**This blog contains adult language.**
Warning: Spoilers Ahead!!! This is a recap blog which means I read the book and tell you everything that happens so you don't have to read it yourself. Please be aware that the story WILL be spoiled in every way imaginable. And mocked. Mercilessly.
From the Back of the Book: Eyewitness to murder... Jody's ski vacation has just begun when she sprains her ankle and winds up all alone in her cabin with nothing to do. Nothing except look out the window. So she can't help but see what's going on in the cabin next door. It belongs to the beautiful Leahna Calder, whom every boy wishes to go out with and every girl wishes to become. But someone has a different wish. Someone wishes Leahna Calder were dead. And, through the window, Jody watches it all – the fight, the murder...the killer. What happens when the killer watches Jody?
This book was published in 1992 and I'm pretty sure I've read it before. I don't remember any details but the plot seems very familiar. I'm not going to do any odds since I'm pretty sure I remember who the bad guy is. That would totally be cheating. I like the cover of this book. I tended to like most of the PH and PH-adjacent books back in the early 90's. They're just campy fun.
We begin with our protagonist Jody in a bus sliding across an icy road. She pictures it careening over the side of the cliff and plummeting them all to their deaths. It doesn't. It regains traction and everything is fine. She looks around. Chris is reading and watching Drew out of the corner of her eye. Ellen is also watching Drew and Jody tells us he's ever so dreamy. And brooding. So we know who my favorite is going to be. She thinks Billy is asleep behind her but she can't see him so she isn't sure. The driver of the bus is named Sasha and her twin brother Cal is also along. They're apparently gorgeous.
Jody doesn't really know any of these people. Sasha and Cal are neighbors of Jody's friend Kate. They invited Kate on this ski trip and Kate invited Jody but then got sick and couldn't come. Jody kind of knows Billy and Chris but hasn't ever talked to the rest. She's going to spend five days in a cabin with people she barely knows. That sounds like enough of a nightmare for me already. Kate begged her to go and keep an eye on Cal and Leahna. I guess Kate has a crush on Cal and she's worried he'll hook up with Leahna on the trip.
I'm not sure how Jody is supposed to prevent this from happening but whatever.
They finally get close to their destination and everyone seems to remember there are other people on the bus to talk to. They talk about the resort, the snow, the drive, blah, blah, blah. Drew pokes his head up to contribute to the conversation and Sasha asks him if he's been asleep the whole trip or lost in one of his “moody spells”. He tells her he was fearing for his life with the way she was driving and Jody is thrilled that someone else noticed they almost died several times. Sasha steers them toward their cabin and mentions that they'll be surrounded by other cabins and there aren't any curtains so they shouldn't walk around naked.
Um. They shouldn't walk around naked anyway. They're all high school students. What a weird thing to say. I mean, I get it. Ellis is trying to set up the plot where someone sees something through a window but still.
::Clunk::
Drew and Ellen both express a desire to do some night skiing but Sasha tells them she has a party planned for that night so they can meet some of the other people at the resort. Everyone seems okay with this. I swear this whole trip would just be torture for me.
When they get to the cabin, Drew volunteers to take everything inside and get the heat turned on while everyone else checks out the place. Chris immediately volunteers to help so she can spend some time with him. Drew unloads Jody's skis first and she pulls out the money she needs for her lift ticket and then gives him her wallet to take inside. He's surprised she trusts him with it since they're pretty much strangers. The two of them joke about Sasha's driving again and Jody can see Chris watching her with hate all over her face.
Random girl as it out for our protagonist over a boy? Check
Ellis is hitting things early.
I mean, technically we have the teenager left alone trope going too. Instead of the parents being sent on a trip, we just simplified things by sending the teens off on the trip. I should change the wording of this one.
Teens left alone with no parents in sight? Check
Yeah, that will work better.
Jody heads up the lift so she can ski down the mountain. Ellis gives us a brief description of a few of the ski outfits so I'm guessing it might come up later. Jody is in teal/yellow, Ellen in pale blue, Sasha in red/black and Cal in black/silver.
{{{Note from future me: this is never important. I don't know why it was emphasized so much.}}}
Jody skis all afternoon and eventually meets up with everyone else at the top of the mountain. Sasha proposes a contest. She's put an orange peel on the trail and the first person who can ski down to it, stab it with their pole, ski around some trees and get to a clearing wins.
