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Sweet Valley University Thriller Editions #1
Wanted for Murder
Wanted...dead or alive.
Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield set off on a road trip to the mountains of Colorado, ready for five days of skiing and the best Christmas break of their lives.
Scott Culver is a guy with a broken-down car and a face to die for, whom the twins pick up on the side of the road. He's a medical student with a month-long job at Aspen. Or so he says...
Jeff Marks is a young FBI agent searching for the outlaw responsible for a string of armed robberies.
Tom Watts, Elizabeth's boyfriend, is waiting for her to show up in Aspen. Instead he finds her face on a list of the FBI's most wanted.
Now the twins are running for their lives.
Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield set off on a road trip to the mountains of Colorado, ready for five days of skiing and the best Christmas break of their lives.
Scott Culver is a guy with a broken-down car and a face to die for, whom the twins pick up on the side of the road. He's a medical student with a month-long job at Aspen. Or so he says...
Jeff Marks is a young FBI agent searching for the outlaw responsible for a string of armed robberies.
Tom Watts, Elizabeth's boyfriend, is waiting for her to show up in Aspen. Instead he finds her face on a list of the FBI's most wanted.
Now the twins are running for their lives.
297 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 1994
310 people want to read
About the author
Francine Pascal
1,140 books1,850 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 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 27, 2017
The Sweet Valley, California, Road Trip Pop Quiz (Patent Pending)
1. Your name is Liz Wakefield, and your boyfriend, Tom Watts, would really prefer if you came with him on your trip to Vail, Colorado, for New Year's Eve. But your impulsive sister - who is known to get you into many, many jams - wants to spend quality time with you on a road trip. What do you do?
A. Go with Tom
B. Go with Jess
The answer is B, as in, Oh boy, here we go. Literally and figuratively.
2. You are Jessica Wakefield. You and your twin are already behind schedule to make it to Vail on time, but you spot the MOST! HANDSOME! GUY! EVER!! by the side of the road. Do you:
A. Gird your loins and drive right the fuck on by, because this isn't the 1970s and he could be a serial killer.
B. Plead and beg and plead with your sister until she lets you give the guy a ride. You've never dated a cowboy before.
Yep, the answer is B again.
3. Now you are Liz, the "sensible" twin. At a rest stop this guy, Scott Culver, buys you and Jess food and tells you he's a medical student from Montana on his way to Vail. You are suspicious, but he is able to answer every one of your questions. Do you:
A. Still remain suspicious and refuse to take him along, because you are a reporter and can clearly tell when someone is giving you their slickest of moves.
B. Say to yourself, "Well, he answered all my questions, so he can't possibly be a serial killer. That would be silly."
Still B! Sensing a pattern?
4. Well, it turns out that Mr. Scott Culver was, of course, a serial killer. In fact, he was so desperate to rob a store that he robbed it with both of you of in tow! And Jess, you were caught on tape wearing his hat, thereby blocking him as the real suspect. Now there is an APB out for two "armed and dangerous" twins. After you get away from Scott, you stop at a gas station and discover the truth, and you both come out to discover police surrounding you and the Jeep. There are several ways to handle this; some smart and some idiotic. How do you proceed?
A. Cooperate with the police, because even though things look bad right now, they will look a whole lot worse if you run.
B. One of you distracts the police while the other calls Tom, so at least someone knows the danger you are in.
C. Jump into the Jeep and drive away from the scene, failing to alert your friends to your whereabouts or to tell anyone about Scott Culvert.
C! You're on the right track. (With the quiz, anyway).
5. Well, now that you are on the run, you have to formulate a plan about how to proceed. As Liz, you believe you both should:
A. Turn around and seek help from SOMEONE, because it was beyond idiotic to run in the first place.
B. Go back for Scott and "get him to confess" to get you both out of this mess, even though he is ARMED AND DANGEROUS and VERY CLEARLY going to kill you.
Well, yeah, you chose B. God rest your soul.
6. What's this? The jeep broke down but you walked to a gas station and Jess, you charmed the clerk into borrowing his old T-bird? That was pretty smart. But since it is a convertible, you definitely checked the back before getting in, right?
