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Sweet Valley High #116
Nightmare in Death Valley
Will they get out of the desert alive?
Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield are trapped in Death Valley! Led astray by the promise of hidden treasure, the Sweet Valley gang is in serious danger. A torrential rainstorm is brewing on the horizon, and they're being pursued by three escaped convicts!
When the gang decides to split up, things only get worse. While Jessica is held at gunpoint by the convicts, Elizabeth hangs from a rocky cliff, perilously close to falling. Will the twins save themselves—or perish in the valley of death?
Don't miss this electrifying conclusion to the two-part treasure-hunt miniseries.
Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield are trapped in Death Valley! Led astray by the promise of hidden treasure, the Sweet Valley gang is in serious danger. A torrential rainstorm is brewing on the horizon, and they're being pursued by three escaped convicts!
When the gang decides to split up, things only get worse. While Jessica is held at gunpoint by the convicts, Elizabeth hangs from a rocky cliff, perilously close to falling. Will the twins save themselves—or perish in the valley of death?
Don't miss this electrifying conclusion to the two-part treasure-hunt miniseries.
196 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
2 people are currently reading
356 people want to read
About the author
Francine Pascal
1,139 books1,851 followersFrancine Paula Pascal was an American author best known for her Sweet Valley series of young adult novels. Sweet Valley High, the backbone of the collection, was made into a television series, which led to several spin-offs, including The Unicorn Club and Sweet Valley University. Although most of these books were published in the 1980s and 1990s, they remained so popular that several titles were re-released decades later.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 14, 2019
Title: Nightmare in Death Valley
Author: Francine Pascal, Kate William
Series: Sweet Valley High, 116
Format: paperback
Length: 196 pages
Rating: 3 stars
Trigger warning: being held hostage; being lost in the wilderness
Synopsis:
Will they get out of the desert alive?
Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield are trapped in Death Valley! Led astray by the promise of hidden treasure, the Sweet Valley gang is in serious danger. A torrential rainstorm is brewing on the horizon, and they're being pursued by three escaped convicts!
When the gang decides to split up, things only get worse. While Jessica is held at gunpoint by the convicts, Elizabeth hangs from a rocky cliff, perilously close to falling. Will the twins save themselves -- or perish in the valley of death?
Don't miss this electrifying conclusion to the two-part treasure-hunt miniseries.
Favourite character: Ken and maybe Bruce
Least favourite character: Jessica and Heather
Mini-review:
Whatever sympathy I felt for Jessica in the last miniseries has evaporated. She was completely insufferable during this whole book. Same with just about everyone, except for like Ken. Maybe Bruce because he didn't change at all and Bruce's snarky comments and arrogance never fail to amuse me.
Fan-cast:
Elizabeth/Jessica Wakefield - Lili Reinhart
Heather Mallone - Skyler Samuels
Todd Wilkins - Blake Michael
Bruce Patman - Richard Harmon
Ken Matthews - Brandon Larracuente
Jack - Robert Sheehan
Moe - Aaron Stanford
Larry - Haley Joel Osment
Author: Francine Pascal, Kate William
Series: Sweet Valley High, 116
Format: paperback
Length: 196 pages
Rating: 3 stars
Trigger warning: being held hostage; being lost in the wilderness
Synopsis:
Will they get out of the desert alive?
Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield are trapped in Death Valley! Led astray by the promise of hidden treasure, the Sweet Valley gang is in serious danger. A torrential rainstorm is brewing on the horizon, and they're being pursued by three escaped convicts!
When the gang decides to split up, things only get worse. While Jessica is held at gunpoint by the convicts, Elizabeth hangs from a rocky cliff, perilously close to falling. Will the twins save themselves -- or perish in the valley of death?
Don't miss this electrifying conclusion to the two-part treasure-hunt miniseries.
Favourite character: Ken and maybe Bruce
Least favourite character: Jessica and Heather
Mini-review:
Whatever sympathy I felt for Jessica in the last miniseries has evaporated. She was completely insufferable during this whole book. Same with just about everyone, except for like Ken. Maybe Bruce because he didn't change at all and Bruce's snarky comments and arrogance never fail to amuse me.
Fan-cast:
Elizabeth/Jessica Wakefield - Lili Reinhart
Heather Mallone - Skyler Samuels
Todd Wilkins - Blake Michael
Bruce Patman - Richard Harmon
Ken Matthews - Brandon Larracuente
Jack - Robert Sheehan
Moe - Aaron Stanford
Larry - Haley Joel Osment
September 30, 2018
What a doozy. The twins are crazy, prancing around and stealing each other’s boyfriends. Or just Liz. She rekindles her flame with Bruce and then gets a hot feeling for Ken. Jess doesn’t know because she’s left behind with Heather since Heather hurt her ankle.
Of course the convicts come home to roost in this one. They trap Heather and Jess and then lure the others back to them. It begins to rain and flood horribly, so Liz convinces the men to leave them there to die. Wouldn’t you know that one of the convicts has a heart of gold, and he’s the one they save from the rushing river. They assume the other two are dead.
