Book: Killer by Sara Shepard

Pages: 343 in hardcover

The tales of the Pretty Little Liars continue in book #6 of the series.  The girls learn that Ian, the man they thought was responsible for killing their childhood best friend Ali, was framed.  Emily has sex with her boyfriend Isaac, and it leads to their break-up because his mom finds out and tells Emily that she can no longer visit.  Aria falls in love with Ali’s brother Jason but he becomes cold and distant.  Spencer meets Olivia Caldwell, who she thinks is her biological mom.  Spencer attempts to move to New York, but finds out it was a scam and loses all of her college money.

There is an opening party at the Radley hotel, which was a former haven for “troubled youth” and Emily finds out that Jason used to be a patient there.  All of the girls come to believe that Jason had something to do with Ali’s death, and Ian confirmed their suspicions that Jason and Officer Wilden had something to do with Ali’s murder.  Someone sets the woods behind Spencer’s house on fire and the girls see someone they believe to be Ali running away.

For a book that’s only a few hundred pages long, a lot happens in this book!  I liked it a lot better than the previous book, and I should have known it really wasn’t Ian.  Who is A and why are they only sending texts to Emily?  What is Wilden up to?  And most importantly, if Ian didn’t kill Alison, who did?  And Ali died, so how on earth did they manage to see her?

The mystery definitely continues, and I honestly don’t see any of the revelations coming.  Just when you think you know who the killer is, or what’s going on, it turns out that you’re wrong.  It’s been a fun read, though, and I want to know what happens!  Is Ian really alive and hiding or is it all a ruse by the police because they screwed up and don’t want anyone to know?  I have the feeling that Officer Wilden may not have been involved, but then again, he could be.

It gets a 4 out of 5.  It’s fun and Shepard is pretty good at keeping the mystery alive!