec 2013 @ 16:37

Great article! I’ve been a fan of the tv show since… forever. These last few months have been truly amazing. The Centre Universe rose, the fans all over the world gather and talk ( a LOT ), just like SLM and CWS. I got to talk with these two geniuses and I enjoyed it, so so so much.
Rebirth is such a great book, I advice you to read it, fan or not, and then, reread it until Saving Luke comes out.
Thanks for this and the opportunity to win a signed book.

The Pretender Lives !!!

sydneysdilemma   |   02 Dec 2013 @ 17:44

Thank you for making the Pretender live again.

Tintinrulz   |   02 Dec 2013 @ 20:39

The Pretender is a great series and the rebirth is a very welcome return. I’d love to win a signed copy of Rebirth! I can’t wait for Saving Luke.

Jacci   |   03 Dec 2013 @ 00:22

Am so happy to see the Pretender back. Is my favourite show and to have it back again after so long is so wonderful.

Loved the first book and can’t wait for Saving Luke to come out. The Centre Universe is rising and The Pretender Lives!

Yael   |   03 Dec 2013 @ 01:48

I remember the excitment I felt when you first announced the return of the Pretender, and I would really like to thank you for bringing the series back and giving us all a chance to see our beloved characters again.

Emily   |   03 Dec 2013 @ 03:04

I LOVE that the Pretender has returned, and LOVE the way it has bought all us fans/FANmily together! its been such a great experience and hope it continues for many years to come! cant wait to read the next book, and many more after that! hope Steve & Craig get all the credit they deserve!

EFi   |   03 Dec 2013 @ 03:33

The 1st season of “The Pretender” was just released on DVD in Germany – finally after all these years of waiting – and it seems it sells quite well 🙂
I suppose the fact that you guys have published this novel leading into the back story of The Centre and the people (should the really be called people?) attached to it has certainly helped to raise awareness of this release!
I openly admit that so far I’ve only read a few reviews but not the book – due to a limitation of time, but those reviews I’ve read were all positive and all end in wishing for more.
I fell in love with the series right after it began airing, and it still looks as fresh as it did back then. Other series from that time look and feel now outdated, but you as the creators had a different take on things, something like a promise for the future, and now it pays out.

bazhsw   |   03 Dec 2013 @ 03:48

Never saw this first time round, looks good.

Allie   |   03 Dec 2013 @ 03:50

Wow, I never expected to see the Pretender coming back! I loved that show when I was a kid, so it’s good to hear it still holds up after all these years.

Leanne   |   03 Dec 2013 @ 04:43

Only the great things in life return.#Rebirth, reconnect, reloved.
A must read for all , share this wonderful continuing story.

Linda   |   03 Dec 2013 @ 08:01

The Pretender lives! It’s been a long time coming, too. “Rebirth” will not only revive the thrills that original fans lived for but it will introduce those same thrills to a whole new audience. For the die-hard fans, questions are beginning to be answered. For new-comers, you’ll get the whole intriguing story from the start. The creators are about to take us on a journey of a lifetime and I’m looking forward to riding along to the very end. Read more reviews and find out more at #Rebirth. Thanks to Craig and Steve for keeping the passion of The Pretender alive 🙂 xxxoooxxx

Lisa K   |   03 Dec 2013 @ 08:07

Can’t wait for Saving Luke!!! Thanks for this incredible opportunity.

Having The Pretender back is like having that long, lost friend reappear after so many years apart. Life is right once again. 🙂 Love you guys!!!

Tammy C.   |   03 Dec 2013 @ 09:20

So excited to have The Pretender back! Loved this show! Own all seasons and the movie. Would love to see it come back to TV or movie theatre with new stories.

Hannah B   |   03 Dec 2013 @ 09:35

So glad that there’s a continuation of this series.

Donald   |   03 Dec 2013 @ 10:34

The Pretender is the greatest series ever made and I’m very happy to see the Pretender lives again! Thanks again!

Karen   |   03 Dec 2013 @ 10:36

Great article!

I was so excited to hear the Pretender was coming back. I can’t wait to see what all they have in store for us!

Angel   |   03 Dec 2013 @ 10:39

Seeing the Pretender come back to life was a dream coming true (and one that was 17 years in the making at that!) and I couldn’t be happier… now let’s just hope Rebirth is indeed the renewal of hope for all the fans who remained loyal and refused to give-up on this amazing show that Steve and Craig created all those years ago… Long live the Pretender!

Vania   |   06 Dec 2013 @ 08:20

Loved this first book. What a great story to get back to the Pretender world again. Can’t wait for Saving Luke to arrive. Thank you so much for this contest too. Amazing!

Marzena   |   06 Dec 2013 @ 09:33

Info about bringing tP back was like dream come true! Usually it almost never happens to ‘renew’ something from past, but this time -creators showed us it is possible. And thank you for that.

Eve   |   06 Dec 2013 @ 10:26

I was missing a birthday present 😉

Loren   |   06 Dec 2013 @ 12:29

I wonder if the give away is open internationally. If I win the give away, I’ll give the book to my big sis, The Pretender italian fan number 1!

Dave Post   |   06 Dec 2013 @ 13:07

All WWEnd giveaways are international. Good luck!

paula dingman   |   06 Dec 2013 @ 13:13

Im so happy the pretender is back!!

Domingo Escobar   |   06 Dec 2013 @ 13:31

make my x-mass!!

thnx!

Marie T   |   06 Dec 2013 @ 16:55

Great article.

Meriem   |   07 Dec 2013 @ 06:30

“The Pretender is back” was just an amazing news that Steve and Craig told us this summer.
The reading of Rebirth is just a time travel to my youth and the pleasure is the same….
It’s great to continue the road with Jarod and share with him his famous “red notebooks”, ….. now an Ipad with a red cover !!!

Steve and Craig, you’re genius too…

Thank you so much…

MissBehave   |   07 Dec 2013 @ 15:41

I luv the whole revival of the fandom. Thanks for not forgetting us Craig and Steve…and books are awesome, but can we still have a movie with the original cast?

reggiecat85   |   07 Dec 2013 @ 22:32

So glad to have the Pretender back!

Catheirne G   |   08 Dec 2013 @ 02:47

Thank you for this Rebirth! You made my year!

Marcus   |   08 Dec 2013 @ 07:37

I am very happy that The Pretender is back.

Big Thanks from France.

Emil   |   09 Dec 2013 @ 03:14

Wow, awesome response. I never really got to see the series, only an odd few episodes. But what I saw was great. I’ve been trying to get the series on DVD for a while now, but Amazon can’t fulfill the order to Namibia or South Africa – some licensing issues, I guess. Haven’t found any other import way yet.

Can’t wait to read the book!

Azazel87   |   09 Dec 2013 @ 04:24

Thank you for this Rebirth, I want it since 2002 ^^

Long Live The Pretender ! (and I hope I can get a copy of the book ^^)

delia petcov   |   09 Dec 2013 @ 15:10

Thank you both, Steven and Craig, for making The Pretender live again I am a big fan of this show

Anatacia   |   09 Dec 2013 @ 18:19

Thanks for the great article.

I’m so happy The Pretender is back. All the time we have previously spent campaigning and coming up with ideas on how to get a conclusion has finally paid off. Cannot wait for the next instalment – Craig and Steve have/will deliver more than any of us could have hoped for!

Vio   |   10 Dec 2013 @ 15:01

I try. Love the first book

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