Point by Numbers: Twisted

Last year we covered R.L. Stine's first horror book Blind Date. And it's certainly a first horror book by someone. A real case of Stine not knowing his structure, albeit knowing exactly what much of the formula for ideas he would have for many books to come. So when it came time for the second book in the Point Horror line, it would be Stine up to bat yet again. Is this a case of a better Bob? Let's see what's up when things get Twisted.

There are two notable covers for this one, but I'll stick to the cover that I think is the better of the two. And I like it. It's a very simple cover, but still has a striking visual. The reflection of a girl holding lipstick looking through a cracked mirror. If the intention of the book is to sell us on a crazed character without going too over the top, then I think it does what it sets out to do. Granted, in the grand scheme, it's probably one of the least memorable covers to come from a Stine book, both in Point and outside of Point, but for what it needs to do and what it needs to sell, it's solid.

Abby Wallis starts this book mortified at her sister Gabriella. This is on account of Gabriella turning down an invite to join the Gamma Gamma Gamma sorority (or the Tri Gammas/Tri Gams), the most popular and exclusive sorority in Rockland State. Gabriella says that she just doesn't really want to spend her days in that kind of sorority talking about clothes and stuff, while Abby would kill to join the Tri Gams. Which could be a spoiler alert, but we're early in the book. Abby is enraged, thinking it must be because Gabriella's scared or inhuman or, some other reason to not want to join the Tri Gams, but Gabriella continues to insist that's not for her. But Abby is headed to the pledge meeting and is confident that she'll get into the Tri Gams, even with both Gabriella and their mother realizing that if she doesn't she probably WOULD kill to get in.

Abby arrives at the Tri Gamma sorority, but notices Leila Sherman also being pledged, which bothers Abby since she thinks this might screw her chances, but also for something that happened a year ago involving Abby, Leila and Leila's boyfriend Gordon, who was also Abby's boyfriend a year ago. As Abby goes in, she notices the inside of the building looks more ramshackle and worn down than she expected. She also runs into her old friend Nina, who used to be best friends with Abby, but they split apart in high school, with Abby working for the school paper and Nina becoming a cheerleader. She's also roommates with Leila, who we've established has issues with Abby that we're not going to be made fully aware of until later in the book. Abby then meets a girl named Rebecca Reeves, who is described as tall with a squeaky voice. 

As Abby continues to panic over if she'll be pledged or not, the president of Gamma Gamma Gamma, Andrea Volner, begins to speak. As Andrea speaks and Abby thinks about her issues with Leila, Nina and Gordon, another girl named Jessie Harvard barges into the building. Described as mousy with red glasses, wearing baggy, unappealing clothes and having a weight problem (Bob you had goddamn better STAYINYOURFUCKINGLANE), Rebecca assumes that she must have gotten invited to pledge solely because her sister was a former Tri Gam. Andrea continues to tell everyone that there are ten girls pledging, but only five will gain pledge. Also that when they say that they're sisters, she means that this is a "sisters for life" deal. There's no hazing in Tri Gamma, so that's not a big deal, but the big deal is that the pledges have to go with the Tri Gams to another town and commit a crime. I dunno, maybe the hazing would be easier.

Of course, neither Abby or Nina believe that they're actually going to commit any actual crime, just that it might be something more silly and innocuous that counts towards a pledge. What do you think this is, a horror book for teens or something? While at a coffee shop, Nina also mentions that she's concerned about Leila's relationship with Gordon. She's in college while he's a lay-about and a rather skeezy one at that, and even saw the two in Gordon's car at one point. But as they talk, Jessie shows up, and she's really amped about doing a crime for the Tri Gams. In fact she's always wanted to do something daring like committing a crime. This obviously bothers Nina and Abby who leave, but not before Abby notices Jessie in the coffee shop playing with a knife and having a rather crazed smile. Definitely acting very [[TITLE OF BOOK]]. Which isn't just me thinking that, Abby thinks Jessie's acting rather twisted. Speaking of twisted, Nina returns to her dorm room as Leila is pissed at her for going out for coffee with Abby, who Leila thinks hates her for taking Gordon, an act so bad that it actually sent Abby over the edge and had to be taken out of school for about a year. Leila also knows that Nina saw her in Gordon's car and berates her for not even having a boyfriend before calling Nina an enemy and saying that one of them has to switch dorms.

