If you are writing a book about a multi-million pound best selling author who reigns as the king of the devious twist, you had better make sure you deliver a jaw dropping twist of your own. This book does deliver a killer twist, in-fact, it delivers several twists and this is where, unfortunately, the book lost some of its way. So tied up in achieving this, I felt that this was at the expense of consistent characters for example. Bloch is portrayed as a stoical introvert throughout the book, with an eye for detail and an uncanny way of seeing beyond initial impressions, so it is incredibly jarring when she says "What about the f**king mailbox?" and closes down Dole's gut feeling that they are missing something. Similarly Dole suddenly undergoes a dramatic physical change towards the end of the book and starts chugging Advil, although earlier in the book much is made of his decision not to ever ask a pharmacist to fill in an Advil prescription because of small town gossip. (This didn't even need to be in the book, which makes it even more frustrating)
It's a 3.5 star rating from me. Massive fun, but slightly spoiled because of jarring inconsistencies.However, I am reading an advanced copy, so maybe these won't be in the final release?

My thanks go to the publishers and Net Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

The first thing I’ll say is that I read ‘Thirteen’ and found it really enjoyable, so I wouldn’t write this author off completely, but this book was a hot mess.

If you’re going to title a book ‘Twisted’ and start the novel with a disclaimer telling readers they shouldn’t believe anything they’re reading, you’d better give them a decent twist. Sadly not. As a reader I’m usually happy to go along for the ride but there wasn’t anything surprising in this narrative, apart from one of the deaths (which was of no significance to the plot.)

None of the characters were particularly sympathetic and some of the writing was just plain bad.
The conversations between Maria and her lover, Daryl, are like the worst kind of romance novel.

Then there’s the laziness around small details. In a two-storey atrium it’s unlikely that the scent from a bunch of flowers would overpower any other smell. It got to the stage where I was so hung up on my disbelief of the small details that I couldn’t engage with the scenes at large.

I’m not going to lie, this was a slog.

After reading Thirteen I had high hopes for this book. I wasn't disappointed. A fast paced thriller which doesnt adhere to the normal thriller formula, I was hooked from the start. I usually see the twists coming from a mile off but not this time...or the next time...and absolutely not the one after that! All in all, a great read.

Good storyline, interesting characters, great amount of suspense and a twist. Everything that a good thriller needs. However, there was something about this book that I didn’t like. I’m not sure exactly what that thing is, but I just feel a little disappointed by this one. I was also confused at several parts, and some bits seemed a bit factually incorrect. I’m not sure if they are incorrect, but they definitely feel unlikely to be true. I’ve only read Thirteen and Twisted, so haven’t read much of this series, but I’m definitely hooked on the J. T. LeBeau storyline. I will definitely be checking out the rest of this series at some point. I’ve been left with a lot of questions at the end of this book, so I’m really hoping that there’s another one to come. I hate feeling like things haven’t been wrapped up properly. The characters in this one were well-written, though some of them could be a bit annoying. I didn’t see the twist coming, but I wasn’t completely surprised by it. Overall I enjoyed this book, and will definitely be reading more from Steve Cavanagh, but I feel like this book was a bit disappointing.

Steve Cavanagh is the author of the captivating and twisty series featuring the brilliant lawyer Eddie Flynn, which I absolutely love. Now he has a new stand-alone coming out (although there is a small funny mention of Eddie Flynn), and once again he proved that he is a great storyteller who knows how to create a plot so shocking and gripping that it literally kept me on the edge of my seat.

Never title was more fitting for a story. There is twist after twist that completely take you by surprise, that make you question everything you’ve read so far, that make it impossible for you to put the book down because you absolutely need to know what happens next.

Who is J. T. Lebeau? He is an author who sold millions and millions of copies. Everyone knows his name and has read at least one of his books that attract readers for its many twists. But no one, not even his editor, has ever met him or knows his true identity.

