"An action filled futuristic romance"
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 Abbey's room. Abbey claims not to know her and is
released 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 does 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 known 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
had 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 make it back 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.
Reviewed by Leslie Tramposch
Posted March 31, 2008
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