3 out of 4 stars
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Twisted Threads tells the story of Akira Sato, a former geiko forced into the life of an assassin by Kaito Mitsu, the man who killed her lover two years ago. When Mitsu’s sister, Keiko is murdered on a Caribbean cruise, he charges Akira with the task of discovering and eliminating Paul Lyons, the man he suspects of the murder. If Akira is successful, Mitsu will release her from her debt to him, thereby allowing her to live her life freely. Thus, Akira goes undercover on the cruise ship, Starfish, with Mitsu’s cleaner, Takashi, accompanying her on the mission.
Akira comes off as a woman who is very intelligent, strong, and beautiful. Yet, beneath it all lies someone who is actually a good and decent person, who just wants to live her life free from that of a ruthless assassin, ultimately, by doing the right thing. It is unclear to Akira whether or not Paul Lyons really killed Keiko, and she is, therefore, unwilling to kill a man based simply on speculation.
Assuming the last name Hamada, Akira approaches the young, wealthy, and handsome Devon Lyons. Unbeknownst to him, however, her initial intention is to use Devon to help her keep her cover, while she proceeds with her efforts to get close to his uncle, Paul and the other privileged, cruise passengers. Her personal objective is to find undeniable proof that Paul killed Keiko or otherwise discover the actual killer.
Despite her attempts to stay objective and keep her head in the game, so to speak, Akira finds herself genuinely connecting with Devon on a more emotional level. Past traumas are what bring these two emotionally wounded people together, ultimately creating an effective chemistry between them that sparks a strong, steadily growing romance. There are times, however, when some of the dialogue between Akira and Devon seems a bit artificial.
Mitsu’s cleaner, Takashi, poses as Akira’s father throughout the cruise, constantly reminding the latter to keep her mind focused on the mission at hand. At first, he comes off as someone who is more concerned about completing the current task than he is with Akira’s well-being. Granted, Takashi does show some apparent concern for Akira as he warns her what will happen to both of them should this mission prove to be unsuccessful. That concern, however, can easily be written off as more of a selfish desire not to share Akira’s fate if she were to fail, since Mitsu has made it Takashi’s responsibility to make sure she gets the job done.
Shallow characters like Devon’s uncle, Paul, and their wealthy associates should have been enough to sour my appreciation for this novel, but interestingly enough, they weren’t. It was clear to me that the author purposefully made these characters superficial for the mere purpose of elevating the challenge of finding Keiko’s killer. Giving their apparent nature any of these characters could have killed Keiko. It’s almost like a game of Clue really. It also serves to add to the building tension and adrenaline rush that Akira clearly feels as her time begins to rapidly run out to find the real killer.
As a whole, I rate this novel 3 out of 4 stars. Would I call Twisted Threads exciting or off the seat adventurous fun? Not necessarily. However, there is definitely more than enough buildup in character and story development to keep my attention and encourage me to continue reading. This is a generally well-written romantic novel that is entangled with quite a bit of mystery and a few thrills here and there, eventually leading to a very satisfying and exciting conclusion. The only reason it loses that extra star is because of the, at times, artificial lines between Akira and Devon. They’re not enough to take me out of the story, but they are still too obvious for me not to acknowledge them. Regardless, all in all very good novel, and my hat goes off to the author, Kaylin McFarren, who wrote this well-structured story with such richly developed and emotionally in-depth lead characters.
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Twisted Threads
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