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Catch and Release
Catch and Release, a romance/suspense novel, is the story of two lives from vastly different backgrounds, drawn together by fate and a common love of the great outdoors. The crossing of Jennifer and Steve’s paths releases an explosion of love, passion, adventure and ultimately a reason for a shared journey. Within 24 hours, they catch a few trout, have a passionate affair, shoot and kill a man, are involved in two gun battles, receive wounds and end up in Miami, Florida. All this, and as Steve says, they still have six days of vacation left. Their relationship touches long-buried feelings in Jennifer, while shattering the mundane existence suffocating Steve.
280 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
1 person is currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
J.T. Twerell
8 books1 followerJ.T. Twerell is an award winning author as well as a practicing Psychotherapist in Manhattan, NY. His works are a cross-section of fiction and non-fiction including his novel “Signal 30” which won the Readers View Novel of the Year in 2010. For more information go to WWW.JTTWERELL.COM
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 7, 2012
I thought this was a great read!
Dr. Dave Saunders and “J” are from two very different worlds, but they both love fly fishing.
Dr. Dave Saunders is a New York psychologist. He has taken a week off, heading for a spot in the mountains that will become his hideaway, his escape from the aggravating things in his life. There, he will pit himself against the mountain trout with a fly rod. Dave has been married and divorced. He’s a very independent individual, content to spend most of his time alone and unattached. He is peace loving and non-violent.
Jennifer Blade, or “J” as she is nicknamed, is hard, tough, street savvy, trusts no one , is totally self reliant and will take no crap from anyone. Her dad was a cop and he took a fatal shot while working on a drug bust. She was a child then, but her father’s death has left a bitterness that set her course in life and she determined to even the score in the game that had taken her father. Revenge runs in her blood, driving her.
For the past two years she has worked inside a Columbian drug connection; cold, ruthless people who would kill for no reason. Every day she has walked the tightrope, alone in the world with no net to protect her fall. Suddenly her gut feeling tells her something is wrong; that she has become expendable. She runs for her life, choosing to go to a place in the mountains, where she could indulge in fly fishing, hide away from the sordidness of her life, from the infinite danger that she is in and make some decisions.
Intent on their love of fishing, J and Dave meet on the river. There is an attraction between them and in the end they share a magical day and an incredible sexual experience. They plan an intimate evening, but that is interrupted before it begins. J’s past has caught up with her. There is violence and murder. Within less than 24 hours, Dave’s life has turned upside down.
When he demands answers, J tells him she is a Federal Agent with Narcotics, working with the FBI.
From that point the story takes a wild and crazy ride, full of danger, shootouts, deception, crime and murder. Dave’s incredible sense of trust and love for J has to be true love or stark denial. At various times throughout the whole story, I found myself wondering if she was truly a Federal Agent or a very clever con. That is not a criticism of the writing, instead a statement of the author’s skill.
“Catch and Release,” is filled with plot twists, wild action, danger, suspense and romance. Never a dull moment.
There were some formatting issues. The varied font changes caught my attention the most. Basically, I always read for the enjoyment of the story, so I looked past the other things. I enjoyed the story line of “Catch and Release.” I recommend it as a great read.
Disclosure: This review was part of the WoMen's Lit Cafe Review program. I received the e-book free as part of the process, and I do not know the author personally.
Catch and Release, , Gloria Antypowich – Romance and Love Stories, http://gloriaantypowich.com/ , @gantypowich , #WLCReviewTeam
Dr. Dave Saunders and “J” are from two very different worlds, but they both love fly fishing.
Dr. Dave Saunders is a New York psychologist. He has taken a week off, heading for a spot in the mountains that will become his hideaway, his escape from the aggravating things in his life. There, he will pit himself against the mountain trout with a fly rod. Dave has been married and divorced. He’s a very independent individual, content to spend most of his time alone and unattached. He is peace loving and non-violent.
Jennifer Blade, or “J” as she is nicknamed, is hard, tough, street savvy, trusts no one , is totally self reliant and will take no crap from anyone. Her dad was a cop and he took a fatal shot while working on a drug bust. She was a child then, but her father’s death has left a bitterness that set her course in life and she determined to even the score in the game that had taken her father. Revenge runs in her blood, driving her.
