With her fourth novel, American author Samantha Downing looked into her past relationships and crafted a narrative about an unstable relationship.
The fictionalized versions of Downing and her ex-boyfriend are Ivy Banks and Wes Harmon, a pair of 30-year-olds residing in Fair Valley, Calif., who’ve had a volatile on-and-off relationship for 10 years.
Since meeting at UC Davis, Ivy and We have loved, lusted, bickered and confided in each other. A case of stalking leads Ivy to report it to Detective Karen Colglazier with the sex crimes division. This action subsequently causes Karen to look closely into Wes’ past and search for any acts of violence. She finds suspicious activity that relates to a 7-year-old unsolved murder of a high school student.
Other characters, driven by their own agendas, aid Karen in her investigation and tighten the proverbial noose around Wes. With few options left, Wes and Ivy make a rash decision to choose love over everything else.
Character Analysis
Characters
Ivy Banks
Wes Harmon
Karen Colglazier
Bianca Mercado
Abigail
Tanner
Heath
Ivy is the most compelling of the characters. She’s the only child of marijuana farmers from Humboldt County, Calif., who were eventually arrested and imprisoned separately for growing the cash crop without the correct licenses and paying taxes. She accepts a boring job with a huge company and takes language lessons during her copious amounts of downtime to keep her mind active.
Wes, the adored son of a Michigan family, moved to sunny California and isn’t close to any of his family. He relies on college friends, casual work buddies, and Ivy to fulfill his emotional needs. Outside of his tumultuous relationship with Ivy, his life is sales work at Syphon, watching sports, and hanging out in bars. Her dramatics bring excitement to his dull life.
Karen Colglazier is an overzealous and ambitious sex crimes unit detective in Fair Valley who believes she knows better than the survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence she vows to protect. Karen, a middle aged widow, has transformed her grown son’s former bedroom into a home office where she spends her free time eating microwaved meals and working on cases like Ivy’s.
Bianca is a young administrative assistant in Syphon’s sales department who snoops after hours in her colleague’s inboxes and physical offices. She hides a master key in a set of Russian nesting dolls and develops an all-consuming fascination with Wes that causes her to commit an act that changes everything at Syphon. While a secondary character, Bianca’s desire to know more about Wes plays a vital role in Karen’s investigation.
Downing rounds out her cast of supporting characters with Ivy’s best friend Heath, Syphon executive assistant Abigail, and Wes’ boss at Syphon, Tanner. Each has a motive to influence Wes and Ivy’s relationship.
Final Thoughts
“A Twisted Love Story” delivers a fast, readable, if not wholly satisfying, experience. Downing crafts a story of an unhealthy relationship between two characters who feed off each other’s pettiness, jealousy, and mind games.
Despite delivering some good reveals, many Downing fans will be disappointed by the tame plot of “A Twisted Love Story.” It doesn’t live up to the hype of “My Lovely Wife” or “For Your Own Good,” but new readers or those with more realistic expectations will find themselves pulled in by Ivy, Wes, and their shenanigans.
Rating
My rating is 3.5 stars out of five.
Book Details
Title: “A Twisted Love Story”
Author: Samantha Downing
Number of Pages: 388
Year of Publication: 2023
