Alicia Thomas’s ROB review of Twist by Colby Hodge
Urban fantasy/SciFi romance released 29 Jan 08 by Love Spell (Dorchester)

I asked to review Twist because I enjoy SciFi Romance and this looked like an interesting idea. I really enjoyed a similar title from Dorchester, Wired. Before you read further, know that this will definitely be an “out of my box” review as the book contained elements that I don’t generally seek out for my own personal enjoyment. Since adult romance readers are probably still feeling out where Shomi will take them, I’ll go ahead and tell you what I found.

First, this book is not SciFi Romance. It is Urban Fantasy Romance. I don’t read much (almost none?) Urban Fantasy. So, I am in no position to compare this book under standards of the genre. The romance is pretty light. Strictly as a romance reader, I would have liked some warning so that’s what I’m trying to do, here for you.

Twist is not serious or intellectual. It is not about analytical speculation into time travel. It is like a cross between Buffy and the movie “The One”, where the plot was just an excuse to have the fight scenes. At one point Abby thinks, “I almost imagined myself in the middle of a low-budget action movie.” I giggled out loud because that’s what I had been thinking, all along.

Even though there is snark and humor that is not in character with the severity of what is happening at the time, it is obvious the book is to be read for fun without looking too deeply. The quips and references to movies, along with the appropriate T-shirt sayings, were fun even as I was rolling my eyes. I will be telling my kids “Ninjas are way cooler than pirates” for a long time to come.

The problem I had was the author obviously wanted emotional depth but kept breaking it with out-of-place comments. For me, it goes one way or the other. If you want the emotion, leave off the humor for a bit. If you break the angst with a silly comment, don’t expect the reader to have rapport with the character. This is why I don’t get upset when Daffy Duck gets his beak blown off. I am in fun mode, not serious mode. I can’t do both at the same time.

I have to say, I was caught off guard near the end starting with a particular scene at secondary character’s, Jaime’s, cottage and through the end of the book.  The emotion I needed was there. I had to put the book down and cry a little and then carry on. Oops, getting misty, again, right now.

So, read this one if gore doesn’t bother you.  Oh, did I mention that?

I wiped my hand across my chin and felt something sticky. “What is it?” I said as I looked at the white thing on my hand.

“Looks like from an eyeball,” Jamie said.

And read it if you don’t need the science to be addressed. And if you don’t mind that the focus of half of the book is action scenes. And if out-of-the-blue jokes from angry, murderous people don’t throw you off. And if you can overlook the several plot holes that I had a hard time getting over. If none of that bothers, a lot of people will enjoy Twist, so just make an informed decision.

Grade: D+

Blurb:

     Abbey Shore never intended to be the savior of the world; it was just something that happened-like her father’s tragic death and the fact that she’s now poor and “flipping” houses in the Chicago suburbs to finish college. And there’s more: behind a crumbling wall in her current renovation, a swirling vortex hides. It’s a gate, a portal-and it will not only cast her into the arms and power of the enigmatic yet doomed Dr. Shane Maddox, but also into the clutches of Lucinda, the eerie, leather-clad beauty who shadowed his every move in the Sacred Heart ER. Abbey will soon be one hundred years in the future, in a dying land filled with roving bands of humans fighting for survival, and the “ticks” against whom they fight. Oh yes, Abbey’s life has had a…TWIST. 

     Read an excerpt.