For the past two years she has worked inside a Columbian drug connection; cold, ruthless people who would kill for no reason. Every day she has walked the tightrope, alone in the world with no net to protect her fall. Suddenly her gut feeling tells her something is wrong; that she has become expendable. She runs for her life, choosing to go to a place in the mountains, where she could indulge in fly fishing, hide away from the sordidness of her life, from the infinite danger that she is in and make some decisions.
Intent on their love of fishing, J and Dave meet on the river. There is an attraction between them and in the end they share a magical day and an incredible sexual experience. They plan an intimate evening, but that is interrupted before it begins. J’s past has caught up with her. There is violence and murder. Within less than 24 hours, Dave’s life has turned upside down.
When he demands answers, J tells him she is a Federal Agent with Narcotics, working with the FBI.
From that point the story takes a wild and crazy ride, full of danger, shootouts, deception, crime and murder. Dave’s incredible sense of trust and love for J has to be true love or stark denial. At various times throughout the whole story, I found myself wondering if she was truly a Federal Agent or a very clever con. That is not a criticism of the writing, instead a statement of the author’s skill.
“Catch and Release,” is filled with plot twists, wild action, danger, suspense and romance. Never a dull moment.
There were some formatting issues. The varied font changes caught my attention the most. Basically, I always read for the enjoyment of the story, so I looked past the other things. I enjoyed the story line of “Catch and Release.” I recommend it as a great read.
Disclosure: This review was part of the WoMen's Lit Cafe Review program. I received the e-book free as part of the process, and I do not know the author personally.
Catch and Release, , Gloria Antypowich – Romance and Love Stories, http://gloriaantypowich.com/ , @gantypowich , #WLCReviewTeam
January 5, 2012
This book packed a dramatic plot-line with a punchy heroine but petered out at the end due to an overload of sentimentality. The climax hit at 75% and what happened afterwards was mopping up for the HEA.
I liked the story. It had all the elements of suspense, romance, danger, and plot twists. The heroine is mysterious, opinionated, plucky, yet insecure. But what dragged the story out was the long stretches of philosophizing, repetitive interior monologue, and stilted dialogue. Both characters seemed to talk with the same psychoanalytical voice, yet we know the female character has a lot to hide and would not express herself so openly. There is zero subtext, and everything is explained several times in dialogue and internal monologue.
I was not bothered by the shift between first person and third person. It made sense because the male main character (1st) is a psychologist and his voice, although overly pedantic, is illuminating and cozy. I was okay with him being overly analytic because that is his profession, to observe, analyze, and suggest. I expected the female character (portrayed in 3rd) to be more distant and to hide things, but she was just as annoyingly transparent. At 93% the author resorted to omniscient point of view to cover his tracks as he tried to explain the wrap-up where neither of the characters were present.
The potential of the book was also undercut by the need for editing. The author mistakes "smiled", "laughed", and other words for dialogue tags. He overuses introductory present participial phrases and misplaces modifiers.
Looking down at the parking lot, J's car and the limo sat where we left them along with both the driver and the shooter from the limo lying on the parking lot.
James Twerell. Catch and Release (Kindle Locations 1586-1587). James Twerell.
Simple grammatical errors are not caught:
"Don’t forget the tape lover. Without the tape we would be dead before we left Bingo.
James Twerell. Catch and Release (Kindle Location 2162). James Twerell.
I thought about the redhead J had mention, but didn’t see her anyplace.
James Twerell. Catch and Release (Kindle Location 2824). James Twerell.
Other distractions:
- too many "J" names. I got confused between Juan and Johnny, then there is Juanita, Julio, and Jennifer, Jason, Junior
- the repeated "little did I know" foreshadowing at the end of the chapters
- cliche's - dumb as the night was dark
Disclosure: This review was part of the WoMen's Lit Cafe Review process. They require honesty. I received the e-book free as part of the program, and I do not know the author personally.
I liked the story. It had all the elements of suspense, romance, danger, and plot twists. The heroine is mysterious, opinionated, plucky, yet insecure. But what dragged the story out was the long stretches of philosophizing, repetitive interior monologue, and stilted dialogue. Both characters seemed to talk with the same psychoanalytical voice, yet we know the female character has a lot to hide and would not express herself so openly. There is zero subtext, and everything is explained several times in dialogue and internal monologue.
I was not bothered by the shift between first person and third person. It made sense because the male main character (1st) is a psychologist and his voice, although overly pedantic, is illuminating and cozy. I was okay with him being overly analytic because that is his profession, to observe, analyze, and suggest. I expected the female character (portrayed in 3rd) to be more distant and to hide things, but she was just as annoyingly transparent. At 93% the author resorted to omniscient point of view to cover his tracks as he tried to explain the wrap-up where neither of the characters were present.
