2023 Nostalgia Re-readathon | SVU Thriller #4: The House of Death

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When a deadly earthquake hits Sweet Valley University...

Lila Fowler is trapped in a collapsed building. When she emerges from a coma, will a brilliant young psychiatrist help her build a new life - or turn her dreams to rubble?

Porter Davis is thrilled to have Lila under his spell. And the more deeply he controls her mind, the more villainous his plans for her become.

Bruce Patman knows Porter Davis is bad news, but Lila refuses to heed Bruce's warnings. Can Bruce make Lila see through Porter's perfect facade before its too late?

Jessica Wakefield feels bad that Tom Watts lost his dorm room in the earthquake - but that doesn't mean she wants him for a roommate. Will Jessica make Elizabeth choose between her boyfriend and her twin sister?

After the turgid SVH "Horror" miniseries, I am grateful to moving on to SVU in this year's nostalgia re-readathon. SVU is where my OTP ship Bruce/Lila sails freely, including in this Super Thriller, so I was 1000% on board to visit this.

Lila's heretofore unknown Aunt Katherine was murdered, and the book opens with the reading of her will. Lila has unexpectedly inherited her mansion, situated on an isolated crest of one of the mountains that gives the Valley its name. She has fond memories of time she spent there with her aunt and uncle, but it's also the site of her aunt's still unsolved murder, so she doesn't really want the house. Bruce convinces her to at least go to the house and look it over, and she reluctantly agrees to meet him there the next day. Lila arrives first, but Bruce is delayed; she's angry with him for being late and marches into the house without him, and then a big earthquake hits. Bruce is trapped on the side of the mountain, and Lila is trapped in the house, where a heavy piece of furniture falls on her and knocks her out cold. Bruce eventually finds her and rescues her, but Lila is taken to the hospital still comatose and everyone is worried about her.

Lila comes out of her coma, convinced that an angelic being brought her back to life. Her "angel" turns out to be hospital intern Porter Davis, an aspiring psychiatrist, and the weak, vulnerable Lila quickly falls under his spell. Davis quickly manipulates himself into Lila's life and into her Aunt Katherine's mansion, where he's able to swiftly cut her off from her family and friends and make her think she's slowly going insane.

The SVU thriller plots are rather infamously and obviously ripped from classic film noir, so, you guessed it, this is SVU's take on Gaslight. The plot beats are exactly the same as the film, up to and including the hiring of a disdainful "maid," Nancy.

It doesn't quite work, because Lila is usually a strong character, and it's hard to see her being so pathetic here. I can't quite believe that she would fall under the sway so easily and not see what's going on, especially after she does finally see her friends (and Bruce) at the Theta gala. Lila's smarter than she's given credit for here, and she's already faced the loss of loved ones in the main series. If the ghosties had chosen a weaker, quieter character to pull this plot on, it would've make a lot more sense.

Of course, at the end Lila makes a miraculous recovery from being choked to unconsciousness and manages to scramble up to the attic and save Bruce's life by beaning Porter on the head with her aunt's marble rolling pin before he can shove Bruce out the window to his death. She does get the pleasure of wreaking a bit of vengeance on him at the end that is certainly more Miss Lila Fucking Fowler than any other part of the novel. It was nice to see a glimpse of her, at least, along with the joyous reunion at the end ♥

The mistake was making Porter Davis an intern at the hospital. Interns are (at least in my part o' the country) 1st year residents, aka freshly graduated from medical school and starting their speciality training. No way would Davis have been allowed to oversee Lila's therapy sessions alone, without oversight, and no way would he have been able to transfer to the Sweet Valley hospital - which is not a teaching hospital so how would he be doing residency there anyway?? - without his past being known, even if he changed his name. So if you think about it too hard, the plot falls apart, no matter how faithfully it follows the movie.

There is a comic relief side-plot as well, as Tom Watts temporarily moves into Jessica and Elizabeth's dorm room in the wake of the quake, which ruined his dorm. Jess and Tom, who can't stand each other, engage in a prank war, and then Jessica pulls a long con of her own, which was artfully done and Pure Jess. She can manipulate a man like no other, and her sister's boyfriend is no exception. Brava, Jessica!

Of course, in the real world college kids would not be forced to clean out their quake-damaged dorm rooms themselves, or find alternate accommodation on their own. Again, don't squint too hard.

All in all, though, this was a fun read, and a definite improvement over the terrible SVH mini arc we chose this year. I say we might need to dip into SVU more often for this in future!