Biography

Sara Shepard is an American author known for the bestselling Pretty Little Liars series of young-adult novels.

Shepard graduated from Downingtown West High School in Downingtown, Pennsylvania in 1995, and got her undergraduate degree from New York University. She later received an MFA from Brooklyn College. She recently moved from Tucson, Arizona back to Philadelphia’s Main Line with her husband and dogs.

Pretty Little Liars Series

Shepard’s bestselling Pretty Little Liars series of novels is “loosely based on her experiences growing up on Philadelphia’s Main Line.” The books chronicle the exploits of four teenage girls as a mysterious stalker known as “A” threatens to reveal their darkest secrets.

01. Pretty Little Liars
02. Flawless
03. Perfect
04. Unbelievable
05. Wicked
06. Killer
07. Heartless
08. Wanted
09. Twisted
10. Ruthless

The Visibles

Shepard’s first novel for adults, The Visibles, was published on May 5, 2009. Publishers Weekly called it “tightly constructed and captivating … complicated, rewarding and full of heart,” adding that “Shepard creates a rich reading experience in shying from simple answers and happy endings.”

The Lying Game Series

In January 2010, Shepard announced that her next series after Pretty Little Liars would be another thriller series called The Lying Game, a four book series, about twin sisters separated at birth. The second book in the series will be titled “Never Have I Ever.”

A The Lying Game pilot was optioned and has since been picked up by ABC Family.

01. The Lying Game
02. Never Have I Ever

The Lying Game is the first book to The Lying Game series. The story is about child Emma Paxton, who comes to believe she has a twin sister. She goes on Facebook, and sends a message to the girl, Sutton. Sutton writes back saying that they need to meet. However, Sutton is actually dead. Emma goes to the Sobino Canyon, Arizona. While waiting for her sister, she is attacked by a group of people. They take her across the street, and remove the burlap sack over her head. That’s when Emma finds out that it’s just Sutton’s friends playing a prank.

The friends believe that Emma is Sutton, and take her to Nisha’s party. Back at Sutton’s home, Emma still goes on with the charade as being Sutton, since they are identical twins. The next morning, Sutton’s younger sister, Laurel gets a note. She gives the letter to Emma without reading it. The letter says ‘Sutton’s dead, keep playing along’. Emma is drunk, but goes to the police station, however she is not taken seriously because of Sutton’s past lies. When Emma goes to school, Garret, Sutton’s boyfriend, takes that Emma is Sutton like everyone else. Emma begins liking a boy named Ethan.

Emma learns about a game Sutton and her friends play, ‘The Lying Game’. An elaborate pranking game. Emma also learns that one day that Sutton’s friends took TLG too far, and almost strangled Sutton. Ethan told Emma that he saved Sutton that night that she almost died so Emma concludes that Sutton died after that incident and anyone could have killed Sutton. Emma runs off with Ethan and he finds out that Emma is pretending to be Sutton, but he promises to keep her secret and help her find the killer. Emma decides to stay and pretend to be Sutton so she can find out who killed her sister. Emma returns to Sutton’s home, celebrating her and Sutton’s birthday. But Emma doesn’t know, Sutton’s murderer is always watching…