Twisted (Burbank and Parker, 1)

Along with accurate research into her subject, Andrea Kane has created a novel of both (romantic) suspense and retainable information! Very well drawn characters, interesting criminal profiling, and many false trails. Very well done, and am on the third re-read without any boredom whatsoever.

The parents of an old friend ask ex-FBI agent, now private consultant Sloane Burbank if she would look into the disappearance of their daughter Penny, who has been missing for almost a year. Sloane, who is taking time off from the FBI because she was wounded on duty, isn't ready to go back to work, but she throws herself headlong into the case and even though the leads are thin, Sloane soon becomes convinced Penny didn't disappear willingly. Then she finds out about more young women who have disappeared. Sloane gets the FBI interested, but the special agent they put in charge is her ex-lover Derek Parker and to make matters worse it looks like the madman responsible might have Sloane in his sights. In fact, it appears all of the missing women have a connection somehow to Sloane. Can she unravel it all in time? Probably, because she is a highly trained person who is in perfect shape and can kill with her bare hands. Sloane is a heroine you can sink your teeth into, as is this fine thriller. This was my first book by Andrea Kane, but it won't be my last. The pace was quick, the characters believable in a fun sort of way, especially Sloane, who I sort of imagined as a kind of a female Jason Bourne without the memory loss. She's rawhide tough, whip cracking smart and somehow vulnerable as well. Time spent with Ms. Kanes's Slone Burbank is time you're going to enjoy.

I read this book in one sitting and I loved it, very much a thiller with some romance, for former FBI SA Solane Burbank. She reconnects with her former lover SA Derek Parker. Slone suffered a life threating injury in the life of duty and and left her job to recuperate, she also left Derek as well. Of course when two people don't communicate, each thinks the worst of each other. Sloane is looking for one of closest childhood friends and she and Derek end up working together. This ends up opening up many wounds for both of them. Along the way, many women disapper and one women is murdered, there are a lot of twists and turns in this book and it may be that Sloane is the killers twisted target. A fast paced thiller, one I enjoyed. My first book by this author, but I will search out more titles to read by her.

Twisted is a great romantic suspense novel written by a talented writer. This intriguing plot takes place in the great New York City area. The book is structured in such multiple dimensions that you can't help but think she has experienced some of it along her life. The characters are brilliantly convincing all on their own. Main character Sloan burbank was a former FBI agent who retired due to an injury in Cleveland. She is going thru multiple surgeries and therapy due to that crazy boy slicing her hand. She wishes to join the FBI again as an agent but can't until her hand is healed. Meanwhile while her hand heals she devotes her times to her consulting business. Luckily with her many associates in the law enforcement she gets a bunch of work. Sloan gets a message from the mother of her childhood friend Penny Truman where she learns that she has disappeared. The Trumans ask her to try and find out what happened to their daughter. She knowing the victim well has an advantage of spotting clues that others overlooked. The romance and suspense now builds with her being forced to work with old lover Derek Parker in the force to find out what happened to Penny. The book ends with the identity of the sociopath remaining elusive. Sloan begins to see similarities in other disappearances of women and Derek starts to realize the connection with Sloan so that's when the book gets extremely interesting. It finishes with a climax you won't forget.

Andrea Kane is a well established writer of romance suspense but she has reached a new high with "Twisted". The characters are strong and though there is a hint of romance here, most of the book is about one man and his obsession. FBI Special Agent Sloane Burbank has something to prove to herself and to the FBI. Injured in a previous incident which ended her relationship with another agent, she has to prove she can still do the job. Enter an old friend asking a favor and the chase is on. From there the book pace never slows down. There are a number of women who have gone missing but no one is sure they are dead and no one knows what the kidnapper wants. The case will reunite Sloane with her ex-lover and put her in line as the kidnapper's next and possibly final victim. Everything in this book is well researched and the characters finely drawn. The antagonist is a dark twisted soul that makes Hannibal Lecter seem tame. Figuring out who the man is and what his ultimate plan is for all these women is drawn out through the book til the end. Very enjoyable and not easily forgotten, readers will want to keep turning the pages late into the night.