Customer Reviews

Twisted Consequences

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

 

 

The Internet has made the world smaller, people from different corners of the planet can communicate as easy as two friends on a school yard. "Twisted Consequences" is a story of such a relationship. Tyson, a thirty-something year-old man from Romania meets Michaela, a Romanian woman. What seems to start off as a harmless chat turns into something much more. "Twisted Consequences" tells about the new brand of twenty-first century romance, cleverly composed and highly recommended.

I love to read books that are written as other people's personal property (letters, diary entries, emails). The first half of this book is written that way and held my attention captive.

In this age of cyber match-making, it was interesting to read, albeit fictional, emails between two people getting to know each other. Tyson, a quadriplegic, and Michaela, a Romanian student, met through an International Dating website and had been corresponding for several months. A trip overseas was planned so that they could meet. The question is, do emails offer enough information about someone that they should travel the world to meet them?

Although I enjoyed the first half of the book, I was disappointed in the ending. It would make for a decent book club discussion if you are looking for a "current social event" (online dating) story that is a quick read.

[...]

If this story is partly autobiographical, and it seems to be so, the author presents himself to the reader not only by offering high levels of personal transparency, but also by inviting the reader to experience the challenges he faces as events unfold in this remarkable story of true grit.

The main character, Tyson, emerges from the story as a victor in the end, amidst rich language which evokes laughter, and sometimes sadness, all within an adventure with plenty of suspense.

The author provides sufficient material for the reader to fully grasp Tyson's dilemnas and subsequent solutions. And next time 'round, this new author may choose to incorporate additional examples of character development, resulting in specific elements of personal growth. The texture of the story thrusts the reader into a world of apparent fearlessness, in which the outcomes are clearly unknown.


Understandably, Tyson must experience genuine personal pride as he recalls the variety of incidents in the book. Tyson is truly one more successful human being who demonstrates the power of hope and the remarkable RESILIENCE of human nature!

Tyson is a man who has very limited mobility due to the severe injuries he suffered in a car accident. He lives in Colorado, yet his dreams still travel. Like so many modern people in such circumstances, he turns to the Internet to satiate his continued thirst for adventure.
While there he "meets" Michaela, a Rumanian woman in her twenties. The timeframe is the years 1999 and 2000, where the country is still suffering the consequences of the overthrow of the communist dictatorship. Michaela is supposedly a college student; she claims to be studying hard to make something of herself. After several months of e-mail correspondence and a few phone calls, Tyson decides to travel to Bucharest, Rumania to visit Michaela. He enlists the help of a large man called Rex as a bodyguard/assistance and his brother Jack.
It is not surprising that when they arrive in Rumania, things are not the way Michaela claimed they were. She is as beautiful and sexy as she claimed, and her and Tyson almost have a sexual encounter in their first meeting. However, from there things change quickly and after many problems, some of which the three Americans cause themselves, they quickly leave Rumania.
I have no idea whether this particular story is true, but there is no doubt in my mind that it was true for someone. With the obvious and understandable exception of East Germany, the countries of the former Soviet block struggled after the fall of the Soviet Union. They became, and in many ways still are, havens for major organized crime gangs. Ruthless capitalists that they are, these groups grew very powerful very quickly and naive, rich Americans are one of their primary targets.
The story flows well, although there are times when the plot tends to wander and become predictable. This is not a riveting story by any means, yet it never reaches the point of being boring and a struggle to read.

I picked up a copy of this book just recently. I did not have a lot of time and thought I would try to read this book after I finished the three books I had already started. However, I was interested and was just going to read the introduction. I few hours later I was halfway through the book and decided to finish it up as it was going quick.

First of all this book reads quick. Even though there is a lot of content it flows really well and the structure of the book and the way it was written chopped it up nicely (and made me keep wanting to read the next short section). When reading throughout the chapters I kept wanting to tell the main character be careful and of course it was a book so I keep on going to see what was going to come out of the situation. The end even though I saw something bad coming down the line was not what I thought and was fun to read through.

I would recommend this book to anyone that does anything online (and really to anyone!). This points out that there are lots of different people out there and having online relationships can be tricky and not always what they seem. I think this is a great start for this writer and hope they get a chance to get another book out.

