TWISTED - Another Very Good YA from Hannah Jayne

Before I start the actual review, I have one little comment to address to the author:  Hannah, IT'S NOT NICE TO MAKE A GROWN MAN CRY! Okay, now that I've got that off my chest, I can tell you what TWISTED is about:

Bex has always been her daddy's little girl.  After her mother left, it was just the two of them.  Sure he spoiled her with clothes and jewelry, but what father doesn't dote on his daughter?
Except Bex's dad is alleged to be a notorious serial killer. Dubbed "the Wife Collector" by the press, her father disappeared before he could stand trial.  And Bex was left to deal with the taunts and rumors.  Foster care is her one chance at starting over, starting fresh.
But Bex's old life isn't ready to let her go.  When bodies start turning up in her new hometown, the police want to use her as bait to bring her father in for questioning.  Is this Bex's one chance to reunite with her father and prove his innocence - or is she setting herself up to be a serial killer's next victim?

Although I'm clearly not the target audience for a book about teenagers(!), I want to point out that the price sticker on the back of the book says "Ages 14 and up."  Fortunately for me, I'm in the "up" category.  And you know I don't care about age anyway.  If the book is good, it's good.  And TWISTED is good.

This is a very suspenseful book that I couldn't figure out until the end; and then only when the author decided to tell me!  I really like how Hannah kept us on the hook.  Even such mundane things as opening a package (P. 60) made me nervous.  And we get a shocker very early on (P. 49) that elicited a sharp intake of breath and an uttered "Whoa."  I mean, c'mon, isn't that what a mystery/suspense/thriller should do? And that's regardless of the age of the protagonist.

Besides all of that, I like her writing (I have read other Hannah Jayne books, including Truly, Madly, Deadly and several from the Underworld Detection Agency series).  Here are a few examples of what makes Hannah such a good author:

"The man on the left had a huge mustache that seemed to ooze from his nose."
"...and ears that stuck out of his head like satellites."
"Bex tried to shake out the image, the memories, the voices, but they crawled and picked at her like fire ants on her skin."

See what I mean?  And if you want a good old-fashioned suspense, give TWISTED a try.  I'm pretty sure you will be happy you did.

P.S.  You will notice that on the cover, the "S" of TWISTED is backwards. Unfortunately, I don't know how to reproduce that on my computer keyboard!