The potential of the book was also undercut by the need for editing. The author mistakes "smiled", "laughed", and other words for dialogue tags. He overuses introductory present participial phrases and misplaces modifiers.
Looking down at the parking lot, J's car and the limo sat where we left them along with both the driver and the shooter from the limo lying on the parking lot.
James Twerell. Catch and Release (Kindle Locations 1586-1587). James Twerell.
Simple grammatical errors are not caught:
"Don’t forget the tape lover. Without the tape we would be dead before we left Bingo.
James Twerell. Catch and Release (Kindle Location 2162). James Twerell.
I thought about the redhead J had mention, but didn’t see her anyplace.
James Twerell. Catch and Release (Kindle Location 2824). James Twerell.
Other distractions:
- too many "J" names. I got confused between Juan and Johnny, then there is Juanita, Julio, and Jennifer, Jason, Junior
- the repeated "little did I know" foreshadowing at the end of the chapters
- cliche's - dumb as the night was dark
Disclosure: This review was part of the WoMen's Lit Cafe Review process. They require honesty. I received the e-book free as part of the program, and I do not know the author personally.
January 5, 2012
Catch and Release is the first novel I have read by J. T. Twerell. It is a contemporary thriller in which psychologist Dr. Steve Sanders finds himself thrust into a life and death adventure with beautiful undercover FBI agent Jennifer Blade.
Blade’s plan to settle a score with a drug lord leads the couple into firefights and the dark underworld of the drug culture where self-interest is the only motivator and allegiances are never what they appear.
Twerell compresses the action into only a few days with a harrowing pace and constant plot twists.
Sanders and Blade soon succumb to an unexpected, torrid romance that fuels the tension inherent in their risky conspiracy. In its best moments, Catch and Release gives off a vibe reminiscent of Dennis Lehane’s Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro series of thrillers.
Twerell uses an unusual point of view technique. The Steve Sanders character is in first person, Jennifer Blade, third person. He, of course, can write his book anyway he wants, but I found the juxtaposition of these POVs distracting. First person restricts the perspective available to the author but forces him to create scenes within that framework. When he blends third person into the narrative, he cheats on the first person device.
I had some technical issues with the Smashwords edition I read in MOBI format on my Kindle. Different fonts appeared in random places. I also spotted some misspelled words and places that needed editing.
Twerell uses leading “ing” words throughout the book. The story would have a lot more punch if he substituted action verbs for the participles. For instance, Chapter One begins: “Watching the blue and red lights flash on the dance floor, Jennifer Blade sensed the stirring of anxiety.” How about: “Jennifer Slade watched the blue and red lights on the dance floor and grew more anxious by the second.”
But that said, I believe readers who enjoy fast-paced thrillers will find Catch and Release a good introduction to the work of J. T. Twerell.
Blade’s plan to settle a score with a drug lord leads the couple into firefights and the dark underworld of the drug culture where self-interest is the only motivator and allegiances are never what they appear.
Twerell compresses the action into only a few days with a harrowing pace and constant plot twists.
Sanders and Blade soon succumb to an unexpected, torrid romance that fuels the tension inherent in their risky conspiracy. In its best moments, Catch and Release gives off a vibe reminiscent of Dennis Lehane’s Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro series of thrillers.
Twerell uses an unusual point of view technique. The Steve Sanders character is in first person, Jennifer Blade, third person. He, of course, can write his book anyway he wants, but I found the juxtaposition of these POVs distracting. First person restricts the perspective available to the author but forces him to create scenes within that framework. When he blends third person into the narrative, he cheats on the first person device.
I had some technical issues with the Smashwords edition I read in MOBI format on my Kindle. Different fonts appeared in random places. I also spotted some misspelled words and places that needed editing.
Twerell uses leading “ing” words throughout the book. The story would have a lot more punch if he substituted action verbs for the participles. For instance, Chapter One begins: “Watching the blue and red lights flash on the dance floor, Jennifer Blade sensed the stirring of anxiety.” How about: “Jennifer Slade watched the blue and red lights on the dance floor and grew more anxious by the second.”
But that said, I believe readers who enjoy fast-paced thrillers will find Catch and Release a good introduction to the work of J. T. Twerell.
