Customer Reviews

Twist

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The premise of this book is very unique and interesting. A young woman finds a time twister and goes forward 100 years in the future where a race of vampire like aliens have taken over the world. The heroine, Abbey, happens to be a Time Guardian and the bad Vampire girl wants her to activate the time twister so she can use it to get more victims. The hero, Shane, is the local doctor treating the human survivors and happens to be a "Vampire" himself.

The first 26 to 30 pages are boring. I actually started another book before I picked this back up and finished it. Once Abbey goes forward in time, the story picks up but there are still flaws and parts I ended up speed reading through. One blaring oops was the plot twist that is used toward the end to have Abbey and the bad Vampire, Lucinda, talk. Several characters come down with bacterial meningitis and even though Shane says there is no more medicine left in the world, Abbey reminds him of the University medical campus. She goes and gets the medication...mindless of the fact that the medicine is at least 50+ years old! I work in the medical field, and I found this plot development very hard to accept, not to mention that the people recovered!

I would recommend buying this book used or rent from the library to see if you want to keep it in your personal library.

Twist is a futuristic time-travel alien-vampire romantic urban fantasy action adventure. Whew, is there a genre I missed? Well strange as the combination may sound, it actually worked. As a jack-of-all trades it isn't the best of any one of those genres but it was very original in the way it pulled together alot of familiar themes - the average every day heroine discovering hidden powers when thrown into an extraordinary situation, the beautiful tormented hero struggling to control the preditory demon he carries within him and the connection between soul mates when one of pair may no longer have a soul -- and the result was a enjoyable light romantic read. Oh and if you at all like cats, they play an important almost mystical role in the post-pandemic vampire infested world of the future.

In case you were wondering not only does the heroine prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that "ninja's are (indeed way) cooler than pirates", the quote is the reason that the hero keeps struggling to hold to a vow that is the keystone of his character and it is the password carried through time to ensure that the unbelievable is at least given consideration. Twist is Hodge's entry into the multi-author futuristic Shomi romance series, and now that my curiosity is peeked I may just have to check out a few of the others.

SHOMI
Wired (Shomi)
Moongazer (Shomi)
Driven (SHOMI)
Time Transit (SHOMI)
Netherwood (SHOMI)

Twist gives us paranormal, time travel, spec fic - all kinds of things rolled into one. All of them done well and I thought Hodge put a great twist (no pun intended) on the vampire story with this one. Great world building, great characters - just really well done!

The romance was realistic. I felt the push and pull, the hopelessness, the yearning - all well done. Nice action, good tension - a really entertaining read!

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.

There's a serial killer on the loose, and a mysterious leather-clad lady is stalking Abbey Shore, who accidentally stumbles into a time portal she uncovers in the house she's been flipping. Now Abbey's one hundred years into the future, and the only people she recognises are Dr Shane Maddox...and the lady in leather. She doesn't want Abbey dead after all, but does have a nefarious purpose in mind. Plus Abbey has to get used to this new world where the ticks are hungry, and only those with ninja skills can defeat them.

I'm deliberately being vague so as not to spoil, but this book saved my bacon, pulling me out of a reading slump. An awesome concept with snappy execution and twist upon twist - and ninjas. Even the cats are kick-arse, in particular Jayne. This is a bloody good read.

But despite it being one hundred years into the future, everyone's slang is much the same as now. And Abbey's pop culture references are rather annoying. Okay, she's from 2008 - we get it. She watches a lot of TV and films, and Jennifer Aniston's name appears twice within the text. I would've deleted these things as they date the novel, and I don't relate to them. On the other hand, had TWIST been full of "Family Guy' references... ;-)

Also, the talk of "life-mates", fate and destiny is not my thing. That kind of gimmick breaks my suspension of disbelief.

So the book isn't perfect. It's still the best thing I've read in awhile.

Have you every wondered, are there aliens among us? If so, what if they've assimilated to the point that they no longer know who they are? Meet Abbey Shore.

In the aptly named action adventure TWIST, Abbey is an orphaned student of architecture who flips houses to earn tuition and studies karate as a hobby. As you can imagine this leaves little time for romance, even for the blond haired, blue eyed hunk she's ogled on the El every morning.

Fate seems to have something else in store for the two of them however. Heavy rain and a dead cell phone are responsible for Abbey having trekked all the way to her cancelled karate class. On the way home she takes refuge in Java Joe's and literally bumps into the hunky doctor on her way out. Later that night while tearing down an unsightly brick wall, hoping to reveal an impressive fireplace, the wall collapses tearing a gash in Abbey's arm. With no phone service, Abbey attempts to walk through the crime ridden streets of Chicago to Sacred Heart Hospital hoping that she can make it there before she bleeds to death or becomes the latest victim of a bizarre killing spree. Luck is with her. She makes it as far as the ambulance bay then collapses into the arms of Dr. Shane Maddox.

