Number of Book #26
Date Began and Finished 4/25 - 4/27 2008
Genre - Women's Fiction
Year It Was Published - April 2008
Publisher - Berkley
Number of Pages 296
Mass Market Paperback
Reason for reading: Review for Curled Up
Rating 4/5 stars
Blurb or Synopsis: Allie Daniels hasn't had much success in life. She and her grandmother move from town to town, wherever the money can be made. Then she gets news that she's inherited property from an uncle she's never heard of, and because her luck has run out, she decides to see how much the property is worth. She brings her grandmother with her, and with what little they they drive to a small town in Texas, Twisted Creek,located almost in the middle of nowhere. What they find out is very discouraging, but it's all they have.
Allie has inherited a run down store that seems to be the main place where people in town get their supplies. The towns people are aware that Allie will be taking over for her "uncle", and help her get acquainted with the store and the people, and soon Allie is running the store and selling all sorts of products to any one that needs it. And with Nana in the kitchen, they also begin serving meals to the local regulars, a group of misfits that come to see the cafe a second home.
Luke is on a mission, but Allie and most of the townspeople don't really know who he is. However, he happens to be someone that knew Allie's "uncle",and part of his reason for sneaking into the vacated store is to find out who Allie is and whether she's got hidden motives regarding the inheritance. She's a woman that has never made an appearance in town until after her "uncle" has died, but Luke as well as the rest of the town were expecting her to show up, because of the inheritance. Luke appears to Allie as a bum, a hippie, but his appearance is deceiving, which is what he intended all along. But why he is in town, and who he really is, has to remain a mystery in order for him to accomplish what he was sent for. Allie doesn't' trust him, but at the same time she is intrigued by him and attracted to him.
I enjoyed TWISTED CREEK a lot more than i had expected. The writing was well done, the characters were well drawn out and likable, and I felt the structure of the story was also very solid. The reader will easily feel for Allie and her relationship with Nana, the woman who took care of her like a mother would. The various minor characters were as well-rounded as the main characters, and i enjoyed reading about them, especially the scenes in which they all met for dinner every night at the cafe. The only thing that bothered me a little is that I felt that the entire book should have been told in the 3rd person, but for some reason the book would switch to a first person narrative when it was told in Allie's perspective. It felt awkward to me switching from 1st to third throughout the book, and would have been much smoother if the author kept to the third person the entire time.
There are two plot lines in the story, one that follows the mystery of who this uncle is that named Allie in his will, and the other is the plot line that follows Luke's undercover mission. I felt both story lines were done well, and was surprised at how well Luke's story actually fit in. I would definitely read more by Jodi Thomas.
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