Cal isn't so sure it's safe and Chris seems like she doesn't want to do it at all. Billy offers to run the stopwatch because he's not a very strong skier. Sasha asks Drew if he's up to the challenge but he doesn't seem to hear her. He's staring off into the trees lost deep in thought. Sasha seems hurt that no one likes her idea and they all kind of agree to do it to make her feel better.
#fuckpoliteness
Seriously, people, never do something you feel is dangerous or a bad idea simply because you don't want to offend someone else. This is how people die.
Sasha goes first. She misses the peel but makes it safely to the clearing. Cal is next and he doesn't stab the peel either. Chris says she's just going to ski down without even trying for the peel but apparently changes her mind at the last minute and gives it a go. She stabs it but then it falls off and ends up farther away. Because of where it is, there's no way to get it now and the others simply ski down to meet the rest of them. Sasha suggests they put the peel back and try again but no one seems interested in that.
Suddenly another skier appears on the horizon. It's a girl wearing white/neon green and her form is perfect. To everyone's surprise, she manages to snag the orange peel without falling. Drew instantly gets all bristly and Ellen mutters that Leahna has finally made an appearance.
We take a little time hop to later that evening. Jody gets out of a warm bath and heads for the girls' side of the loft. On the way, she spots Cal and Sasha who seem to be arguing about something but she doesn't catch what it's about. Chris is on her bed when Jody comes in the room. They talk briefly about Leahna and Chris describes her as rich and spoiled. She tells Jody that Leahna and Drew used to date and he really seemed to love her but Leahna got bored of him and dropped him. Jody is pretty sure Drew isn't totally over Leahna based on his reaction to seeing her earlier. Chris makes some comments about how she's still determined to snag Drew and then wanders off to use the shower.
Jody gets dressed, noting a pair of binoculars hanging by the window which I'm sure will be important later since Ellis has never been subtle in her life. She's about to leave the room when Sasha appears with a phone telling her Kate's on the line. They talk briefly – Kate only cares about whether Cal and Leahna have been flirting and Jody seems determined not to tell her for some reason – and then Jody gets off the phone to get ready for the party going on downstairs.
Ellen comes in as Jody is putting on her makeup and they make awkward small talk for a couple of minutes. Eventually, Ellen blurts out that she's into Cal and asks Jody if she thinks it could happen. Jody is stunned because she was 100% sure that Ellen was into Drew. Ellen explains that she and Drew have been friends for a really long time and she's comfortable with him but it's completely platonic. Now Jody is in a sticky situation because she's pretty sure Cal has a major boner for Leahna but she doesn't want to hurt Ellen's feelings. Ellen is also pretty aware that Cal wants in Leahna's pants but she's still hopeful that they could be a happily-ever-after once Cal gets the blonde out of his system. Jody isn't sure what to say. She reminds Ellen that she doesn't really know Cal and kind of leaves it at that.
Ellen starts to rant about Leahna unprompted. She's upset with her over what she did to Drew but it goes deeper than that. She tells Jody and she and Leahna were friends once. Leahna offered to proofread some kind of paper that Ellen was submitting for a contest and then stole it and submitted it herself. It won an award. Ellen says that Leahna will get what she deserves someday and then she leaves to go down to the party.
So clearly Eliis is trying to saturate us with suspects before Leahna even dies. How accommodating of her.
*Drew – furious with Leahna over a bad breakup (and maybe still in love with her).
*Chris – furious with Leahna because Drew is maybe still in love with her.
*Ellen – furious with Leahna because she stole a paper and won a contest.
*Cal – madly in love with Leahna who treats him like he doesn't exist.
I'm not giving odds because it's cheaty, but if I was, I'd make them all pretty even at this point.
Jody goes down to the party. There are about 20 new people there but luckily Ellis doesn't give us any names to remember. Jody mingles a bit and eats a huge sandwich. She notices that both Drew and Cal seem to be waiting for Leahna to show up. Billy is making doe eyes at Sasha who is nice but doesn't seem very interested. She's taking advantage of his crush though, making him do all kinds of grunt work for her that she doesn't want to do. Ellen is mooning over Cal who doesn't seem to notice her at all and Chris is just generally mad at everyone. I think that's just her basic personality trait though. We shouldn't read into it.
