This book was fun. It was a fast-paced ride and easy to get into. Even though I guessed the twist by the title alone, “The Third Twin” kept me interested and eager to keep reading. I was also pleased with the subject of the book being genetics and research on twins, which was a welcome relief after the previous, very dry, book I read on genetics and heredity. This was a far more sensationalized story, one I could see being made into a movie (perhaps something like it already exists?), but that’s not to say the book wasn’t without its flaws.

First, and most obvious to me, was the awkward, almost amateur, writing. This is the first time I’ve read a book by Ken Follett, who I know is a very prolific writer, but his writing did not live up to my expectations. The story was interesting and the plot was engaging, but the writing itself seemed forced at times. Notably, the number of times Follett used the word “said” was outrageous. I noticed it most in the beginning, but thankfully I got used to it about halfway though. I also noticed a fair bit of telling how people felt. “Lisa felt scared.” “Steve felt angry.” Normally, a reader wouldn’t notice this type of thing, but I noticed them, which distracted from my reading pleasure. Finally, apparently the only way people can kiss other people is HARD, and the only way to hug someone is HARD. “She hugged him, HARD.” “He kissed her, HARD.” It became a joke to me while reading, so much so that I made myself laugh adding “hard” where it did not belong. “She ran up the stairs, HARD.” “He slept, HARD.” “Barrington raised his eyebrows, HARD.” You get the point, HARD.

Though this book was first published in 1996, which leads to many annoying roadblocks like having to call 411 for information, not having a portable camera or cell phone, exclusively using AOL and floppy disks and phonebooks on disks, and waiting a year for the computer to turn on. This may be my age showing, but this book could have been so much more interesting if it took place with modern technology. In my opinion, the lack of technological resources as simple as a camera made this story overly simplistic, during time period that gave the perfect excuse to keep throwing roadblocks at the characters. This is a good concept, written too early. Genetics research now has so much more potential and is exponentially growing; this same story set today would allow the author so much more creative freedom to launch the book into uncharted territory.

Besides the numerous coincidences throughout the book (MC needing to break in somewhere and it just so happens her father is a career burglar, MC needs a lawyer and low and behold, her dude friend is a law student … etc.), I was able to suspend my disbelief and enjoy the ride. It’s the sort of book you might read on a long plane ride.

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Created Apr 05, 2019 at 10:21am • Submit your own review...