Paul and Maria Cooper have been married for two years, but he is keeping secrets and she is unhappy and tired of his continuous absence and lies. When Maria finds out the truth about her husband, she sets in motion a series of events that quickly spiral out of control.

I won’t tell you more about the story, I won’t tell you how Maria and Paul are linked to a mysterious best-seller author, what I will tell you is that reading TWISTED was quite a ride. There are lies, deceit, secret identities, and much more. The characters are insane, dark, and multi-layered, and you never know who to trust. Nothing is predictable and when you think you have reached the most shocking revelation you then find out that there are more astonishing surprises waiting for you.

TWISTED is an excellent, superb, and jaw-dropping thriller from an author that continues to take me by surprise and I’d like to thank Orion for providing me with a proof of the novel.

Absolutely loved this book. It’s everything you can want in a crime thriller-fanatastic pace, characters and twists galore!!
I had been looking forward to reading this after loving Thirteen, but this, in my opinion, far surpassed all of Steve Cavanagh’s back catalogue. I raced through it, wanting to find out how it would end, but never wanting it to end at the same time. I’d love to describe the plot but don’t want to give anything away to those lucky enough to be starting it soon.

This is the second Book from Steve Cavanagh that I have read and I loved this one just as much as Thirteen. His writing style gets you gripped immediately and you can't help turn page after page and before you know it it's finished. And once again this book was amazing I loved the plot so original and so TWISTED ... every time I thought I had sussed the plot and the ending the book took a turn right around and I was back to guessing all over again...

I really enjoyed this book and the ending was so well done I really can't wait to see what he might write next. I really hope some of his books make it to the movies or as a tv series as I really feel that these would be books I would love to watch ...

Thanks once again Net Galley

Have loved all of Steve Cavanagh’s books,especially Thirteen but this one comes a close second. It lived up to its title and just when I thought I had figured out who J.T. LeBeau was ,up popped another twist to confuse me further. I was about half way through the book before I finally got to grips with what was happening thanks to a detailed explanation of previous events. Very cleverly written and kept me on tenterhooks until the end.
Few books have the ability to make me not want to put it down but this was the case with the last few chapters. Possibly (for me)the biggest twist of all was the one at the end. Did not see that one coming. Highly recommend “Twisted “for all fans of Steve Cavanagh’s books.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers who allowed me to read this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

“Who is J. T. LeBeau?”
A few years back there was a television series called ‘Harper’s Island’ which essentially took ‘And Then There Were None/Ten Little Indians’ and slasher movies and ramped up the intensity until it almost, but, importantly, not quite, became parody. It was great fun. In ‘Twisted’, Steve Cavanagh has done the same thing for the current trend for ‘this novel has a twist you will not believe’ books.
J. T. LeBeau is the blockbuster thriller version of J. D. Salinger. His novels fly off the shelves, constantly at the top of the bestseller lists and yet nobody knows who he is, not even his publisher. Except, that’s not quite right. Four people know who he is and two of them are dead… When Maria Cooper and her lover discover that Maria’s husband has $20 Million dollars in a hidden bank account, she suspects that her spouse is in fact J. T. LeBeau. And she wants her share of that money.
Cavanagh piles twist upon twist, poking fun at publishers’ need to SELL THE TWIST, while doing what a lot of the popular ‘twist’ books forget to – telling a compelling and exciting story. Yes, it veers close to spoof at times but, crucially, Steve Cavanagh expertly keeps it, just, on the side of believability and keeps the thrills, well, thrilling.
‘Twisted’ is great fun and I’m sure it will be a huge hit. And perhaps the producers of ‘Harper’s Island’ should give it a read…

This book was twiiiiiisted, excuse the pun. I'm actually going to refrain from giving an introduction that surmises the book’s premise and an overall in-depth review of the book, for the reason being, I'm petrified the way I word or explain things could potentially spoil this rollercoaster story for prospective readers. All I’ll say is the story contains: secrets, betrayals, a whole lot of money, police procedure, murder and twists…

Twisted is the definition of a book that ensnares the reader from the get-go. I was sucked into this tense plot, which kept me on my toes right until the end. The plot was utterly gripping and exciting: it was full of suspense, suspicion and shock. The story was well written, and the pace was largely consistent and enjoyable. There were some minor issues, like excessive or repetitive detail in character’s actions like eating or what not. Nonetheless, due to how entertaining this book was, the issue was largely compensated for. I devoured it because I had to find out how it was going to play out.