Eventually Jody sits in a chair and closes her eyes. I guess the people around her assume she's asleep. She overhears Cal and Sasha talking about Leahna. Sasha wants her brother to forget about the toxic blonde but he says he can't. He tells her that Drew has gone down to Leahna's cabin to talk to her and potentially bring her back to the party because Cal was unable to reach her on the phone. Sasha thinks it would be better if Leahna doesn't come but Cal really seems to want her there. When Jody opens her eyes, she sees that Ellen has also overheard the conversation and she's all mopey about it.
After a bit, Sasha turns off the stereo and suggests they play a game of truth. One person will sit in a chair and then the rest of the people will write down something about them. Someone will read them out loud and the person in the chair has to say whether it's the truth or not. Games like this are never a good idea if you live in PH land. They always lead to murder or mayhem.
Sasha makes Billy get in the chair first. He's so eager to please her that he doesn't even protest. Sasha says they can either write down something they know is true about him or they can just make something funny up. The questions seem pretty basic. Some of them are bitchy. Someone asks if he hates Sasha and, for some reason, he seems to think it was Jody (it was not). There's an awkward moment but he says it's not true.
Drew comes in the door and it allows Billy to escape into the kitchen. Drew is alone and it's pretty clear that Leahna wouldn't come back with him. He seems pretty angry about it but it's hard to tell since he always seems pissed off about something. Cal decides he wants to try to talk to her but he doesn't leave right away for some reason. Sasha asks Jody to go get Billy so they can continue the game. Jody agrees even though she's pretty sure Billy has no intention of playing anymore. She finds him in the kitchen washing his face. He looks at her and asks her how she knew he hated Sasha when he only just figured it out himself.
Billy tells her that he realized that Sasha is just playing around with him – getting him to do things for her because she knows he has a crush on her and she wants to take advantage of him. Jody was kind of thinking the same thing so this isn't exactly news to her. Billy gestures to the cabin across the way and tells her that he saw Leahna in there a few minutes ago. He says she's just like Sasha and he hates them both. I guess we can add him to our suspects now. Ellis is really being ridiculous with this. Half her suspects are paper thin.
When Jody goes back in the other room, without Billy, Ellen is in the hot seat. Cal is reading the slips of paper and he tells her that the next two accuse her of being in love with Drew and then being in love with him. Ellen turns bright red and says that it isn't true but refuses to specify if they both aren't true or just one of them isn't true. The last strip of paper says that Ellen wishes Leahna was dead. Ellen says she's done playing and she puts on her coat and goes outside. A couple of random, nameless party people follow suit and then Cal says he's going out too. Jody assumes he's finally going over to talk to Leahna and wonders why he didn't do it sooner.
The party breaks up. Sasha is pretty bummed that no one seemed to have any fun. She's already thinking about the next party but Jody isn't really interested. She decides to go up to bed. She lays there for awhile and dozes until someone comes into the room and wakes her up. It's Chris who is looking for her gloves. She says she's going to head down to the lodge to see if there's anything going on because the house is dead. Jody is confused because she assumed everyone else was going to be going to bed too but Chris basically calls her a loser for being in bed before midnight.
Chris leaves again and Jody debates getting out of bed. She feels kind of stupid for going to sleep so early when everyone else is clearly out having fun. Finally deciding she's too lazy to go back out, she sits up and stares out the window. She can see into Leahna's cabin quite clearly and realizes that there's some kind of argument going on over there. She can see Leahna but can't really make out the other person other than a flash that she thinks might have come from a bracelet or a watch. They seem to argue for a bit and then Leahna gets shoved to the floor. The other person flees and then Leahna stands back up, rubbing her shoulder. Jody decides the show is over and goes back to bed.
Jody gets up the next morning and hits the slopes. They're icy and fast and she keeps falling so she finally quits around lunch time and goes to the lodge to get some food. It's packed but Drew and Chris already have a table. Drew invites Jody to join them and she accepts despite the fact Chris is giving her definite 'bug off' vibes. She asks Chris if she found something fun to do at the lodge the previous evening and Drew gives her an odd look. He was also at the lodge and didn't remember seeing Chris at all.
