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\\A Stranger in the House;
Janitor Two: So, A Stranger in the House. Plot summary. Janitor Two: Hi. Janitor One: Ned Wakefield put a man in jail for a gruesome double murder when the twins were six. The guy he put in jail just got out and he wants revenge. Janitor Two: The twins, with their summer jobs, are oblivious to anything going on. Jess is her usual self and Liz is her usual self, only she's being more open about it. And John Marins is going to kill people Janitor One: Yes Janitor Two: What did you think of the plot and its developement? Janitor One: I thought it was one of the better ones. Janitor Two: Me, too. Janitor One: I think it was well developed being told throught the point of view of the twins, Ned, and John. Janitor Two: There was a good balance of voice. We got to see all the essential points of view without getting too complicated. Janitor One: And the way John gets to the twins is presented in a beleivable way. Janitor Two: Yes. He is a very believable character. I couldn't help but compare him to the psycho dude in the SV episodes Kidnapped! 1-3, since I'd watched those shortly before reading the book. John was a much better psycho. Janitor One: I haven't watched them yet. Janitor Two: OK. I like the suspense in the book. It was Christopher Pike worthy. Janitor One: I wouldn't say that.... Janitor Two: For Sweet Valley, I would. SV thrillers are usualy more 80's drama than Hitchcock, but the person who wrote this one did good. Janitor One: Yeah. Compared to the usual sv thriller this is a masterpeice. A literary classic. Janitor Two: Yeah. If it was an independant book, I would not compare it to Pike; but given the series it stemmed from, I think it was very well-done Janitor One: The writing was a couple notches up from Almost Married, I think. Janitor Two: Definitely. There was better plot flow, too. Janitor One: Yes. The plot flowed very well. Janitor Two: Getting into characters... The main characters in this were the twins, Ned, and John. First, the twins. Liz really tipped the slut-o-meter in this one, didn't she? Janitor One: Not as bad as the Todd-Jeffrey-in-a-closet thing. But definitely up there. Janitor Two: True. A very close third. She was as flat as usual; however, her dreams for adventure were easy to relate to. Janitor One: Yes. Her life is very boring. In general. Janitor Two: Everything she did was actually believable, if only it wasn't Liz doing it. Janitor One: Yeah. I did find her more easy to relate to in this book. She wasn't quite as annoying as usual. Janitor Two: Yes. I was actually close to liking her outright. For a summer fling, it was all right. If the cheating-on-Todd-even-though-she's-really-virtuous-and-in-love thing wasn't so worn out, it might have really added to the book. Janitor One: Yeah. If only it hadn't been done so many times before. Janitor Two: It was a good line that had been used too much in bad places, so when it showed up in a good, believable place, it didn't have the same impact. Janitor One: Yeah. Janitor Two: I do have to admit that I wanted her to win the tip war, though. Janitor One: I knew she wouldn't. Janitor Two: Jess. Janitor One: I enjoyed reading her dates with "Scott." She didn't come off nearly as annoying. Janitor Two: I did like her dates, but for the most part, she was her usual self, I think. Though having Ken dangling added something to her. It highlighted her uncaring nature. Especially when you know the books that surround this, and understand how "in love with him" she professes (and the authors profess) her to be. Janitor One: Yeah. We know how devoted she is... Janitor Two: She was more entertaining in this book. I think because Ken was "out of town" and we could sort of forget she was cheating on him, it was easier to read. Janitor One: Yeah. This was written right after the Death Valley thing... Janitor Two: Was it really? Hehehe! Umm.........Ned. A welcome addition. We don't usually hear from him. Janitor One: I like Ned. Janitor Two: I do, too. He's cool. Janitor One: Ned should've told the twins. But then we would have no plot. Ned's a very concerned father. Also a naive one. Janitor Two: Yeah. There were several times I was yelling at the book (not really, but in my head) for him to just spit it out. He knew Jess was a slut. He said so himself. Why should he think she'd be safe from some hot, rich guy, just because some dude in a bad yahting suit was watching her? Janitor One: I just wanted to hit him. Janitor Two: Yeah. He gets Brownie points for his cute, fatherly naivetivity though. Followed by a boot upset the head. Janitor One: Yeah. Janitor Two: As for John...what can I say? The guy does his homework. Janitor One: He's thinks ahead. I like John. One of the better psychos. Janitor Two: I liked him. Well, his character. Janitor One: He's no Margo, but he's in my top ten. Janitor Two: Definitely in the top three. Janitor One: He was a good actor. Janitor Two: Very. And very patient. Janitor One: Yes. He had so many chances to kill them... Janitor Two: I like the picture thing with Alice. That was smooth. Janitor One: Yeah. I like how he was torturing Ned. Janitor Two: Yeah. A professionally written murderer if ever I've read one. Janitor One: Yeah. Janitor Two: Least favorite scene? Janitor One: Umm...least favorite? Some of the moments with Liz and Todd. I was laughing when I read Todd was going to surprise her by taking her bowling. Janitor Two: Yeah. The bowling thing was one of my favorites. Least favorite for me would be towards the end. I didn't like Liz on the boat. There should have been more to it. He should have pushed her in the water, or wacked her once good. I really expected more from him in that scene, but the police just showed up too fast. There was no time for Liz to be scare. It felt rushed. Janitor One: It was. I'd like to know how Liz explained herself to Todd afterwards. But I guess that's why it's a two-part series. Janitor Two: Yeah. Most favorite? Janitor One: Scott and Jessica's dates. The bowling thing. I really liked when Scott and Jess broke into school. Janitor Two: It's a toss up between the bowling thing and Jess climbing through the window. So, overall, how many Bruce heads? Janitor One: I'd say five. It was well-written, well-plotted, had a likable character in it, and managed to make me--if not like--not hate the twins for 200 pages. Janitor Two: Fair enough. I say four. It loses half a Todd head for Liz-on-the-boat, and another half for corny poetry inserts. Janitor One: OK. |
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