"Give me a break Pocohontas, you're not a Nazi"

[ewx]

The Twist, Richard Calder, ISBN 0671037196

Richard Calder's latest outing is a distorted version of the American wild west, packed with typically Calder-esque freaks and written in flowery style - given that the flower in question is venomous, spiny and black. So far so good...

The heroine/narrator is an engaging enough character but her two immediate companions seem rather predictable, perhaps even mechanical. I must say that the plot is a bit thin given the size of the book; there is really only material enough for a novella here, and the other qualities of the book are not really sufficient to carry it.

Disappointing, really. Richard Calder can do better.