They're just finishing up lunch when Chris sees Leahna through the window. She's wearing blue/neon green today and not having much more luck staying on her feet than Jody did earlier. Chris finds it hilarious but Jody feels kind of sorry for Leahna. Drew gets upset at the sight of his ex and leaves the lodge with Chris trailing after him. Jody finishes her cheeseburger and then heads up the slopes again. They're just as icy as they were earlier and she ends up taking a bad fall on her first trip down. She hits her head hard enough to black out for a bit and injures her ankle. Leahna skis by and finds her. She helps Jody get off the main trail so she won't get run over and then skis away to get help.
Jody sees the resort doctor and gets diagnosed with a sprained ankle and a possible concussion. They want to keep her at the medical center overnight for observation but Sasha arrives and talks them into releasing her. Jody considers going back home but decides to stick around for another day or so since her parents are out of town. She figures at least she won't be alone at the resort. Pretty much the entire cast visits her to bring her magazines and books and snacks but no one stays with her for more than a minute or two. Jody assures everyone she's fine and she has some pain pills from the resort doctor if she needs them so they pretty much just leave her alone to rest.
Everyone heads out after supper for another party, leaving Jody in the cabin alone. She reads some magazines and tries to call Kate but gets no answer. Eventually she takes a pain pill and goes to sleep. Some time later the phone rings and wakes her up. It's Ellen checking on her. Jody asks how the party is and Ellen says it's packed. She hasn't even seen anyone else all night. Jody assures her that she's fine and they hang up. Glancing out the window, Jody realizes that Leahna and her mystery visitor are visible across the way again.
Jody watches as the two argue again. She sees Leahna grab a piece of paper and wave it in the visitor's face. Again, Jody can see a flash off of something metal that the person seems to have around their wrist. The argument intensifies but Jody gets distracted by a sound downstairs. Embarrassed to be snooping, she quickly lays down in bed. She expects to hear someone come upstairs but there isn't any more noise. She calls out but no one answers.
Satisfied that no one is there to catch her, Jody goes back to the window. Leahna is gone and the mystery visitor is just standing there staring at the floor. Jody can't really make out anything about them so she decides to get the binoculars she noticed hanging by the window the other day. By the time she finds them and figures out how to use them, the room across the way is empty. She can make out a vase of roses and wonders if Cal or Drew gave them to Leahna. Checking the room out, she sees a streak of red on the wall that she's pretty sure wasn't there before. She can't tell what it is.
The phone rings again and this time it's Sasha checking up on her. She assures Sasha that she's fine and asks if everyone is having fun. There's no background noise which Jody finds odd but Sasha says they just changed locations and things haven't kicked up again yet. She also says she hasn't really seen anyone else all evening because there are so many people around. After the phone call, Jody goes back to the window with the binoculars but nothing has changed. There's still no sign of Leahna. Feeling tired, she decides to go back to bed.
Jody has a nightmare about a blood soaked room and then wakes up to see someone standing in her doorway staring at her. She screams but it's just Cal who says he came to check on her. He also mentions that everyone has been so spread out that he hasn't seen anyone all night. This is getting repetitive, Ellis. You've proved your point. We don't need to be battered over the head with it. Cal ends up leaving.
Jody goes back to sleep but is awoken a little while later by a phone call from Chris. Chris is out of breath and Jody assumes she must have been dancing. After assuring Chris that she's still alive, they hang up. Jody goes back to the window but Leahna's room is dark now. She's disappointed that she missed the resolution of the matter but then she notices movement outside between her cabin and Leahna's. Someone is walking through the snow, dragging a heavy garbage bag behind them. She assumes Leahna is cleaning up after one of the parties that seem to be going around but can't figure out why she's doing it in the dark.
Protagonist who seriously needs to listen to a few true crime podcasts? Check
I mean, seriously. That's clearly a body in the bag. Use your brain, Jody!
The next morning Jody is full of questions. She decides to ask the others if they saw Leahna the night before to kind of help her fill in her timeline. Ellen is the first to appear downstairs and she knocks over a glass of juice when Jody asks about Leahna. Jody makes up some story about wanting to thank her for the ski rescue but Ellen says Leahna doesn't deserve thanks and she leaves without answering the question.
Cal comes down next. He gets tense and suspicious when Jody asks him about Leahna and repeats that the parties were very busy. Sasha pops into the kitchen next and she very pointedly reminds Cal that they were together the entire time except for when he came back to the house and checked on Jody so clearly neither of them saw Leahna. Cal seems uncomfortable with this but agrees. They're definitely hiding something.