Well, the book’s title certainly implies there will be twists, which there definitely was. I didn’t see the biggest twists coming, and even the minor ones weren’t too obvious until they were just about to unfold. I’m usually quick to sift out the crumbs for plot twists or revelations, which didn’t happen, so Twisted was a refreshing read for me in this manner too.

There was an array of characters I liked and loathed at the points I was meant to. Paul and Maria, who are husband and wife, whose marriage has come under strain as of late. Sheriff Dole and Officer Bloch are introduced quite early, as they attempt to get to the bottom of the growing mystery of who the bad guy is. Ultimately, all of the characters were developed to the points they needed to be, by the end of the book, to wrap it up nicely.

My favourite aspect of this book was that the detectives in this story weren't presented as blinded idiots. I really can't handle it when stories are written with prejudiced and narrow-minded law officers, who can't solve a case to save themselves, because of their own superiority complex. Obviously there are real people like that, just as much as I know there will be people who aren't like that. I was so, so, so relieved this story had down to earth law enforcers, because it allowed me to relax and appreciate the mystery/thriller, because I knew I wasn't going to be left too frustrated with idiocy. I would say this largely contributed to my enjoyment of the book, because Sheriff Dole and Bloch were likable.

Overall, this was one heck of a page-turning read. It took me two days to read, and I’ll give it a well-deserved 4.5/5 stars. I think any mystery-thriller lovers will enjoy reading this, and I hope it’s made into a movie, because I think it would be an excellent film. I’m now very interested in reading Cavanagh’s Eddie Flynn book series.
Thank you kindly to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc of this great book, in exchange for this honest review.

4.5 stars
Well... where do I start with reviewing this book... Definitely not saying anything about the actual storyline cos I think to even touch on anything that happens herein there's a chance of spoilers... This is a book to go in cold, to discover all the many delightful twists and turns exactly when the author intends.
I say many twists and that's no exaggeration. It's actually a bit of an understatement. This book really does live up to its name. In two ways. Obviously it's a bit twisted; goes with the genre! But what happens within the book is all a bit twisted in its other sense too.
We have three main characters and a couple of cops. Speaking honestly here (cos I have to), I think that there is so much emphasis on the twists and turns that happen frequently throughout the book that characterisation was, for me anyway, left a little behind in the quality stakes. I didn't really warm to any of them, which doesn't always matter to me but I also failed to connect to any of them strongly enough to really care what happened. Which was a bit of a shame really as I think this contributed to the fact that the ultimate ending didn't really do it for me. I actually think I was all twisted out! But, those things are personal to me and you may find it blows your socks off!
The story was good and well executed. Convoluted and interconnected all the way with secrets and lies and things happening that make you go "Huh!" until the explanation is delivered later and you kick yourself for not seeing it at the time. Hats off to the author for that!
I think this will be one of the few books that I re-read. Not cos it was that good, more for the fact that I'd love to read it with hindsight. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Well if I’m truthful this didn’t thrill me at all. As for the twists, you could see them coming and who was the real J T Lebeau from the start.

As a crime novel it was entertaining but drawn out and not as exciting as I’d have hoped. I don’t really know what all the hype was about if I’m honest.

My thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

This seemed an intriguing premise - a story with multiple twists, a fast-paced thriller where nothing is as it seems. It opens with a memorial service for a crime writer, LeBeau, before flashing back to where it all began and one woman's affair with a waiter. The whole story revolves round the identity of the mysterious LeBeau who will stop at nothing to protect his identity.