A. True
B. False
7. False, and now Scott Culver has a gun to your scalp again, Liz. Jess, you fight with Scott for the gun but in the midst of the fight Liz loses control on a patch of ice and the car flips. But Jess, you wake up to see Scott coming back for you, so you toss Liz (still unconscious) in the back and pray for the T-bird to start. Not that you deserve it, but it totally does start! Only, now Scott has jumped onto the back and won't let go. You drive up against a barn and finally lose him, but when Liz wakes up she has some ideas about how you both should proceed now. And what might those ideas be?
A. STOP SOMEWHERE, EVEN A CIVILIAN'S HOUSE, AND USE THEIR PHONE TO CALL TOM AND THEN ASK THE PEOPLE FOR HELP!!!
B. Insist that you must go back for Scott (again), despite the disgusted look on Jess's face. You come from a world where words always work, and your pretty little blonde head (size 6 figure!) is so convinced that you can still corner Scott (you both found his weapons) and make him come clean.
Yeah, of course you chose B. (But thank God Jessica had some sense for once).
8. Tom, you have been working tirelessly to trace a call from Liz and pinpoint her location. You finally do, but the cops want to have a word with you about where she might be so they can help find her, because they understand now that there was more to the video. Do you:
A. Make things easy
B. Make things difficult
B? Well, Tom, you and Liz deserve one another!!
9. With Tom and the FBI Agent in tow, they spot the twins. Do the twins yet realize that Scott is leading them right over the cliff of the Grand Canyon?
A. No
B. Of course not
C. Both A and B
(Not to worry! Tom and the agent rescue the twins, while Scott commits suicide by driving himself off the cliffs of the Grand Canyon on a motorcycle.)
Quotes:
Liz: Grandma and Grandpa gave us each five hundred dollars for Christmas.
Wowza! I only got $60 this year. That's it. I know they were getting it for a road trip, but still.
Jessica to Scott: Lila's my best friend from high school. She's a millionaire.
Wow again! I knew Lila was rich, obviously, but for some reason I never thought of her or Bruce as MILLIONAIRES!
"Any guy who was enough of a gentleman to side with Elizabeth on this issue was obviously not the kind of guy to take advantage of two vulnerable teenagers."
Obviously not.
"But I know we've run a picture of this woman before-- a big photo, on page one. It was a couple years ago, maybe."
Guys, they are referencing the Jungle Prom accident with Liz killing Sam in the Jeep!! Naturally, no mention of MARGO looking exactly like the twins, which is way more newsworthy.
Jeff, the FBI agent, staring at a picture of Jess from the surveillance camera: Does she have to be so gorgeous?
Liz to Jess: I can think of a few better New Year's resolutions for you. How about resolving to show some good judgment, for a change? How about resolving not to do idiotic things like sharing our Jeep and our room with strange men? How about resolving to use your brain instead of your glands when you meet a guy?
Wow, that's one of, like, only two times Liz has ever stood up to Jess.
Scott to himself: Jessica was a cute kid who had really liked him. And that moonlit kiss by the pool at Caesars had been something special.
Jessica Wakefield: Turns Serial Killers Soft.
Scott to himself: There was an odd kind of joy in manipulating people's emotions.
You think he and Jess would have connected about that first thing.
1. Your name is Liz Wakefield, and your boyfriend, Tom Watts, would really prefer if you came with him on your trip to Vail, Colorado, for New Year's Eve. But your impulsive sister - who is known to get you into many, many jams - wants to spend quality time with you on a road trip. What do you do?
A. Go with Tom
B. Go with Jess
The answer is B, as in, Oh boy, here we go. Literally and figuratively.
2. You are Jessica Wakefield. You and your twin are already behind schedule to make it to Vail on time, but you spot the MOST! HANDSOME! GUY! EVER!! by the side of the road. Do you:
A. Gird your loins and drive right the fuck on by, because this isn't the 1970s and he could be a serial killer.
B. Plead and beg and plead with your sister until she lets you give the guy a ride. You've never dated a cowboy before.
Yep, the answer is B again.
3. Now you are Liz, the "sensible" twin. At a rest stop this guy, Scott Culver, buys you and Jess food and tells you he's a medical student from Montana on his way to Vail. You are suspicious, but he is able to answer every one of your questions. Do you:
A. Still remain suspicious and refuse to take him along, because you are a reporter and can clearly tell when someone is giving you their slickest of moves.