You know, if this were a Stine, they wouldn't be brother/sister at all. They'd be boyfriend/girlfriend pretending to be brother/sister for some reason. And if this was an Athkins they'd be boyfriend/girlfriend despite being brother/sister. I'm assuming neither of these are true in an Ellis though.
Jody questions Billy and Chris as well. Billy says he doesn't know if Leahna was at the parties or not. Chris also denies seeing her but seems angry about the question. I don't think that's suspicious. Chris just doesn't like Jody.
Drew never comes down so Jody eventually scoots back upstairs. She's lounging around in bed when he appears in her doorway to check on her. She immediately notes that he seems in a much better mood than he was yesterday. He's relaxed and smiling and even flirts with her just a little. He helps her rewrap her ankle and tells her that her eyes are pretty. She's pretty smitten. She asks him if he saw Leahna the previous night and he seems to interpret that as her asking if he's still interested in his ex. He sighs and tells her that Leahna is out of his life for good and then he kisses her and leaves.
I'm sure we're supposed to find that suspicious but I refuse to fall for this trap.
Everyone else leaves to ski and Jody busts out the binoculars again to look in Leahna's window. She notices the roses are still there but the red streak on the wall is gone. She wishes she could go over and knock on the door to check on Leahna but she can't get around on her ankle. She decides to call but doesn't know the number. For some reason she thinks Kate might know the number for the cabin and calls her.
I know it makes no sense.
When Kate answers, Jody asks her where she was the night before. Kate gets defensive and says she was sick at home. Jody mentions the unanswered phone call and Kate says she must have been sleeping. Jody doesn't believe her but lets it go. She tells Kate about watching Leahna and her mystery visitor arguing through the window and then asks Kate if she has Leahna's number. Kate is just as confused by this as I am and basically tells Jody to quit watching people through the windows like a creeper. Jody doesn't take it personally. As she's hanging up the phone, she sees a shadow move and wonders if someone was standing outside her door listening to her.
Jody ends up taking a nap and wakes up when the others come in. They're going ice skating and she feels a little bummed at the idea that she'll be all alone again. She's still holding the binoculars so Chris, Sasha, Billy and Cal definitely see her with them and seem to know what she's been up to. After they all leave, Drew comes in with some flowers. He puts them in a vase for her and then gives her a quick kiss and takes off.
Jody spends the afternoon reading. At dinner time, Drew calls to see what she wants him to bring back for supper. He warns her that the lodge is busy and it might take him awhile to get food back to her. His prediction is correct. Hours later he still isn't there. Jody grabs her binoculars again and starts to look around outside. The mystery figure is back, digging through the snow between her cabin and Leahna's. Jody wonders if they dropped something. Suddenly the figure looks right up at her and Jody realizes she's been seen.
Kate calls back and this time Jody tells her everything. Kate isn't very amused that all Jody can talk about is Leahna. She tells Jody to mind her own business and come home. When they end the call, Kate hears a second click and realizes that someone was listening in from downstairs.
Jody scoots her way downstairs and hops around checking everything out. No one's there now. She decides to just lay on the couch and wait for everyone to come back. It's after 11:00 when they finally do. Drew apologizes and tells her it was after 9:00 before they got their food and then it just took awhile. She mentions that someone was creeping around the cabin while they were gone and everyone seems a little alarmed about it. Since Drew was the last one in the cabin, they ask him if he locked the door and he says he's sure he did. Ellen suggests that maybe Jody misunderstood what she heard and everyone jumps on that idea. Jody decides not to fight it.
The next morning they awaken to find that three feet of snow fell overnight. Telephone lines are down, the roads are closed and the ski lift isn't working. Jody spends the day alone again. While the lift is closed, everyone goes out to have snow ball fights or ice skate or something and then when the lifts open in the afternoon, everyone goes skiing again. Jody desperately tries to get Ellen to stay with her but Ellen wants to go where Cal goes. She tries to ask Drew to stay but doesn't get the chance. You know, I wouldn't want to be friends with any of these people. Not one of them has offered to spend an hour sitting with Jody so she isn't constantly alone. I know they're enjoying their holiday but honestly one hour wouldn't cut into their time much and it would have made a huge difference to Jody.