While she is being stitched up, Abbey learns that another homeless victim of the serial killer has been brought in. The condition of these victims has the doctors stumped as to the cause of death. It's as if they've been deflated. Shane notices a strange woman dressed in black leather lurking near Abbeys room. Abbey claims not to know her and is releases with the admonition to be careful on the streets and a date with Shane for the following evening after he admits to having felt the pull of attraction on the El as well.

Their date is not to be however, at least not in this century. Undaunted by her recent brush with death, Abbey continues work on the wall, intrigued by the whirring noise behind it that sends her dog Charlie into a tailspin. Behind the wall she finds a tank filled with what she believes is water. The noise is tracked to a hourglass shaped device that begins to spin. Investigating further Abbey accidentally breaks the tank dousing herself with what turns out to be peroxide and then her world turns upside down.

She next finds herself in her own city one hundred years in the future - an apocalyptic future following a pandemic that had wiped out most of the human population. And as she finds out from an accusatory Shane, those who remain are merely fodder for the Ticks and that their dire circumstances are all her fault! All because of a missed date?

How is it that Shane is still alive? And what has the mystery woman, Lucinda who they'd both seen in the hospital on that fateful night, have to do with all of this? Abbey soon learns the source of the vampire legends of old. Lucy is from a alien race know as the Chronolotians who maintain their immortality by sucking the life out of their mortal victims. When Abbey failed to turn up for their date, Shane has spied the woman in an alley and had stopped to ask her what she knew about her. Now a Tick himself Shane refused to betray his doctor's oath and was the only thing that stood between his own civilization and the aliens who fed on them. He is understandably bitter but the attraction between the pair hasn't dimmed in spite of everything he's been through. When Abbey joins the fight, everyone is stunned by her ability to fight as well as her ability to heal rapidly.

It's no coincidence that the Tick's have made Abbey's house their headquarters, the time gate that Abbey had opened had allowed Lucinda free access to the past where she could feed and turn others to keep the odds even. Now that Abbey had arrived the gate had closed to the Ticks. It appears that Abbey is a genetic Time Guardian whose destiny was to protect the time gate from the Chronolotians. The alien race had been responsible for the deaths of her parents and theirs before them. Abbey was the last of her race and had no daughter to pass the duty down to. Shane was her destiny as well, which is why he'd been turned. There would be no future Time Guardians unless......

All the aliens need is Abbey to ensure their domination. The human race needs her to travel back and change the past, but at what cost? She loves Shane more than life itself but Abbey has come to love these valiant refugees, the only true friends she'd ever had, as well. Would changing the past and saving Shane mean that they would never come to exist? Would it truly mean a better future?

Abbey is an amazing character never missing a beat for a moment. She braves a whole new world and a devastating destiny with integrity and fierce determination.
Shane too has his demons to face. He knows he must periodically give in to his urges in order to stay alive and give his people a fighting chance. He stays true to his oath as much as is "humanly" possible but his nature eats at him. In spite of years of bitter feelings, his attraction to Abbey cannot be denied either. He loves her but knows in his heart that he can't have her, not as he is. It isn't fair to her. Yet he knows that she is now the only one who stands between them all and certain annihilation. Even knowing that he is compelled to love her, through some weird predestiny, doesn't change the fact that she is his soul mate. He is even willing to face his own death to send her home, knowing that she might not be in time to save him from his fate. But first they must battle the Ticks. Who will win?

TWIST is like a peanut butter cup, a perfect paranormal blend. Chockfull of action, aliens, time travel and a future Earth, this tale is to be savored - if you can manage not to finish it in one gulp! I for one couldn't put it down. I strongly recommend that you indulge yourself and pick up a copy.

If you enjoyed this SHOMI action adventure romance I strongly recommend that you also pick up DRIVEN by Eve Kenin. -- For PNR Reviews

In the Chicago area Abbey Shore works hard renovating houses in order to pay for college where she hopes to study architecture like her late dad did before his fatal accident. She is on the job and tired when a wall crumbles revealing a hidden room behind it. Inside is an odd object that suddenly begins to rotate. Before she knows what happened in what seems like a blink, Abbey is one century into her future.

There she sees Dr. Shane Maddox, whom she met in her present at the Sacred Heart Emergency Room when she needed stitches due to an on the job injury. He holds her culpable for his becoming what he has become when an alien stalking her over a hundred years ago took him instead. These aliens have since destroyed humanity but with the arrival of Abbey he has renewed hope.

Told from Abbey's perspective, TWIST is a superb apocalyptic thriller that from the moment her karate class is canceled until the final Tick never slows down as the heroine confronts one crisis after another in a future devastated by pandemic disease and a nasty predator. Abbey is terrific from the onset as time never stands still or moves linear; instead Colby Hodge asserts its one TWIST after another until the circle is either broken or complete.

Harriet Klausner

Bought this book on a whim. Not my cup of tea and gave it to a teenage family member. She didn't like it either despite being a fan of teen vampire lit and a comic lover. Maybe it would have been better as a comic book/manga kind of thing.