B. Say to yourself, "Well, he answered all my questions, so he can't possibly be a serial killer. That would be silly."
Still B! Sensing a pattern?
4. Well, it turns out that Mr. Scott Culver was, of course, a serial killer. In fact, he was so desperate to rob a store that he robbed it with both of you of in tow! And Jess, you were caught on tape wearing his hat, thereby blocking him as the real suspect. Now there is an APB out for two "armed and dangerous" twins. After you get away from Scott, you stop at a gas station and discover the truth, and you both come out to discover police surrounding you and the Jeep. There are several ways to handle this; some smart and some idiotic. How do you proceed?
A. Cooperate with the police, because even though things look bad right now, they will look a whole lot worse if you run.
B. One of you distracts the police while the other calls Tom, so at least someone knows the danger you are in.
C. Jump into the Jeep and drive away from the scene, failing to alert your friends to your whereabouts or to tell anyone about Scott Culvert.
C! You're on the right track. (With the quiz, anyway).
5. Well, now that you are on the run, you have to formulate a plan about how to proceed. As Liz, you believe you both should:
A. Turn around and seek help from SOMEONE, because it was beyond idiotic to run in the first place.
B. Go back for Scott and "get him to confess" to get you both out of this mess, even though he is ARMED AND DANGEROUS and VERY CLEARLY going to kill you.
Well, yeah, you chose B. God rest your soul.
6. What's this? The jeep broke down but you walked to a gas station and Jess, you charmed the clerk into borrowing his old T-bird? That was pretty smart. But since it is a convertible, you definitely checked the back before getting in, right?
A. True
B. False
7. False, and now Scott Culver has a gun to your scalp again, Liz. Jess, you fight with Scott for the gun but in the midst of the fight Liz loses control on a patch of ice and the car flips. But Jess, you wake up to see Scott coming back for you, so you toss Liz (still unconscious) in the back and pray for the T-bird to start. Not that you deserve it, but it totally does start! Only, now Scott has jumped onto the back and won't let go. You drive up against a barn and finally lose him, but when Liz wakes up she has some ideas about how you both should proceed now. And what might those ideas be?
A. STOP SOMEWHERE, EVEN A CIVILIAN'S HOUSE, AND USE THEIR PHONE TO CALL TOM AND THEN ASK THE PEOPLE FOR HELP!!!
B. Insist that you must go back for Scott (again), despite the disgusted look on Jess's face. You come from a world where words always work, and your pretty little blonde head (size 6 figure!) is so convinced that you can still corner Scott (you both found his weapons) and make him come clean.
Yeah, of course you chose B. (But thank God Jessica had some sense for once).
8. Tom, you have been working tirelessly to trace a call from Liz and pinpoint her location. You finally do, but the cops want to have a word with you about where she might be so they can help find her, because they understand now that there was more to the video. Do you:
A. Make things easy
B. Make things difficult
B? Well, Tom, you and Liz deserve one another!!
9. With Tom and the FBI Agent in tow, they spot the twins. Do the twins yet realize that Scott is leading them right over the cliff of the Grand Canyon?
A. No
B. Of course not
C. Both A and B
(Not to worry! Tom and the agent rescue the twins, while Scott commits suicide by driving himself off the cliffs of the Grand Canyon on a motorcycle.)
Quotes:
Liz: Grandma and Grandpa gave us each five hundred dollars for Christmas.
Wowza! I only got $60 this year. That's it. I know they were getting it for a road trip, but still.
Jessica to Scott: Lila's my best friend from high school. She's a millionaire.
Wow again! I knew Lila was rich, obviously, but for some reason I never thought of her or Bruce as MILLIONAIRES!
"Any guy who was enough of a gentleman to side with Elizabeth on this issue was obviously not the kind of guy to take advantage of two vulnerable teenagers."
Obviously not.
"But I know we've run a picture of this woman before-- a big photo, on page one. It was a couple years ago, maybe."
Guys, they are referencing the Jungle Prom accident with Liz killing Sam in the Jeep!! Naturally, no mention of MARGO looking exactly like the twins, which is way more newsworthy.
Jeff, the FBI agent, staring at a picture of Jess from the surveillance camera: Does she have to be so gorgeous?