January 10, 2012
The Author Caught Me, But Released Me
I received a copy of this book free from WoMen's Literary Cafe. I enjoy action-adventure, and hope for strong female leads. I am from the Catskill Mountains in New York, where this story begins and ends. I remember catching a pretty little rainbow trout with my dad. I had some memorable campouts. So does psychologist Steve Sanders.
I never encountered a girl who was fleeing mobsters fishing naked. So Steve's story is automatically more interesting. It's kind of hard to imagine that to escape being outed as an undercover FBI agent Jennifer Blade would head off on a fishing trip to the Catskills. Later on the author explains that she had a good early childhood, a lot like mine, involving fishing trips with her dad. Soon, however, her story becomes the same as that of most hard-luck action heroes.
The author succeeds in portraying a love relationship to which two people are truly committed almost from the start of the book. But is "J" really an FBI agent? She involves mild-mannered Steve in shootings, mob activity, arms deals and lots more nakedness, though sex is not described in an explicit way. Good people in this book are people who help you out, even if they shoot people and scream obscenities on the side. Bad people are the same, but you can tell the difference because the bad ones double-cross you or actively try to kill you.
Jennifer Blade has an attitude, and takes things personally. He character is one-dimensional. One of the things an author has to do is make you care about his characters. I was just annoyed by Jennifer Blade. Doctor Sanders, secondary protagonist, was an okay guy but he kept saying his life didn't have any real meaning, and I had to agree. Bingo Bob (you'll have to read it to find out who he is), on the other hand, is a remarkably well-rounded character.
I received a copy of this book free from WoMen's Literary Cafe. I enjoy action-adventure, and hope for strong female leads. I am from the Catskill Mountains in New York, where this story begins and ends. I remember catching a pretty little rainbow trout with my dad. I had some memorable campouts. So does psychologist Steve Sanders.
I never encountered a girl who was fleeing mobsters fishing naked. So Steve's story is automatically more interesting. It's kind of hard to imagine that to escape being outed as an undercover FBI agent Jennifer Blade would head off on a fishing trip to the Catskills. Later on the author explains that she had a good early childhood, a lot like mine, involving fishing trips with her dad. Soon, however, her story becomes the same as that of most hard-luck action heroes.
The author succeeds in portraying a love relationship to which two people are truly committed almost from the start of the book. But is "J" really an FBI agent? She involves mild-mannered Steve in shootings, mob activity, arms deals and lots more nakedness, though sex is not described in an explicit way. Good people in this book are people who help you out, even if they shoot people and scream obscenities on the side. Bad people are the same, but you can tell the difference because the bad ones double-cross you or actively try to kill you.
Jennifer Blade has an attitude, and takes things personally. He character is one-dimensional. One of the things an author has to do is make you care about his characters. I was just annoyed by Jennifer Blade. Doctor Sanders, secondary protagonist, was an okay guy but he kept saying his life didn't have any real meaning, and I had to agree. Bingo Bob (you'll have to read it to find out who he is), on the other hand, is a remarkably well-rounded character.
April 4, 2012
The book started out strong. I read more than a hundred pages in one sitting. I was instantly hooked when both the main characters, Jennifer Blade aka J and Steve Sanders were introduced. However somewhere along the middle, I realized I was having a hard time understanding the story. The sudden shifts in POV (first person by Steve Sanders and then third person by Jennifer Blade) had me skimming the rest of the story. There was even one scene in the story that was told twice but different POV (meeting with Junior in the parking lot). I had to flip back the pages to absorb everything.
I didn't have any problem with the action and suspense, it was well-written. Yes, I was skimming but I liked the action in the story. Reading this book reminds of my favorite action TV series, Alias. I was also thinking of Jennifer Garner as Jennifer Blade. Overall, I thought the story would have been great if the author just wrote it with one POV.
I didn't have any problem with the action and suspense, it was well-written. Yes, I was skimming but I liked the action in the story. Reading this book reminds of my favorite action TV series, Alias. I was also thinking of Jennifer Garner as Jennifer Blade. Overall, I thought the story would have been great if the author just wrote it with one POV.
December 28, 2012
I loved it - but then I guess I should. Catch and Release was a top winner at the London Book Festival, Los Angeles Book Show, Beach Book Fair and New England Book Show. The dozens of review provide a 4.3 stars. Check it out on Amazon for a review that is not as biased as mine. And thanks to all who made the book such a great seller.
