Twist Ties

I found myself browsing at another Dollar General store in town and stumbled upon Colby Hodge's paranormal action/romance "Twist" for $1.25.  The anime-inspired cover art intrigued me, and so did the premise.  Here's my review of the book as it appears on Amazon.com's "Twist" page.

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Two of my many interests lie in anime and books.  When a publisher combines them (a rarity, I'll admit), I definitely take a second look, which is what I did when I picked up Colby Hodge's "Twist" the week before Christmas.  The book was categorized as an action/romance and was published under Dorchester Publishing's short-lived Shomi Romance line, which featured sci-fi, fantasy, and action-oriented romances written by fresh female authors.  Sadly, Shomi was cancelled two years into its inception, and the anime covers only lasted the first year of its existence.

Despite that, Miss Hodge introduces us to Abbey Chase, our heroine, by giving us a piece of the novel's ending first.  The story then backtracks to how Abbey got to that point by starting at the beginning--she's a poor college student who lost her dad in a car accident and flips houses to make money.  She's currently flipping a house from the 1920's that has a brick wall built over the fireplace.  Sledgehammer in hand, Abbey tears down that wall, proving that she's not sugar, spice, and everything nice.  Plus, I always liked the idea of a girl with her own set of tools. 

Abbey finds a time-traveling device behind that brick wall which hurtles her one hundred years into the future and into the arms of Doctor Shane Maddox, who she remembers from her past life.  Shane is now the leader of a band of resistance fighters who battle the "ticks"--time-traveling alien vampires who invaded the day Abbey disappeared into her brick wall, one hundred years ago.  Shane blames Abbey for the post-apocalyptic world humanity now lives in while she's fighting her attraction to him, just as she did in her old life.  Abbey is forced to find a way to survive in this brave new world, which isn't easy, considering that every "tick" within fifty miles wants to kill her.

Miss Hodge constructs a very interesting, if somewhat hard to digest, world for this book to take place in.  The time-traveling alien vampire thing fades over time, leaving us with Abbey, Shane, and the supporting cast of rogues who fight alongside them.  Hodge's strength lies in her characters and in her dialogue, which moves the story along at a comfortable pace.  The rhythm of "Twist" took a little time for me to get used to, but once I did, I really got hooked on Abbey's first-person narrative and her affable way of describing the events in the book.  It sounded the way a modern twenty-something woman would talk, which is the key when writing from the first-person perspective, and Hodge had that down to a "T." 

While there's certainly no shortage of paranormal/supernatural romances out there, Colby Hodge has created something unique in "Twist"--a good blend of action and romance that leaves you feeling satisfied when all the dots get connected and the heroine saves the day.  The last time I read a book like that I was in my teens, and if you can say the same, then it might be time to pick up "Twist" and revisit the days when things really did end happily ever after.

--Justin A. Swartz

The Mystery of Ms. Tree

I stumbled upon a copy of "Deadly Beloved" at my local Dollar General store for $1.25 and couldn't pass it up.  I'd never read a Max Allan Collins book before, nor was I familiar with his female private eye Ms. Michael Tree.  Below is the version of my review that appears on Amazon.com's "Deadly Beloved" page.

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I am an unabashed fan of hardboiled detective novels & pulp fiction, which confuses some of my friends who read more modern novels and rave about them.  I've basically grown up on a diet of Raymond Chandler, Erle Stanley Gardner, and Donald Westlake, so you can say that when I pick up a pulp novel, I'm in familiar territory.  Taking that into account, the books from Dorchester Publishing's Hard Case Crime imprint are like a warm blanket on a raw winter's day, and I've enjoyed every single one I've read...but I haven't enjoyed a pulp novel, let alone any book, as much as I liked "Deadly Beloved" by Max Allan Collins.

The novel features Collins' female private eye Ms. Michael Tree (her father wanted a boy), who is trying to deal with her late husband's murder, which occured on their wedding night.  The action shifts to the present day, where Ms. Tree is assisting the Chicago P.D. on what should be an open-and-shut murder case, and then jumps several hours ahead, where Ms. Tree is in a psychiatrist's office, talking about her husband's murder, how they met, and her present dilemmas. 

Just when you think none of this ties together, the strands that Collins weaved throughout the novel start meeting in unexpected places, and before you know it, you've got the answer to the puzzle--and so does Collins' heroine.  The way this novel flowed just blew me away, and the prose had such style that I couldn't tell where one chapter ended and another began.  Assisting the flow of the novel is the dialogue, which never dips into hyperbole and keeps both feet in Coolsville.  Plus, there's Ms. Tree herself, a really awesome woman who is as tough as they come and always gets her man.  

In the back of the book, Collins takes the time to explain the comic book origins of Ms. Tree and how he came up with the idea.  He also goes on to describe all the various incarnations of Ms. Tree, whether it be books, comic books, television, or movies.  The latter has yet to happen, but "Deadly Beloved" would definitley make the perfect hardboiled noir film for someone like The Cohen Brothers or Frank Miller.  All we can do is hope, but for now I'll settle for the paperback novel, which I read and finished the same day I got it.  Once you start reading this book and settle into Ms. Tree's universe, you won't be able to put it down, and it'll be an afternoon well spent.

--Justin A. Swartz