Anyway.....Jody takes the radio around the house with her so she doesn't feel so alone. At one point she hears a broadcast that the body of a blonde teenager was discovered in the area. She's convinced it's Leahna and that she saw the murder.
Over the next hour or so, Jody tries to talk herself out of what she knows in her heart. She tells herself that it might not be Leahna's body. Leahna might have just left the resort. The red streak on the wall might have been nail polish or something. The bag the mysterious figure was dragging could have been filled with trash. She's not really convincing herself but she's trying. At one point she knocks over the bottle of pain pills and then discovers that several of them are missing. She remembers that her tea had tasted a little bitter and thinks that someone probably tried to drug her to death.
It's a bit of a leap but I'll allow it.
The next few pages are just Jody naming everyone in the cabin and why they might have wanted to kill Leahna. It's just stuff we already know so I'm not going to bother to recap it. She goes over everyone's height in relation to Leahna and the stranger but that leads nowhere. She thinks about the jewelry/watches they wear because of that flash she kept seeing but that doesn't go anywhere either because everyone seems to wear something metal on their hands or wrists. It's all a waste of time.
Throughout it all, she keeps checking the phone and eventually there's a ringtone. She tries to call the police but for some reason connects to an operator instead of just dialing 911. Were there still operators in 1992? I mean, I know you'd connect to one sometimes when you were making a collect call but you wouldn't connect to one to call the police. Unless it works like a motel and all the phones go to the front desk or something? But that doesn't make sense because she was able to just dial out to call Kate. So there's no reason she couldn't have called 911 other than Ellis needed her not to for the plot. I hate that.
Anyway, the line goes dead again before she can get the operator to understand what she wants. She hears someone come in downstairs and starts to panic. Initially she figures she'll hide behind the door and hit the person with binoculars when they come in but she pretty quickly abandons this plan and just gets back in bed. When the figure appears in the doorway, she thinks it's Cal but it turns out to be Sasha.
Sasha says she came to check on Jody but she's acting weird and Jody's all suspicious. It doesn't take much for Sasha to start her bad-guy-monologue. She has plenty of time because she's assigned everyone else to put together a little 'get well' party for Jody in the lodge. Sasha tells Jody that she killed Leahna because Leahna laughed at Cal when he professed his love. It really hurt Cal and Sasha wanted revenge. She describes how she threw Leahna against the wall, snapping her neck and cutting her head on an exposed nail. Then she dragged Leahna out into the snow. The plan was to leave her so far away that she wouldn't be discovered for a long time but it was too difficult and Sasha had to leave her just off one of the trails.
Jody tries to stall Sasha for a bit, still hoping that someone might come and rescue her but things look bleak. Sasha pulls a knife and says that Jody is her only loose end now. She doesn't seem to be in a big hurry though. Jody thinks of all the things she might be able to do to save herself and then Cal shows up. He's clearly heard most of the conversation and he tells Sasha that she needs to drop the knife. Sasha says she did it all for him and that everything will be okay but he says he won't lie for her to cover this up. She runs at him and stabs him in the shoulder.
Jody seizes the opportunity to swing the binoculars at Sasha's head. It knocks her down and dazes her a little. Jody tries to get Cal to his feet so they can run away but he's weak and dizzy. Just when it looks like Sasha is going to stab Jody, she's tackled by Billy who has arrived with Drew.
The book ends with everyone leaving after making their police reports. Chris goes home with a friend. Billy takes a bus. He's pretty shaken up because as much as he hated Sasha, he loved her too. Ellen is staying around to support Cal who is waiting for his parents to arrive. Drew manages to borrow a car and offers Jody a ride home which she accepts. I guess they're going to end up together. If I were her, I wouldn't bother with him. He didn't care enough to keep her company when she was alone and scared. She can do better.
I feel like Ellis missed a lot of opportunities with this book. There was very little tension and it mostly just felt like a long commercial for a ski resort. I don't believe Drew and Jody as a couple because they had maybe three conversations and spent very little time together. Not a single character was developed and Sasha's motive of protecting her brother's feelings doesn't make much sense when she tried to stab him two paragraphs later. This would have been a better book if Pike had written it. Hell, it might have been a better book if Stine had written it.
I can't believe I just said that.
We'll blame exhaustion. That's the only explanation.
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