I'll admit that this kept me reading as I tried to keep up with the twists. It is a clever idea, but it felt more like a screenplay than a novel to me - lots of plot and action, but very little character development or depth. In fact, I really struggled to follow or believe in any of the characters' motivations as there didn't seem to be any real reason for anything. In order to facilitate the twists in the story, the characters changed direction and personality constantly and some of the events seemed a bit far-fetched. I wanted to immerse myself in the story, but I found it oddly cold and flat.

The many excellent reviews of this book (and others by the same writer) indicate that I'm pretty alone in my feelings about this. I accept that this will appeal to people who like a fast moving story with lots of twists and tension. However, it just didn't work for me - I want substance as well as style, although I'm giving this three stars for keeping me reading to the end.

I just don't think i'm getting it. This is the second Steve Cavanagh book i've tried to read and i've not enjoyed it. I don't find the characters engaging and the story doesn't grip me. I need to care about the characters and want to see what happens to them (even if i don't like them) but the characterization was completely forgotten in this. You can have dozens of twists but they won't have any impact if readers don't care about the people involved.

When I read Steve Cavanagh's last Eddie Flynn novel I noted how the author always managed to continually raise the stakes and see them. The ride he took us on in Thirteen was incredible and looked forward to the next one, confident that he could take it even further, even if I couldn't imagine how. Well, one way you could look at Twisted is that Cavanagh has pulled back, writing his first standalone thriller outside the Eddie Flynn series. The other way of looking at it is that he's raised the stakes again by blindsiding expectations and heading in a different direction. He certainly knows how to keep the reader on their toes.

Anyone who knows a Steve Cavanagh thriller knows that it's all about the twist. Maybe not all about the twist, because he takes the reader on an amazing ride before they get there. In a novel called Twisted, well he's obviously going to pull out all the stops and you better believe he carries it off. The twist in Twisted is that the twist comes at the start and he spends the rest of the story unravelling the mystery. Even then you know you're not going to get the whole story until the end, and there will be a number of plot complications and, yes, additional twists to get your head around.

And in a way, the story he has chosen to tell is one that lends itself very well to such dramatic twists; it's about a writer, a highly successful writer of thrillers, a mystery writer who is himself a mystery and has a dark secret of their own. And if I read it correctly - it's easy to get confused - and without giving away any spoilers, the twist at the start is that someone is planning to murder the writer who has been going under the name of J. T. LeBeau at the funeral of J.T. LeBeau, only to be confronted by someone who knows that he is J.T. LeBeau.

How's that for convoluted? And actually there's potentially even a twist earlier than that, because Twisted carries two title pages, the first identifying the author of Twisted as Steve Cavanagh, the second crediting Twisted to J.T. LeBeau, and indeed the book carries the name of J.T. LeBeau on the top of the recto page of the novel throughout. So are we reading a Steve Cavanagh novel or a J. T. LeBeau novel?

Well, you've got a while to let all those matters simmer while the author (whoever it may be) relates how Paul Cooper's secretive life as a writer in Port Lonely starts to unravel when his wife Maria discovers a bank statement in his drawer and finds out that he has twenty million dollars in a J. T. LeBeau Enterprises account. Maria is furious that Paul has been keeping this a secret from her and is ready to confront him, but Daryl, a waiter who works at the local Country Club who she has been having an affair with, recognises the name J. T. LeBeau as being one of the most successful writers of blockbuster thrillers in the USA, his identity a closely guarded secret. If they play their cards right, Maria and Daryl can set up a nice little life for themselves.

It sounds like classic 50s noir material, a Double Indemnity-like plot where the wife involves some poor sap who is head-over-heels for her to get rid of a rich and unwanted husband so that she can get her hands on his money, or maybe she wants the money and the lover. Unfortunately, there's no legal way she can do it, and not even a lawyer like Eddie Flynn could pull that off for her (Cavanagh's hustling street lawyer getting a little reference here, nothing more). The traditional techniques of murder, blackmail and impersonation are employed, but Cavanagh has plenty of other cards in the deck to play with in his own highly charged, fast-moving, quickly evolving tale.

