Review of Twisted But True

[LindoM]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Twisted But True" by Darren Burch.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Twisted but True by Darren Burch is a true-crime book. It follows his most memorable moments from childhood, adolescence and adulthood. The author talks about how these events shaped him and how each of these events has led him to choose a career in sex crime investigations. Throughout the book, we see Burch go through the United States military, get interviewed for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), struggle with work-life balance, encounter several heartbreaks along the way and join the police force.

The following book review details the parts of the book that I enjoyed. There were no parts of the book that I disliked, so I will skip this section and go to general comments, then the audience who would enjoy this book, the editing of the book and my conclusions where I will also include my rating out of four stars.

There were two main things I enjoyed in this book. First, I liked how the writing style allowed the reader to sense the excitement and dread from the author in different situations. This resulted in more intense feelings in those chapters. Secondly, I enjoyed all the humour the author used throughout. This kept me hooked to every word and was a lovely reminder to not take yourself or life too seriously. I liked that this reminder was complemented by the positive attitude the author would display even in the worst situations.

The book title alone shows that Burch is very to the point and an assertive communicator. His title simply summarises what is to come in the book. This is further demonstrated as the author warns us about triggering language and sex crime descriptions that will be included in the book. Many authors do not offer this warning, so it was a refreshing touch. It made me trust the author and showed his empathetic and compassionate nature.

It is tempting to call Twisted but True a memoir, but since most of the stories do not contain details of the author's family life and childhood - calling it a true-crime book is the fairest and wisest label. This also reiterates Burch's being in tune with his audience, as he can predict which genre would make them give his book a try. He is at times so synchronised with his reader that he would mention something on the page that the reader is thinking or wondering about.

There was only one part the author seemed to be less in tune with his audience, which was when he mentioned his Dear John letter. Some of his readers might not be aware of the terminology used in the military or the movie Dear John. So it would have been best to elaborate on this, but it is not a big issue because you can easily piece together what this phrase means as you read on.

Since the book contains profanity, physical violence and sexual assault - I recommend this book to an older audience who are not triggered by these topics. I also recommend that those who get triggered by the mention of a police officer kneeling on a suspect's neck avoid this book. I also recommend this book to those who enjoy true-crime books filled with storms of laughter, anger, relief, disgust and sadness.

From the beginning of the book, it is clear that Burch spent a tremendous amount of time editing it. The exceptional editing guarantees the reader maximum enjoyment, as there were no errors to steal from it. This book was also an eye-opener, as it showed the operations of a police officer, and it is shocking how recent laws to protect women have been passed.

In conclusion, this book was so enticing that sometimes I was frustrated at how slow I read. Burch is a superb writer who uses humour brilliantly and is insanely intuitive, so I give the book a 4 out of 4 stars.

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Twisted But True
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[Kaushiki Parihar]

A memoir yet a crime story; it's my first time hearing of something like this and it intrigues me. Thanks for the great review.