But Moe and Larry, the other two convicts, decide to come back for the last of the gold, and they trap everyone in the cave. Liz gets a knife held to her neck while they all brainstorm ways to get away from the madmen. They hear a helicopter up above and think it might be for them. But Jess suggests it also might be for the convicts. Jack, the nice baddie, decides to lunge for Moe’s gun, but he ends up shot in the chest and dead, which sucks. Moe goes outside while the kids convince Larry to let them go. He shoots his remaining six shots at the ceiling.
Their ordeal with the crazed escaped convicts is over, but the bullet shots in the cave cause an avalanche that traps the group from the entrance. Qu’el Surprise. Liz is the only one still with a flashlight, so that’s their only source of light in the entire cave. Another flood comes and they think they will drown in the cave, but then it recedes. Ken punches the wall in anger about still being trapped, and they discover that the cave is made of shale and they can dig their way out. So they do, and they end up right by the Desert Oasis 7-Eleven.
The SVSS leaders tell the group that all their gold was only fools’ gold. They acted crazy for nothing.
No one appears to have any PTSD as they head back to school. Well, except Jessica. She now prefers silver to gold jewelry, so I guess that’s something!
Also, Bruce is great comedic relief in this book. Love it!
Quotes:
Todd: Jessica, she lost her backpack- have a little patience and compassion. I’ll find you a dictionary so you can look those words up.
Bruce, in his journal: Or she’d say that she was rubbing off on me, which is more stupider.
“[Elizabeth] would never marry Todd and raise a family with him.”
Well, she got that right. Jess marries him and has his kid.
Jessica, thinking about what might happen after she dies: [Heather and I] had better not end up on the same afterlife cheerleading squad!
Sound priorities, Jess.
Larry: But Moe is an artist when it comes to murder! Watch him and you’ll see his genius.
Ken: We’ll never get home as it is! So why should I be deprived of the final pleasure of going totally crazy?
Of course the convicts come home to roost in this one. They trap Heather and Jess and then lure the others back to them. It begins to rain and flood horribly, so Liz convinces the men to leave them there to die. Wouldn’t you know that one of the convicts has a heart of gold, and he’s the one they save from the rushing river. They assume the other two are dead.
But Moe and Larry, the other two convicts, decide to come back for the last of the gold, and they trap everyone in the cave. Liz gets a knife held to her neck while they all brainstorm ways to get away from the madmen. They hear a helicopter up above and think it might be for them. But Jess suggests it also might be for the convicts. Jack, the nice baddie, decides to lunge for Moe’s gun, but he ends up shot in the chest and dead, which sucks. Moe goes outside while the kids convince Larry to let them go. He shoots his remaining six shots at the ceiling.
Their ordeal with the crazed escaped convicts is over, but the bullet shots in the cave cause an avalanche that traps the group from the entrance. Qu’el Surprise. Liz is the only one still with a flashlight, so that’s their only source of light in the entire cave. Another flood comes and they think they will drown in the cave, but then it recedes. Ken punches the wall in anger about still being trapped, and they discover that the cave is made of shale and they can dig their way out. So they do, and they end up right by the Desert Oasis 7-Eleven.
The SVSS leaders tell the group that all their gold was only fools’ gold. They acted crazy for nothing.
No one appears to have any PTSD as they head back to school. Well, except Jessica. She now prefers silver to gold jewelry, so I guess that’s something!
Also, Bruce is great comedic relief in this book. Love it!
Quotes:
Todd: Jessica, she lost her backpack- have a little patience and compassion. I’ll find you a dictionary so you can look those words up.
Bruce, in his journal: Or she’d say that she was rubbing off on me, which is more stupider.
“[Elizabeth] would never marry Todd and raise a family with him.”
Well, she got that right. Jess marries him and has his kid.
Jessica, thinking about what might happen after she dies: [Heather and I] had better not end up on the same afterlife cheerleading squad!
Sound priorities, Jess.
Larry: But Moe is an artist when it comes to murder! Watch him and you’ll see his genius.
Ken: We’ll never get home as it is! So why should I be deprived of the final pleasure of going totally crazy?
March 7, 2016
Almost as preposterous as the face transplant story. Lol
January 29, 2018
I am not sure who I dislike more Heather or Jessica. This story was just a little too unrealistic for me.
August 26, 2018
I love it
February 27, 2019
Better than Treasure in Death Valley that's for sure.
June 9, 2024
Who fantasizes about hot mushroom-barley soup IN THE DESERT?!?
January 22, 2025
This story got so bogged down with tedious “bad guys” & of course it was pyrite AKA fool’s gold that Jessica discovered.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 21, 2013
I remember the cover but just not the story
January 2, 2016
Campy, ridiculous fun, it gets 5 stars from me for nostalgia's sake. This was always one of my favorite miniseries from SVH.
May 2, 2017
Again, the 5 stars is for pure nostalgia.
One big question about this book, though -
One big question about this book, though -
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews