Publisher's Weekly Review
Bestseller Kane's disappointing sequel to Twisted (2008) pays more attention to the romantic growing pains between FBI agent Sloane Burbank and her hunky former FBI colleague, Derek Parker, than the crime at hand. Dragon Head, boss of a Chinese triad, is targeting Sloane's father, Matthew, and his circle of friends in a years-old revenge plot that hinges on a stolen painting. Derek and his task force are already on the Dragon Head's scent for stateside crimes when Sloane's parents' Manhattan apartment is burglarized. Matthew privately hires Sloane to protect him while keeping the past hidden from the Feds and Derek. Despite a few incidents early on, the heart-racing action is relegated to Sloane and Derek's bedroom-and when the two aren't amorously engaged, they're arguing about who's hiding what from whom. They're not hiding anything from the reader, though: Kane tells us too much up front, and little is left for the big reveal. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
A dying man's lust for revenge drives this sequel to Kane's spine-tingling Twisted (2008). Cancer-ridden Johnny Liu directs his designated successor, cold-blooded Xiao Long, to destroy the lives of five men in a Manhattan art partnership that includes Matthew Burbank, father of ex-FBI agent Sloane Burbank. When her parents' apartment is robbed and her mother hurt and threatened, the case becomes very personal for Sloane, who is permitted to work on it with her lover, Derek Parker, head of the FBI's Asian Criminal Enterprise Task Force. Even her father's partners, all longtime close friends, become suspect in the rapid-fire investigation, during which Sloane acts as bait to help uncover an intricate web involving murder, art theft, and forgery by Chinese and Albanian gangs, all the while struggling with the future of her relationship with Derek. Kane's plot elements are well researched, her characters are well drawn, and she juggles multiple story lines deftly; if this falls short of the suspense of its predecessor, it's still a solid romantic thriller, and fans will anticipate the next Sloane and Derek outing.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2009 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Kane's sequel to Twisted reads more like a thrilling procedural than a romance. Featuring former FBI Special Agent Sloane Burbank and her partner/lover Derek Parkers, the book begins when Sloane's mother is attacked during a break-in. Sloane is even more troubled when her father informs her that the robbery wasn't random and that he needs her help and her silence. At odds with Derek in a case that involves Chinese gangs, murder, and stolen art, Sloane struggles to make it all work out. The intercutting of Sloane and Derek's investigations with museum robberies and the machinations of gangster Xiao Long makes for an intriguing tale with a quick-fire pace. Verdict Readers who like the strong suspense of Karen Rose and a competent heroine in the style of Jilliane Hoffman will find much to enjoy here. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/09.]-Jane Jorgenson, Madison P.L., WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