Liz to Jess: I can think of a few better New Year's resolutions for you. How about resolving to show some good judgment, for a change? How about resolving not to do idiotic things like sharing our Jeep and our room with strange men? How about resolving to use your brain instead of your glands when you meet a guy?
Wow, that's one of, like, only two times Liz has ever stood up to Jess.
Scott to himself: Jessica was a cute kid who had really liked him. And that moonlit kiss by the pool at Caesars had been something special.
Jessica Wakefield: Turns Serial Killers Soft.
Scott to himself: There was an odd kind of joy in manipulating people's emotions.
You think he and Jess would have connected about that first thing.
June 11, 2015
I really enjoyed this book! This is a book about two twin sisters Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield. They're going on a vacation in Aspen. On the way there they come across a guy with a broken down car on the road, and Jessica is immediately smitten by this guy and his good looks. She tries so badly to convince her sister to let Scott come on the trip with them, so she won't be the only single person around all the other couples in Aspen. Elizabeth is the smarter sister who knows it's not a good idea to give a stranger a ride, no matter what he looks like. Eventually
Jessica was able to get Elizabeth to change her mind, and they let him come along. Things start to escalate once Scott goes into a gas station and Jessica follows right behind him after he tells her to stay in the car. She witnesses him pull out a gun and rob the store, but when the police view the surveillance, it's Jessica's face they see in the video, so they have reason to believe she is the guilty one. When Scott Culver finds out on the news while in a diner that the police are looking for the Wakefield Twins, he is relieved that they weren't looking for him. Although they did mention there was a man standing behind Jessica, and we're trying to figure out who it was, because he might be involved. That's when Scott starts to get nervous that if the twins are caught they will tell on him. he decides to make it his life's mission to get to them first and kill them before they get a chance to get to the police. He even talks about how it would look like a suicide and he would drive off in his motorcycle, never to be seen again...When the police finally caught up to them, they knew he was the guilty one and the twins finally felt better because they were innocent. The cop gave Scott a choice to either drive off the Grand Canyon to his death or he would be arrested. He decided taking his life would be better and that's what he did. This book really kept my attention. It was a great thriller! (:
Jessica was able to get Elizabeth to change her mind, and they let him come along. Things start to escalate once Scott goes into a gas station and Jessica follows right behind him after he tells her to stay in the car. She witnesses him pull out a gun and rob the store, but when the police view the surveillance, it's Jessica's face they see in the video, so they have reason to believe she is the guilty one. When Scott Culver finds out on the news while in a diner that the police are looking for the Wakefield Twins, he is relieved that they weren't looking for him. Although they did mention there was a man standing behind Jessica, and we're trying to figure out who it was, because he might be involved. That's when Scott starts to get nervous that if the twins are caught they will tell on him. he decides to make it his life's mission to get to them first and kill them before they get a chance to get to the police. He even talks about how it would look like a suicide and he would drive off in his motorcycle, never to be seen again...When the police finally caught up to them, they knew he was the guilty one and the twins finally felt better because they were innocent. The cop gave Scott a choice to either drive off the Grand Canyon to his death or he would be arrested. He decided taking his life would be better and that's what he did. This book really kept my attention. It was a great thriller! (:
July 16, 2015
It wasn't until I was older that I realized a lot of these books basically lifted their plots from popular movies, i.e. Thelma and Louise.
June 8, 2017
Wanted for Murder is a “thriller edition” in the Sweet Valley series, and it fits in right after Home for Christmas. The twins are still on Christmas break, and they decide to spend the last few days of their vacation driving from California to Vail to ski and party during New Year’s Eve.
Everyone knows how much of a fan I am of the Wakefield twins, but one reason got in the way of this book being my favorite. As we all know, Jessica has had a very difficult semester, especially where men are concerned. Is it too much to ask that the she take a tiny break from drooling over every good-looking guy she meets? Maybe for a few days, on a trip to Vail in time for New Years Eve?
Jessica’s hormones aside (because without them, there would be no story) it’s a very exciting book, and I read it all in one day! A cute, charming cowboy bank robber murderer charms his way into the twins’s car during their road trip. Will the girls find out he’s trouble before it’s too late?
http://hottoastyrag.weebly.com/svu-85...
