Sara Shepard - Twisted

Now, in Spencer’s den, Emily reached into her pocket and touched the silky orange tassel once more. That horrible scene in Jamaica flashed before her eyes. Everyone thought you died in the fire , Emily had said to the girl they all swore was Ali. But—

But what? The girl interrupted. But I escaped ? Any ideas how that could have happened, Em? Then she’d pointedly glanced at Emily’s pocket as though she had X-ray vision and could see the orange tassel Emily had carried everywhere even then, the tassel that hung on the very door that had allowed for Ali’s escape.

Tabitha knew what Emily had done. But . . . how?

When Emily’s phone beeped in her bag, shrill and loud in the silent room, she nearly jumped out of her skin. Moments later, Spencer’s cell phone buzzed. Aria’s let out a car honk. Hanna’s made a bird-tweet. The noises cycled once more, the ringing and buzzing a cacophony of wails. The girls stared at one another, terrified. If Tabitha wasn’t Ali, and Tabitha had died that night, then who was doing this to them? Ali still could have survived the fire. Was A still Ali, tormenting them with the juiciest, most heinous secret of their lives?

Slowly, Spencer reached for her phone. So did Aria, then Hanna. Emily pulled her own phone out of her bag and stared at the screen. ONE NEW TEXT. From anonymous. Of course.

You think that’s all I know, bitches? It’s only the tip of the iceberg . . . and I’m just getting warmed up. –A

Did you really think it was over? Please. As long as these girls are misbehaving, I’ll be watching. And boy, have they been bad. Shall we recap?

Hanna’s boob nearly made Page Six. And, sure, she paid off Patrick, but she’s about to find out that there’s more than one way to kill Daddy’s campaign.

Emily shattered Chloe’s family. Last time I checked, that’s not what friends are for. Perhaps Chloe should return the favor and tell Mrs. Fields exactly how Emily spent her summer break . . . or maybe I’ll do it for her.

When push came to shove, Aria became pretty . . . vicious. Now, Klaudia’s leg isn’t the only thing that’s broken. Can Aria and Noel’s relationship survive Hurricane Klaudia? As they say in Finland: Ja right.

And finally we come to naughty, naughty Spencer. Think Zach is the only person whose life she’s ruined? Think again. She pulled some very dirty tricks to get into her dream school—and someone got trampled in the process.

But here’s the question that’s on all of our minds: Just how long will Hanna, Emily, Aria, and Spencer be able to keep what they did in Jamaica under wraps? Or I guess the real question is: How long will I let them?

Stick with me, kids. It’s about to get so good . . .

—A

First off, let me say how thrilled I am that the Pretty Little Liars saga continues. As soon as I wrote the very first sentence of this book, I felt so . . . right, so thrilled and privileged to delve into the twisted lives of Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna once more. As always, I owe a ton of gratitude to the smart, lovely people who helped create the new web of lies and threats for our Liars to face: Les Morgenstein, Josh Bank, Sara Shandler, and Lanie Davis at Alloy. It’s been such a pleasure working with all of you on this series—there is truly something magical that happens whenever we convene.

Also big thanks to the amazing people on the other side of the country who have made Pretty Little Liars a success on the small screen—namely, Marlene King, Oliver Goldstick, Bob Levy, and Lisa Cochran-Neilan; the fabulous actresses Lucy Hale, Ashley Benson, Troian Bellisario, and Shay Mitchell, and all the rest of the cast; the wonderful writers for understanding the series so completely and giving it your own cheeky, spooky, excitingly different spin; and everyone else who works on the project, even in the smallest role. Thanks so much, too, to Farrin Jacobs and Kari Sutherland at HarperTeen, who always have amazing insight (and good memories) about the series, and much love to Kristin Marang and Allison Levin at Alloy for your awesome work on all things PLL online—including keeping the blog fresh and funny and interesting! A huge shout-out to Andy McNicol and Jennifer Rudolph-Walsh at William Morris for making PLL 9–12 a reality. I’m probably forgetting tons of other people in the amazing PLL process—the list keeps on growing!

As usual, much love to my family and husband, Joel, who is always there with forensic advice. But mostly, I want to dedicate this book to all of the readers of the series, from the very first girls who decided to give the hardcover of Pretty Little Liars a try back at my very virgin reading in Carle Place, New York, to the many fans I met in the sweltering heat in Fort Myers, Florida, to the lovely girls and librarians at the Jewish Library in Montreal, to everyone at events in between, as well as all the readers I’ve met on Twitter and Facebook and in chats and Skype talks. Without your unflagging enthusiasm and love for the series, Twisted wouldn’t exist. I value each and every last one of you more than words can say.