3 out of 4 stars
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Kaylin McFarren's Twisted Threads is book #4 in the Thread series. It is the story of a young, beautiful assassin, Akira Hamada, sent on her final assignment to ultimately be free of her debt to Zakura-kai, Japan's notorious yakuza family infamous for their barbarianism. Akira is eager to finish her assignment and start a new life. Her mission is to board a Caribbean cruise ship to kill the people believed responsible for the death of the gang lord’s sister before the 10-day excursion is concluded. What she didn't expect was a string of unexplained murders to happen while at sea and, least of all, to fall in love with the target’s nephew. Through a series of twists and turns, Akira is torn between finishing her task to gain her freedom and losing the love of her life. Twisted Threads is the perfect mix of romance and suspense with one twisted ending.
In the author's note preceding the story, she stated: "my favorite practice...is to see how many story lines I'm capable of weaving together in order to create the fabric of an interesting, complex drama." I do believe the author succeeded in her mission. Each character had their own storyline that she cleverly connected to one another to achieve a suspenseful page-turning adventure. Of course, there was the love story of Akira and Devon, but also the story of Devon’s uncle and quirky aunt and her questionable relationship with her therapist. These stories, tied in with cameos from their other shipmates, made for an entertaining read.
I rated Twisted Threads 3 out of 4 stars because it is definitely a must-read. I loved how the story moved at a steady pace with never a dull moment. From describing the elegant cruise ship to the provocative love scenes, the author used incredible imagery to allow the reader to be enthralled in every detail of the book. I also liked how the author allowed the romance to unfold between Akira and Devon. Though they had only known each other a few days, the romance didn’t feel rushed because she took the time to describe every flirty glance shared, every intimate feeling thought about one another and every inhibition felt in new love. Through her writing, the author made it believable that two people could fall so deeply in love so quickly.
The one thing I would have liked to have seen was more of a backstory for the main character, Akira, for the readers who hadn't yet read the first three books in the series. The author vaguely touched on Akira’s life as an assassin by opening the story with her on an assignment effortlessly taking out several men single-handedly. However, the reader doesn’t really know how deeply Akira is involved with the yakuza family or why she attempted to assassinate Mitsui-san causing her to be in his debt. Also, the terms of endearment used by Devon towards Akira such as "baby" and "honey" seemed a bit awkward as written. This observation, however, took nothing away from the storyline and is still highly recommended.
What ultimately kept me from giving this novel 4 out of 4 stars was the rushed ending. The author took time and care in building a complex plot with interwoven storylines of romance, murder, and betrayal, only to quickly tie everything up in a rushed fashion. Each conflict ended with a resolution but it was lackluster compared to rest of the novel.
All in all, I was pretty satisfied with this novel. The storyline was complex and witty and the characters were realistic. As earlier stated, the ending left me wanting more but also left me interested in reading the first three novels to better understand the characters. I wouldn’t recommend this novel to anyone who doesn’t like erotic sex scenes; albeit, these only take up a very small portion of the book. I would recommend this novel to any adult reader who enjoys a good love story with a side of suspense.
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Twisted Threads
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