The Third Twin - Ken Follett

After a really long time, I was able to actually sit down and read an entire novel! I started with a determination to finish this book, but I was surprised at how easy Ken Follett made it for me!

The Third Twin is a fast-paced story of associate professor Jeannie Ferrami, Psy.D, who works at the Jones Falls University. She is carrying out a study on the relationship between a person's DNA to the probability that he or she will have criminal tendencies... you know, like whether you are born bad, or just made so.

The most important aspect of her study is that it is done on twins who have been seperated and are not aware of each other's existance. Twins who have turned out to be entirely different personalities are of the highest interest to the beautiful professor. In the course of her studies she meets Steven Logan, who is to be one of her subjects for study. At around the same time, her close friend Lisa Hoxton is raped by a mysterious man in the commotion that followed the break out of a fire in the women's changing room. A red cap worn by the man, with the word 'Security' written on it, is the only clue that the police department has to go on.

Torn between her friend's misfortune, Jeannie's aging mother's sorry state in an ill-kempt old-age home, painful memories of her irresponsible father who is still serving term in prison for theft, and her slowly growing attraction towards Steven, the young and driven professor does all she can to make the scientific study a success. Added to this, is the fact that Lisa claims that Steven is the rapist, because he looks like the man who attacked her! What's worse is that another man who looks exactly like Steven is serving time in prison for murder!!

Inspite of what her rational mind says, Jeannie believes that Steven is innocent, and now is even more eager to find out his wicked twin. Her work is suddenly shut down when Berrington Jones, the very man who spurred her study on, uses his power in the University to get Jeannie sacked!

Convinced that Jones and his high-profile friends (who own Threeplex, a medical research company that also provides a great deal of JFU's funding) have an evil secret that they would do anything to hide; Jeannie sets out to unravel the truth, prove Steven's innocence, and find Lisa's rapist.

The novel is rendered more intriguing because of all the twins walking around. The biggest hurdle in Jeannie's way is figuring out which twin she is talking to at any given moment. It gets worse whene she falls in love with Steven, but cannot reciprocate his love for her, as she really is not sure whether the man sitting on her couch is a rapist, a decent man, or some totally strange third twin!!

If that doesn't make your heart pound, I don't know what will!

Ken Follett is not one of the most widely read novelists for nothing! Making a knot in a tale is fairly easy. It is the unravelling of the plot that has most fiction writers stumped. Ken Follett does not allow you to guess the ending...ever! How did he know I love to do that! Just when you think you know what is going to happen, something totally unexpected takes place, and your heart skips a beat!

Definitely un-put-downable, Ken Follett's The Third Twin is one of the best reads I have had in a long while. Have you read it? What did you think of it?