To say any more about the plot of a Steve Cavanagh thriller is unnecessary, and it goes without saying that there are plenty of twists and turns, murderous intentions, cliff-hanger revelations and complete reversals of direction in Twisted. Whether it's a parody of this genre is harder to say - Cavanagh namechecks a number of similar authors who are supposedly connected to the pseudonym of J. T. LeBeau - but that's a fine line that Cavanagh likes to play with even in his Eddie Flynn books. I'm not sure I'm as much a fan of J. T. LeBeau as I am of the author's Eddie Flynn series, but it's good to see Cavanagh stretch himself further and Twisted is every bit the compelling page-turner you would expect it to be.

I have love this authors books, so much so I would read them all again. However this book seemed different, like the author was testing something new, this I admire so much . The plot was clever yet far to much going on with the twists and turns, so much so that I lost where I was at times. I also did not gel with the characters like I normally do with this authors books. This book was just not for me that being said I look forward to his next book.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for being given the chance to review this book.

I have loved all previous books by this author and was excited to be able to get this new edition. Trouble was that the twist were too many. My brain ended up twisted and disjointed. Sorry but I can only do three stars.

Wow what a book. So many twists kept me guessing right to the end. Absolutely brilliant. Easy five stars from me. Thank you Netgalley for giving me the chance to read this book

Sometimes you read a book and wonder why the title is chosen, sometimes you get it at the end of the book - the title is apparent pretty quickly, this book is twisted! J.T Lebeau is an author who is super popular, his books fly off the shelf and no one knows who he is. The book opens at a funeral, only four people know the authors identity and "one of them is about to eat a bullet" and then we go back four months to where it all kicks off!

Ooft what an opening to a book, well that and the whole threat from Lebeau in the authors note. It is a book that has you knocked off from the opening. Maria is married to Paul and it is disclosed pretty quickly there is an affair with Daryl. Pretty but a bit dim he makes Maria happy and Paul is so distant, cold and often working away she doesn't feel bad. When a simple action breaks open a secret held by Maria's husband everything chances, this is what Maria needs to get everything she wants. Sometimes one action can kick off a chain of events no one could have predicted, Maria has no idea what she is about to unleash and no one could forsee the consequences the need for a wee smoke could kick off.

Sheesh! you know you read a book and folk say it pulls the rug right out from under you? Well this book does it multiple times throughout. The title is apt because the book just throws/twists/shocks/ pretty much throughout. The author Lbeau wants his identity kept a secret and stops at nothing to keep it that way, nothing! Maria has a secret, her husband Paul has a secret, Daryl is Maria's secret and nothing is what is seems. It is a hard book to review because I don't do spoilers and one thing leads to another, to another, to another. It is fast paced, something is always going on, threat is looming and you just don't know what is coming.

I think it is very cleverly written, it keeps up the pace throughout the whole book - I just wanted to know what was happening and what was coming next. Sometimes you can predict where something is going and when I thought ah ha I know where this is going, no, no I didn't. Hats off to anyone who say they worked it out, any of it, as I was surprised pretty much throughout. A few times I found myself saying no waaaaaaaay - it is certainly an entertaining book and I just was just left wondering what on earth is coming next. Themes of murder, infidelity, love, lies, relationships, secrets and very much cat and mouse, 4.5/5 for me. This is only my second read by this author, it won't be my last!

Very clever and definitely very twisted!
Lots of twists and turns and the writing is superb, but I have to admit I did get a bit confused at times about the motivations of a couple of the characters. This is only the second book of Steve Cavanagh's that I have read, I need to go back and read the rest of the Eddie Flynn books. Very enjoyable book with some hideous characters and some that I loved like the two detectives, I would love to have read more about their backgrounds. I would certainly recommend this book.