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.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring, predictable and full of liberal buzzwords
Review: The Third Twin is the fourth Follett book I've read and it ranks a distant last. In Dangerous Fortune, Night over Water and Pillars of the Earth, Follett takes the reader on a journey into the past with different cultures and different customs. His characterization makes each period come alive. The Third Twin is different in that it is set in the present day. It is a traditional, sub-par thriller that is made worse by Follett's political bias or ignorance. I'll mention more on that later. Jeannie Ferrami studies identical twins and her studies leads her to some facts that some certain bad guys don't want to be discovered. Ferrami and one of her subjects race against the three bad guys to expose the bad guys for the evil people that they are. It is true that they were evil, but Follett does a horrible job of making me fear this people or making me think they are worthy bad guys. In the beginning of the book, Follett says Senator Proust has photos of himself with Rush Limbaugh, Geraldo Riveria and Newt Gingrich. Later a reference is made to Barry Goldwater as a hero to one of the bad guys. The bad guys are also mentioned to be in favor of gun control. Now, to a liberal, these aren't ideal beliefs, but they hardly make a person evil. Yet, Follett fails to do anything else to characterize the bad guys as evil. So we are supposed to believe they are bad because they are Republican. Also, the three bad guys are involved in cloning and genetic engineering. To me, Follett implies that this is a right-wing issue and that only conservatives would use genetics to create the type of humans they want. This book was several years old, but as far as I can tell, this is a political neutral issue. There are wackos on both sides willing to use genetics to engineer humans. I don't know if Follett is a bigot against conservatives or just naïve to think that throwing in some liberal buzzwords would be all he would need to do to create the sense that the bad guys truly are bad in this novel. Politics aside, this story was interesting yet I found much of the dialogue between characters both childish and stating the obvious. I never felt like Ferrami those helping her were fighting to stop something truly evil. Maybe that is because the main plan they were trying to stop was the sale of a genetics firm in which Senator Proust would get $60 million to run for president. Follett himself makes this implausible by making Proust such an unlikeable character. Also, selling a firm for money doesn't just lead to being president. So I never really feel like the unlikeable Proust will get the power that he wants. I plan on reading more Follett but will stick to the period pieces and WWII stuff.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Lecture Me!
Review: I hated this book so much that I ended up underlining (pencil) some portions of the library edition I read. These flat characters and unlikely scenarios served, I felt, as "packaging" to the author's ideological rants. Tacky, tacky, TACKY! No wonder the reviews I've read complain so often of the lack of depth. The author applied his energy to OTHER THINGS. At least half of all people have no political leanings whatsoever (I'm in this half), they just live their lives, either behaving or not behaving. Of the other fifty percent, about one-half are probably actively conservative, so why harrangue and insult them? And without a pre-purchase warning that the novel is "not for them?" As a happy fence-sitter, I was not "converted" by what I read. It did not "raise my consciousness," but rather the opposite. I was so annoyed, in fact, that I couldn't get into the book. I couldn't see or hear the characters, because the author would not shut up! That's a huge failure, and I resent the waste of my time. I'd never read Ken Folett before. Of course I won't read him again.
Rating: 
Summary: good, but not the best
Review: again, this great creative idea for a story but the depth is lacking!!!! enjoyable but light - nice for the plane, beach, but sorry, its not as good as some others: man from st. peters; key to rebecca etc.
Rating: 
Summary: Chilling look at the potential for cloning...
Review: I haven't read a lot of Ken Follet (did read "Eye of the Needle" and the "Key to Rebecca") and enjoyed them both. And I remember hearing that he is from Baltimore, so he can't be all bad! I think his subject matter is a little too fantastic for my taste to read him faithfully. But "The Third Twin" caught my eye in an airport bookstore and away I want. I liked it a lot. For one thing, it takes place at a VERY thinly disguised Johns Hopkins University, my alma mater. And for another, it does some very nice messing with the mind of the reader - always a good sign. I'm not well-schooled in genetics, especially the state of the art during the flashback eras in this book, but even if Follet did take some scientific license, it is still a very chilling story about the misuse of the fertility process and trait selection by greedy and corrupt individuals.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I really wanted to like this book. Really. Unfortunately, I couldn't bring myself to care about the one-dimensional characters. Combined with extremely difficult-to-believe plot twists (Petagon security can't stop someone from leaving the building? I think not), this book was uninteresting and not engaging. In the end, I kept feeling that I had better stories of "government-clones-perfect-soldier" elsewhere. It seemed familiar from beginning to end.
Rating:
Summary: Fun Page Turner, but not a Winner
Review: This was my first Follet novel. I read lots of genetic thrillers and my mother had given me this book a year or two ago. So, let me try and come up with a fair description: Michael Crichton meets Robin Cook with a flair of Dean Koontz. Well written? Well, it's fast paced, but unfortunately, the title gives away 3/4 of the book. I wanted to kick myself for realizing it so fast. Still, Ken Follet has an enjoyable tale-telling style. The book had two loveable characters and some heart pounding drama. The last 1/4 of "The Third Twin" was not as predictable as I expected. There were plenty of last moment dramas to keep me satisfied to the end. In all, I would say...read it for a fast two-night read, or read it if you are a fan of genetic scandal.
If you find this review helpful and are a fan of genetic suspense, please feel free to email me with other suggestions.
I always write back. :)
Rating:
Summary: weak
Review: So, my main complaint is this-I hate it when characters have ESP and are suddenly able to jump to the right conclusion. that is annoying. Unfortunately, that sums up every "plot twist" in this sophomoric book. Also, there is no purpose whatsoever for Jeannie's mother in this book-in the beginning she is introduced as having alzheimers and jeannie is just sooo concerned about her and her welfare that she IGNORES her for weeks and runs around with an octuplet. nice. That was just plain bad writing. None of this book was written in any convincing way. At one point, when the clones are brought up, one character suddenly is hit out of the blue by the revelation that the cloning is to breed the perfect soldier...wha??? ugh. I can't stand the main character, Jeannie, either. She is a whiner...and a dumb one to boot (even though it seems she has a degree in computers...no, i mean psychology...no, I mean genetics..again, I say wha??). Give me Patricia Cornwall and her good research any day over this novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Follett Book!
Review: This book is filled with suspense,rape and crime and finishes with an extrordinary and suprising ending. This was the seventh Ken Follett book I had read and I definitly compared it to The Key to Rebecca, Lie Down with Lions and Code to Zero.
... The Third Twin has great characters a deep plot and interesting facts about genetics and test-tube babies. A Follett must-read!
Rating:
Summary: This Book has Average Written all over it
Review: I did not enjoy this one as much as I did main of his other books. I guess I did not think it grabbed me at the start like many of his works. He always produces a decent book, and for someone who wants a book that is somewhat interesting, easy and simple, this will fit the bill. If you are looking for something more he just did not get to that next level. The story is an inventive one and he just about pulls it off. I don't know why I didn't think this a real gripping boo, maybe it was just that all the work that went into it, the character development, plot, etc was just a little average and blah. I would read this one over a Grisham or Turow, but there are also much better out there.
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