TWISTED Steve Cavanagh Orion £7.99

This new thriller from bestseller Cavanagh has more twists than a Chubby Checker dance marathon. But I mustn’t blab and spoil the head-spinning surprises in a story with dark echoes of John D. MacDonald’s pulp fiction classics like Clemmie and The Brass Cupcake. Unlike hits featuring shady lawyer Eddie Flynn, this is presented as the last book from a multi-millionaire bestseller called J.T. LeBeau. But who is LeBeau? Only one person knows, his agent. But there are people desperate to find him. Killing an unknown man and stealing a stash of millions looks like a sweet deal. But, anyone who’s uncovered LeBeau’s identity has ended up dead. My money was on Paul Cooper who leaves his sexy young bride Maria alone in a backwater town, ironically called Port Lonely, while he sails off on his boat to secretly write books. But, I wasn’t so sure after Maria took a lover and events took a very dark turn, pointing to someone else being LeBeau, while long-hidden secrets rattle like a whole gang of skeletons in the closet. All the amoral characters get what they deserve in the end..with a final shock twist, naturally. Review by Alex Gordon. Name a Cavanagh bestseller. Entries to Alex Gordon, Twisted competition by April 11.