February 19, 2012
If you want to read a book which will keep you guessing and have you wondering about what's really going on, this is sure to catch you but I'm not sure it will release you until long after the last page has been read.
August 6, 2013
The Audiiobook frmat is new and exciting. Craig Jensen is the narrator and does a fantastic job.
March 15, 2018
This book packed a dramatic plot-line with a punchy heroine but petered out at the end due to an overload of sentimentality. The climax hit at 75% and what happened afterwards was mopping up for the HEA.
I liked the story. It had all the elements of suspense, romance, danger, and plot twists. The heroine is mysterious, opinionated, plucky, yet insecure. But what dragged the story out was the long stretches of philosophizing, repetitive interior monologue, and stilted dialogue. Both characters seemed to talk with the same psychoanalytical voice, yet we know the female character has a lot to hide and would not express herself so openly. There is zero subtext, and everything is explained several times in dialogue and internal monologue.
I was not bothered by the shift between first person and third person. It made sense because the male main character (1st) is a psychologist and his voice, although overly pedantic, is illuminating and cozy. I was okay with him being overly analytic because that is his profession, to observe, analyze, and suggest. I expected the female character (portrayed in 3rd) to be more distant and to hide things, but she was just as annoyingly transparent. At 93% the author resorted to omniscient point of view to cover his tracks as he tried to explain the wrap-up where neither of the characters were present.
The potential of the book was also undercut by the need for editing. The author mistakes "smiled", "laughed", and other words for dialogue tags. He overuses introductory present participial phrases and misplaces modifiers.
Looking down at the parking lot, J's car and the limo sat where we left them along with both the driver and the shooter from the limo lying on the parking lot.
James Twerell. Catch and Release (Kindle Locations 1586-1587). James Twerell.
Simple grammatical errors are not caught:
"Don’t forget the tape lover. Without the tape we would be dead before we left Bingo.
James Twerell. Catch and Release (Kindle Location 2162). James Twerell.
I thought about the redhead J had mention, but didn’t see her anyplace.
James Twerell. Catch and Release (Kindle Location 2824). James Twerell.
Other distractions:
- too many "J" names. I got confused between Juan and Johnny, then there is Juanita, Julio, and Jennifer, Jason, Junior
- the repeated "little did I know" foreshadowing at the end of the chapters
- cliche's - dumb as the night was dark
Disclosure: This review was part of the WoMen's Lit Cafe Review process. They require honesty. I received the e-book free as part of the program, and I do not know the author personally.
I liked the story. It had all the elements of suspense, romance, danger, and plot twists. The heroine is mysterious, opinionated, plucky, yet insecure. But what dragged the story out was the long stretches of philosophizing, repetitive interior monologue, and stilted dialogue. Both characters seemed to talk with the same psychoanalytical voice, yet we know the female character has a lot to hide and would not express herself so openly. There is zero subtext, and everything is explained several times in dialogue and internal monologue.
I was not bothered by the shift between first person and third person. It made sense because the male main character (1st) is a psychologist and his voice, although overly pedantic, is illuminating and cozy. I was okay with him being overly analytic because that is his profession, to observe, analyze, and suggest. I expected the female character (portrayed in 3rd) to be more distant and to hide things, but she was just as annoyingly transparent. At 93% the author resorted to omniscient point of view to cover his tracks as he tried to explain the wrap-up where neither of the characters were present.
The potential of the book was also undercut by the need for editing. The author mistakes "smiled", "laughed", and other words for dialogue tags. He overuses introductory present participial phrases and misplaces modifiers.
Looking down at the parking lot, J's car and the limo sat where we left them along with both the driver and the shooter from the limo lying on the parking lot.
James Twerell. Catch and Release (Kindle Locations 1586-1587). James Twerell.
Simple grammatical errors are not caught:
"Don’t forget the tape lover. Without the tape we would be dead before we left Bingo.
James Twerell. Catch and Release (Kindle Location 2162). James Twerell.
I thought about the redhead J had mention, but didn’t see her anyplace.
James Twerell. Catch and Release (Kindle Location 2824). James Twerell.
Other distractions:
- too many "J" names. I got confused between Juan and Johnny, then there is Juanita, Julio, and Jennifer, Jason, Junior
- the repeated "little did I know" foreshadowing at the end of the chapters
- cliche's - dumb as the night was dark
Disclosure: This review was part of the WoMen's Lit Cafe Review process. They require honesty. I received the e-book free as part of the program, and I do not know the author personally.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews