Rating: 
Summary: Ken Follett, won't you please come home?
Review: Having read many of Mr. Follett's books (Eye of the Needle, Key to Rebecca), I expected great things. What a disappointment! He must have phoned this one in--or maybe someone else wrote this book. It would make a great beach read if you can stand the improbable female characters, wooden dialogue, stupid mistakes by smart people. The premise is given away by the title so there is little intrigue. And the characters remain inconsistent throughout. Also, the academic atmosphere is bogus and stereotypical. And to add insult to injury, the salary quoted for the protagonist, given her degrees and reputation, is way out of line--no decent university would be able to attract her for a mere $30,000. I had to check the publication date on this book when I read that!An OK read if you aren't too particular. It moved quickly, thank God, and I am on to other titles in my extensive To Be Read pile!
Rating: 
Summary: Jeannie, lose the nose ring!
Review: On one level I enjoyed this book. It was a fun read as a mystery-thriller. But I agree with a number of the criticisms voiced already. I didn't like the main character Jeannie & I didn't like the gratuitous political moralizing where all the bad guys were conservatives. If you want to make your bad guys evil for their attempts at genetic manipulation & white supremacist rantings, fine, but don't throw in that they're against gun control & against welfare! And, Jeannie, I just couldn't warm up to. I know Follett likes his heroines feisty, which is fine, but Jeannie was just too counter-cultural for me. The swearing, the free & easy sex life, the "smoking a little weed," and, ugh, the nose ring. Is that really necessary? I also agree that Follett's presentation of academic life is unrealistic. (I am an academic.) Follett's books with a World War II theme are much better.
Rating:
Summary: far fetched and predictable !!
Review: That don't impress me much !! He could have done a better job of researching before writing this book. Jeannie is likable.
The triumvirate Berrington Jones, Jim Proust and Preston Barck are hysterical and whine throughout the book about their 'ugly secret' getting discovered. And - there are lots and lots of flaws. To name just a few - Jeannie writes a computer program which has a footprint small enough to be loaded into a floppy (yeah !!) & has the ability to search any database regardless of the OS or the hardware which it is residing on !!! Just plug-and-play. GREAT !!. If she was that capable, she could have taken up that as her main vocation and made millions. Oh no ! she has to be a geneticist, a psychologist and a kick-ass programmer at the same time. I saw in the acknowledgements section, Follett thanking some computer experts. Well, either they are all dumb or he chose the wrong 'experts'. Steve & his dad just walks into the Pentagon on some stupid pretext, plugs into their database and steal information. Then Steve pushes away the guards and escapes from there in a bus ??!! Your local Walmart would have more security ! Follett doesn't show any solid reason why Jeannie & Steve is so hell-bent in ruining Berrington's company's merger. They could have just arrested the rapist and be done with it. And The climax was lame and overdone. Now what I liked about this was the storyline. This was a nice subject which with a little effort, would have been pretty slick. There are some characters who were likable - Jeannie is ok and Dennis Pinker was nicely drawn. He sents a chill down your spine. Not worthy of precious time and effort ..I am a slow reader,so I know..:(
Rating:
Summary: Big Disappointment
Review: On a recent trip to Florida I stopped in at the airport book shop and purchased a book for the return flight to Italy. I had read Ken Follet's excellent "Pillars of the Earth" a few years ago and decided to try another of his books. This book did not even approach the level of the first Follet novel I read. Unlike "Pillars", in "The Third Twin" Follet does not appear to have done any research on his subject matter. In one section he has a character reminiscing about his father who was a SECOND LIEUTENANT in the US NAVY. The US Navy has never had second lieutenants; junior officers of that pay grade are called Ensigns. But this is only the beginning of technical errors that destroy an otherwise compelling story line. One of the main weapons of the protagonist is a computer program that she wrote to compare elements in database to develop genetic comparisons. Unfortunately, the way the thing is supposed to work is closer to something that Gandalf or Harry Potter would whip up rather than something out of computer science class. The poorly researched and unbelievable stuff goes on and worsens throughout the book. More examples - people out on bail without a security clearance wandering the halls of the Pentagon and putting magic floppy disks into the Pentagon computers - you guessed it - so they could search the databases on those computers. All in all, I was very, very glad when the book drew to its predictable close. Follet is a good writer, but he really needs to research his subjects better before writing a book.
Rating: 
Summary: An 'ok' compared to 'Pillars of The Earth'
Review: Well..Ken Follet is sure knowledgable about building cathedrals, and he shows his stuff about genetic engineering in The Third Twin. The two books are set in totally different times about totally different things,and the manner with which he portrays his characters is so different too. They are not as cut and dry.The main plot is the search of human behaviour and its causility.But we are offered some reality in this sci-fi when we see the heroine's father,(his age catches up with his mean streak). Also, because of the confusion created by twins..no triplets..no 8 clones, the characters' real behaviour are vague. We are vague about this beacuse Steve Logan is in such a state of confusion and he is bewildered about where he comes from. But in the end when he finds himself, when he realises what makes Steve 'Steve', we also see the clarity of one point i.e. the way one was raised does make a difference..not only genes. Steve Logan is proof. This book is an easy read..you can finish it in a couple of days!
Rating:
Summary: Save your money.
Review: I haven't read anything else by Ken Follett, and based on this book, I don't plan to. The story line was unbelievable, the plot full of holes, and I didn't care about the characters. Don't waste your money buying this book.
Rating:
Summary: Sharkey
Review: Can't believe this was required reading in a German high school English class. What is that focus? Sensationalism in pulp. Come on Ken.
Rating: 
Summary: Just Awful!
Review: What happened to Ken Follett? His earlier works, such as "The Key to Rebecca" and "Eye of the Needle," were well-crafted thrillers. "The Third Twin" is sophomorically episodic with every character as stereotypically painted as imaginable. The novel has little suspense, no interesting characterizations, with foolish plot devices and juvenile twists abound. Ken must be simply churning out the pulp to make a few bucks. Save your money.
Rating:
Summary: Very poor job
Review: I have read a few other of Follett's works, and have generally been satisfied with his writing. This book, however, is a major exception. The characters had no depth, the story was completely convoluted, and the writing was cliched. Further, as a psychology researcher, I was outraged at Mr. Follett's description of the research process in the book, as there is absolutely no way that a psychology researcher would ever be allowed to engage in the protocols that he created for this work (I should know, as I am a psychology researcher). Please, do yourself a favor, and don't waste your time with this book.
Rating:
Summary: Mildly entertaining despite its flaw
Review: As a suspense novel, this book is fairly entertaining. As a primer on genetics or anything scientific, it is fairly useless and inaccurate. I would give the book 3 stars for its entertainment value, but knock it down to 2 stars, for its many flaws and lapses in logic. The many flaws in this book are pointed out by other reveiwers. But some of my "favorite" are:
-just what kind of scientist is the hero? Is she a geneticist, psychologist or a computer programmer?
-just how many times can the hero be fooled by the bad twin?
-would a police detective really hold off on arresting an arsonist and rapist, just because someone she didn't like asked her to?
-Follett's fixation on women's underwear is just creepy (and I am a guy)
-the whole plan to reveal the badguys at the end of the book is very contrived
-all the badguys are conversatives (opposite of Tom Clancy, whose badguys are all liberals) This book has an interesting premise. But there is no suspense to it, since it is given away in the title. The idea of genetically bred, superhuman clones with a violent streak could have been explored a lot more than the superficial treatment given in this book. We could have seen more action in how they relate to society and each other. But despite all the flaws, I did not hate this book. It had a pleasant storyline and flow. The story moved along fairly well. It was pretty good light summer reading.
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