Complicating matters: Tommy has a stalker, too, in the form of Maria, a co-worker from the brokerage firm’s messenger center. Maria proves as deluded about Tommy as Tommy is about Crystal, refusing to take insistent, repeated “no”s for an answer. Bigaouette’s novel is at its strongest when switching quickly between these three perspectives, Maria following Tommy following Crystal, a roundelay of twisted loves. While Tommy’s instability and anger is fleshed out via flashbacks and dream sequences, Bigaouette favors a detached, observational narrative style, leaving readers, like Crystal, uncertain of what Tommy’s capable of—and how far he’ll go, even after he’s hit with a protective order demanding he keep his distance.
The spine of Twisted Love is strong, with a dark and twisting neo-noir centered on mirror-image stalkers that builds to promising developments like Maria meeting with Crystal to discuss Tommy, but Bigaouette’s wordy, repetitious prose—and commitment to documenting Tommy’s every trip from recliner to refrigerator—protracts the story’s length, diminishing tension and narrative momentum. Still, there’s dark comedy in Tommy’s refusal to connect with his mirror-image stalker, Maria.
Takeaway: New York neo-noir love triangle of obsession, stalking, and murder.
Comparable Titles: Tom Savage’s Valentine, Michael Robotham’s Watching You.
Production grades
Cover: B-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: B-
Marketing copy: B