-- A.Blevins

I like this book and the whole story because it is not just about Internet dating but a great story about human spirit. It is also about hopes and dreams that in the end will overcome all obstacles. Although there is a big controversy about on-line dating recently, people still meet there. They communicate, fall in love, get disappointed, try it again...all kinds of different stories. The main idea is to learn from this book that is in spite of anything don't just give up, believe in your dream, go for it even it is hard and sometimes looks like a mirage. Everything is possible in the life!
I am so optimistic about that because I am a mail order bride myself. I met my husband on the Internet, and after a year of correspondence and two personal meetings we decided to get married. I moved to America 5 years ago. I wouldn't say that everything is perfect in my life. We have our ups and downs too, but I am still happy to be here. I gave a birth to our son Alexander in 2006, which is my little angel. I have finished a nursing school recently. I think this is quite an accomplishment for being in the US just 5 years. In general, my life is good and meaningful. Yes, I know, there are many "gold diggers" on the Internet for sure. But there are also lots of nice and beautiful women who truly want to find their love and be happy. I believe in Tyson's strong personality. He will never give up and try over and over until he will find his woman. In my opinion, it was a great start for the author. Thanks for sharing the story. I hope it is going to be more interesting books about Tyson and his life. I will definitely recommend this book to all people since it gives an opportunity to gain truthful insight into the Internet dating. It sure will make them maybe a little bit wiser about international on-line relationship. It really easy and fun to read!!! I have finished my book in one gulp.
I just want to say one more time: "People don't give up, believe in True Love! It exists!" I wish luck to all "hopeless" romantics who are looking for the true relationship on the Internet. Best wishes. Elena, originally from Russia. (Would like to apologize for not being perfect in writing since English is not my native language).

Irie Parker balances two worlds in his debut novel TWISTED CONSEQUENCES: a polished, credible email romance in Part One and a tenuous, somewhat shaky adventure in Part Two. This novel gives evidence of well-honed skills in manipulating a story about our current obsession with computer driven communication, while also demonstrating the author's need for polishing the 'off the computer' requirements for composing well-paced narrative. There is definitely talent here and the end product of this novel is a satisfying tale of the immediate gratification of email relationships pitted against the realities of traditional courtship.

Tyson is a C5 quadriplegic (the result of a severe neck injury in an auto accident ten years prior to the time of this story) who lives well with specially designed computer equipment and assistance devices monitored by hired nurses twice a day. His attitude is positive, his best friend is his guardian Rottweiler Greta, and his photography business thrives. His love interest is via the internet where he enjoys building a gradually trusting relationship with a beautiful Romanian student Michaela. As their open communication intensifies, each feels the need to visit each other in person and after a long series of attempts to travel either from Bucharest to Colorado or from Colorado to Bucharest, that consignation occurs: Tyson, with the help of his brother Jack and a bodyguard Rex fly to Romania. End of Part One. In Romania the realities of Tyson's cyber romance alter in ways that beg for further development in narration. Yes, Romania post Ceausescu is far different from Colorado and the elements of organized crime and the critical mass of interpersonal implosions result in a reunion far less satisfying than that expected. Tyson returns to his Colorado residence, wiser, but still with the tenuous hope that re-establishing email romantic correspondence with Michaela will be resurrected.

Where Parker is at his finest is his ability to tell a story primarily through the use of dated emails. Part of this success is an uncanny ability to create the persona of Michaela solely through his choices of vocabulary expressions that ring with an accent unmistakably Central European. He also is able to deftly describe the complexities of living life as a quadriplegic without resorting to even a moment a bathos. But where Parker needs to reexamine his ability to write well is in Part Two where the flow of the story line is rushed to the point of neglecting character development of Jack and Rex, and more important the motivation of the changes Tyson discovers in Michaela's real life character: we know more about Michaela from her language of email in Part One than we do of her role as an actual person in Part Two. For this reader, part of the problem with the narrative portion of the novel comes the author's repeated use of slang terms such as 'dude' and 'you the man' which may be meant to keep the story 'current', but which become too noticeable and tiresome.

But in the end TWISTED CONSEQUENCES is an absorbing tale and one that is easily read in a single sitting. In time Parker will be able to polish his considerable skills - and that is the advantage of getting a first novel out there before the public for response. The concept of the novel is far stronger than the 'pulp fiction' cover art would suggest - another area where embracing talent outside the author's own would appeal to the buying public more directly. Irie Parker deserves to be read and with his evident talent here, it seems assured his next novel will be stronger than this one. Grady Harp, August 08