Abby returns home and tries to ignore Gabriella, who is aware of the Tri Gams and their nondescript crime. She goes to her room to find Gordon there, who snuck into her window and came to sort of apologize for their falling out a year ago. Gordon is described as tall and cool with brown hair. We also learn he tried to jump over a bonfire and burned his foot, which yes, does sound fucking dumb. But before he leaves, Abby ends up kissing him. So, yeah. Doing a great job in trying to patch things up with Leila, huh? The next night, the Tri Gam pledgees are being driven on a bus to an old mansion. They pass by a deer that had been hit by a truck. Because it ain't a Stine book if there's not a dead or injured animal. The girls arrive at the old mansion with Leila and Abby rooming together, because we need an extra layer of awkwardness, while Jessie requests a room for herself. Andrea then takes the girls out to the small beachfront town where they'll be doing their crime. Namely a store called Driftwood Antiques, run by an old lady named Marie Driftwood. The plan will be to rob the store of its jewelry, register and, of course to see who carries the gun.

At the meeting later that night, Andrea makes it clear that this crime isn't a joke, as she brandishes the pistol, and prepares to choose who will carry it by drawing straws. One girl, Ruby, chooses to no longer take part in this whole pledge, while Abby is still thinking this is all just a big jape. Essentially it's a multi-layered plan that involves changing license plates, holding up the joint and making it out with the jewels. Since the little beachfront is mostly closed during the fall, there won't be any cops, making this easy. Andrea notes that in the history of the Tri Gams, there has never been a failure when it comes to this mission. Ultimately it's Nina who draws the straw that gains her the pistol. So things are now tense given, you know, actual planned larceny and a freaking firearm, so of course this means that Gordon shows up to make things even more tense. 

The next day is the day of the big heist. Nina is, of course, concerned about carrying a loaded pistol, but Andrea assures her that it's just blanks in there, not real bullets. Abby, of course, still thinks this is all a joke. The girls enter the antique store and Nina holds the gun in front of Mrs. Driftwood's face. The girls still think this is all a big setup, with Jessie grabbing the gun from a worried Nina. However, in the midst of this, suddenly Mrs. Driftwood collapses to the ground from a heart attack. So yeah, about there never being a failure in this whole initiation thing... Andrea is annoyed since actually killing someone wasn't part of the script. Nina and most of the girls are freaking out, but Abby says that since nobody was around to see what happened, then they won't be caught. However, since Andrea and Ruby technically were never in the building during the death, Andrea decides to head to the nearest phone to call the police. This doesn't go well with Jessie who grabs her and throws her to the ground. Since Jessie's hands were on the gun and could be considered the one who killed Mrs. Driftwood, Jessie realizes she has the most to lose here and that Andrea would be clearing her own name despite, you know, this being her plan as part of the whole Tri Gam pledge stuff. Which, you know in fairness, she's not wrong.

As things try to cool down, Andrea suggests they meet later on to see what they do. Nina's in hysterics, but Leila thinks this is all part of the act. Right down to Mrs. Driftwood faking a heart attack. However Jessie, who has become more unhinged, which says a lot since she's been pretty wild so far, promises that this was no act. She leaves with Nina while Leila tells Abby to stay away from Gordon. Abby heads to her room and suddenly Gabriella shows up, saying that while she wasn't invited, she's sure to not embarrass Abby in front of her sorority pals. Abby then sits alone in front of a mirror applying lipstick all over her face. Which I guess is what the cover is referencing. I just kind of wish it ended up going more with the rodeo clown face the book suggests. Also, oh no, the twist is exactly what I think it is, huh? So, Abby's losing it, the girls are stuck because the bus driver left as part of the whole initial plan, Jessie's still trying to take charge, Nina's a wreck, Leila thinks it's a joke, Gordon's around the area, they don't trust Andrea to not rat them out, oh and there's also a convenient storm so they can't leave the house. Well, at least it can't get any worse. Oh, wait, Andrea's been shot and killed. I guess it can.

With the girls in a panic, it's a perfect time for Abby to accuse Jessie of killing Andrea, seeing as how Jessie was the one who seemed the most intent in not having Andrea call the cops. Nina thinks it might be Gordon. While they were outside before the storm, they had heard a loud bang and saw Gordon running off. This conveniently leads to Gordon showing up. He admits to running from the house, but he didn't kill anyone, he was here to see Leila, not Abby. Jessie thinks that someone isn't telling the truth and that Gordon should be locked in a room until they know what's what. Leila is pissed about Abby thinking she's in a relationship with Gordon, to which Abby invites her up to her room to talk things over. Nina is still freaking out and Jessie is unable to calm her down, to which Nina believes that Jessie knows more than she's letting on, given how she's acted since they all first met her at the pledge meeting. Leila locks Gordon in a room and tries to piece together what happened and who could have killed Andrea, then heads to Abby's room to have that talk which I'm sure will just go swimmingly. She goes to talk to Abby, who says that she's not Abby, she's Gabriella. THERE IT IS. THE TWIST IS EXACTLY WHAT I THINK IT IS! 