Everyone knows how much of a fan I am of the Wakefield twins, but one reason got in the way of this book being my favorite. As we all know, Jessica has had a very difficult semester, especially where men are concerned. Is it too much to ask that the she take a tiny break from drooling over every good-looking guy she meets? Maybe for a few days, on a trip to Vail in time for New Years Eve?
Jessica’s hormones aside (because without them, there would be no story) it’s a very exciting book, and I read it all in one day! A cute, charming cowboy bank robber murderer charms his way into the twins’s car during their road trip. Will the girls find out he’s trouble before it’s too late?
http://hottoastyrag.weebly.com/svu-85...
September 30, 2020
I guess I just don’t care for SVU as much as SVH, I hate Tom as a replacement for Todd, I’ll never get over that. This book in particular had promise but just didn’t excite me as much as I hoped it would. Seemed repetitive and slow with, in my opinion, a quite abrupt ending. An epilogue or something would’ve been nice to properly wrap things up but hey...
I’d say skip this one, you aren’t missing much. These special edition Sweet Valley books aren’t really canon in the storyline either I find, so it’s not important in the timeline.
I’d say skip this one, you aren’t missing much. These special edition Sweet Valley books aren’t really canon in the storyline either I find, so it’s not important in the timeline.
December 19, 2024
I must admit, I've never liked the thrillers in this series so much. This book, despite how short it is, took me a relatively long time to get through because I kept getting impatient and bored with it. I much prefer when the books zip around to all different characters, keeping up the fast soap opera pace, rather than sitting on one story. Also, I'm more willing to accept the SVH werewolf story than the FBI agent randomly in love with Jessica based on her CCTV photo, in this book.
February 26, 2017
SWEET VALLEY UNIVERSITY
Written by Francine Pascal
General Review for series as I cannot remember each novel.
I read Sweet Valley University when I was in junior high school to high school. While there is sexual content it is very mild (not explicit) compared to teen books today. If you like the Sweet Valley High you will love this series as it continues with the twins' story as they attend University and are away from their parents. I am not sure how they would relate to teens today as this was before cell phones were common and social media. They are fun teen romances with "real-life" situation. I did not complete the series as I started to save for school so I wasn't able to collect them any further (they are out of print). I still have the books I bought and may try to read one again (I did reread the series a few times).
Written by Francine Pascal
General Review for series as I cannot remember each novel.
I read Sweet Valley University when I was in junior high school to high school. While there is sexual content it is very mild (not explicit) compared to teen books today. If you like the Sweet Valley High you will love this series as it continues with the twins' story as they attend University and are away from their parents. I am not sure how they would relate to teens today as this was before cell phones were common and social media. They are fun teen romances with "real-life" situation. I did not complete the series as I started to save for school so I wasn't able to collect them any further (they are out of print). I still have the books I bought and may try to read one again (I did reread the series a few times).
January 5, 2017
still reading, but past the middle. This book just goes to show that one should not pick up strangerr/ hitchhikers along the road. This story makes me so mad, because Jessica is known for her bad judgement in guys, but one would think that she would know better than to fall for a pretty face.
March 29, 2022
Re-read February 2022
This is one of my favorite SVU books, mostly due to how ridiculously fun it is. I also love that it has throwbacks to the Jungle Prom events, which is so rare in these books.
ORIGINAL REVIEW FROM 2o17:
Still love this one. =)
This is one of my favorite SVU books, mostly due to how ridiculously fun it is. I also love that it has throwbacks to the Jungle Prom events, which is so rare in these books.
ORIGINAL REVIEW FROM 2o17:
Still love this one. =)
May 21, 2013
Read this more than 15 years ago I think. Was one of my favs of the SVU series then
July 9, 2013
I have read so many of these books I can't remember all of them.
December 19, 2015
I love Sweet Valley twins! :)
March 28, 2017
Jessica Wakefield has gotten her twin sister Elizabeth into some messes before, but this one could very well get them both murdered. Picking up strange men on the side of the road is never a good idea, no matter how cute they are. This was a fun and entertaining read.
January 23, 2018
Twin sisters Elizabeth and Jessica go on a road trip to go skiing on christmas breaķ. They pick up a guy. Scott and dangers that ensue.
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