So, yeah. Split personality it is then. After Leila took Gordon from her, Abby had that nervous breakdown that took her away from school and all, as mentioned earlier. What we didn't mention is that this caused Abby to manifest another personality. A sister named Gabriella. Leila calls Abby/Gabriella crazy, to which causes Gabriella to run off... to then grab the gun. Maybe someone should have gotten rid of that after the whole, you know, killing the old woman thing. Meanwhile, the other girls search the house for any sign of a phone to call the cops. While that's going down, Gabriella takes Leila down to the basement as she plans to kill off Leila just like she did Andrea. But before she can do it, Gordon shows back up. She tries to apologize, but Gabriella fires the gun at him. He survives, but it alerts the other girls as Nina tries to calm down the still broken Gabriella... Then Andrea shows up.

And Mrs. Driftwood. Yep. This was all part of the initiation. A test of courage to see if the girls could handle being Tri Gams. The gun actually was just blanks, hence why Gordon didn't get hurt. No, seriously, this is making hazing sound like a better alternative. Jessie was in on the whole thing as well from the start, being one of the officers involved with the Tri Gams. Nina's pissed, but chooses to be a Tri Gam regardless because I guess she doesn't mind being mentally scarred. Of course, Abby/Gabriella is still broken, which is enough for Leila to apologize to her and tell the others that she won't be a Tri Gam. And the book ends with Abby being placed in an ambulance, mad at Gabriella for embarrassing her, with Gabriella apologizing while still saying she'll always be there to protect her sister.

I think, compared to Blind Date, this is a better attempt by Stine overall. The book is shorter at a more proper 168 pages. Chapters are better paced, the writing and mystery is handled somewhat better overall and you can at least tell he tried with said mystery. But it's Stine and he's never been a good mystery writer. Because it was obvious that Gabriella didn't really exist. In the early scene Abby's mom never acknowledges Gabriella, both are seemingly the exact same age, and we get two scenes with her appearing out of the blue. So much so that I think it makes the mystery of the book feel far less mysterious. And the big reveal that everything except for Abby's snap was all part of the act did feel pretty obvious. Of course it was all part of the plan. Like Andrea said, the initiation has never gone wrong. Granted, maybe it never led to a full on mental breakdown, but there's a first time for everything I guess.

There's a reason I didn't use the other cover for Twisted's Cover Story, the one that was used in the other release of the book. Because it does a bigger job in revealing the obvious twist. Right down to the tagline of "She's your sister. Trust her." Which COULD mean trust a member of the Tri Gams, but makes it more obvious it means Gabriella and Abby, with the image being a more deranged looking version of her. Speaking of which,  this means that both of Stine's first books had a split personality villain. Which when I talk about Stine finding the tropes he loves, he found them early. Maybe if the day comes I read every Stine YA book, I should do a head count of just how many times split personalities played a role in the twist. Though, granted, it was the one of the character we initially followed in the story this time and not the more thrown together villain like the first book. And no, it didn't bother me to the level of Jenny Jeffers in The Babysitter III, because that felt like a cheap, lame way to diminish a character's mental health by making her start to think she's the man who tried to kill her. At least here there's a fairer explanation as to why Abby snapped and manifested Gabriella, even if it yet again boils down to a spurned romantic relationship. 

As for the other characters, they're fine enough. Nina is mainly here to be sort of scarred by the whole experience, yet will still join because I guess that given it was all an act then she doesn't have to worry about anything. Leila sort of becomes our protagonist three quarters in. The book tries to make her come off as the one who was bound to snap given her argument with Nina and even her own actions of shrugging everything off as just part of the act. It definitely feels in line with Debra in The Babysitter III but more earned... I guess? Gordon is here to be the love interest caught in the middle. Andrea is mainly here to put the whole heist game in motion and the other girls all exist. Not in a Superfluous Clay way since in the end they all matter to the plot and wanting to join the Tri Gams. 

So, ultimately, this is a better Stine book overall, and one I can point to when I look to where Stine began to formulate many of his book tropes for Fear Street. It's not a very good book when it comes to mental health, which is something that Stine has never been good at handling when it comes to his books. Like, clearly he loved Psycho, and I can see that's likely where much of his idea for the personality split concept comes from. But it always comes off tacky, and while he at least doesn't shoehorn it in as bad as he often does, this is still bad any way you slice it. But that's just me. Overall though, even with a too-obvious mystery and set of twists, I'd give this one a recommend. It's a case of second verse definitely better than the first and one of Stine's better Point outings, which isn't a glowing recommendation mind you. Twisted gets a B+.