The Third Twin
by Ken Follett
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Fiction. Suspense. Thriller. Historical Fiction. HTML:The study of twins and the genetics of aggression totally consumes research scientist Jeannie Ferrami. An accomplished and headstrong researcher, Jeannie has developed a sophisticated software program to identify identical twins reared apart. But Jeannie's breakthrough project is threatened by the appearance of a sudden impossibility—identical twins born weeks apart to different mothers at separate locations. When Jeannie's research show more assistant, Lisa, is raped, Steve Logan, a young law student who is one of Jeannie's research subjects, is identified in a police lineup as Lisa's attacker. Logan's genetic tests reveal no violent behavior patterns. Then Jeannie stumbles upon the beginnings of a stunning revelation. Logan is unaware of the existence of a criminal twin brother in jail. Jeannie is convinced of Steve's innocence, yet her judgment may be clouded by her growing emotional attachment to him. By now Jeannie's problems are mounting. Berrington Jones, Jeannie's arrogant and intimidating boss, is a world-renowned authority on biotechnical engineering. He and his partners are involved in devious but lucrative negotiations to sell Genetco, their biogenetic research company. Jeannie's research poses a major threat to their impending millions. Jones arranges to have Jeannie fired.Stunned and feeling helpless, Jeannie doesn't understand why this has happened to her. With Steve and his brother in jail, who is committing these sex crimes? While acting on a hunch that might solve the mystery surrounding Steve and his brother's birth, Jeannie is violently attacked by yet another twin who looks exactly like Steve. Determined to protect her research program and convinced her former boss has something important to hide, a terrified Jeannie has no other choice but to find out why Jones and his partners will stop at nothing to discredit her work. show less
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Another Ken Follett thriller with the usual blend of overstated, oversexed characters, skin-tight prose and intricate, high-wire suspense.
Not as good, in my opinion, as his medieval epics or World War II espionage novels. In this one, the setting is contemporary (1990s) and the subject matter is genetic engineering.
Preposterous but enjoyable. Like riding a roller coaster that's failed a few inspections: Great ride; so long as you don't worry what's holding it all up.
Not as good, in my opinion, as his medieval epics or World War II espionage novels. In this one, the setting is contemporary (1990s) and the subject matter is genetic engineering.
Preposterous but enjoyable. Like riding a roller coaster that's failed a few inspections: Great ride; so long as you don't worry what's holding it all up.
So much has happened in genetics since this book was written that the reader notices many anachronisms. The genome has yet to be sequences and Mail order personal genome sequencing wasn’t even imagined. The movie boys from Brazil about hitler clones was just a couple years earlier. The internet wasn’t available to the public. AOL and Compuserve were online repositories reached by acoustic modems. Smartphones were yet to be imagined.
Follett steps into that era to tell a story of generic manipulation and political chicanery.
I enjoyed the book but perhaps some of the suspense is lost to contemporary knowledge. I enjoyed the read.
Follett steps into that era to tell a story of generic manipulation and political chicanery.
I enjoyed the book but perhaps some of the suspense is lost to contemporary knowledge. I enjoyed the read.
This is an intriguing story, putting forward the proposition of what might happen if human cloning were possible. In this case the result of a secret US military program, which comes to light after a rape, when DNA tests show someone to be guilty who claims he didn't commit the crime.
As always Follett always delivers. This thriller paved the way to all those novels about gentic experiments that came later on. I thought it was a great plot with unexpected twists and a great ending.
I am a big Ken Follett fan and this book is one of his best. Wonderful twist in the tail, very clever.
This was a delicious novel encompassing some of my favorite genres seamlessly. I found it nearly impossible to put down.
First read in 2013. A great thriller woven around the science of genetics, military and criminal misuse of invitro-fertilisation to breed the perfect "American", "soldier".
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177+ Works 129,014 Members
Ken Follett was born in Wales, United Kingdom on June 5, 1949. He received an Honours degree in philosophy from University College, London. He began his career as a newspaper reporter for the South Wales Echo and later with the London Evening News. He decided to switch to publishing and worked for a small London publishing house, Everest Books, show more eventually becoming Deputy Managing Director. His first bestselling novel, Eye of the Needle, was published in 1978 and won the Edgar Award. His other works include Triple, The Key to Rebecca, The Man from St. Petersburg, Lay Down with Lions, The Pillars of the Earth, The Third Twin, The Hammer of Eden, Code to Zero, Whiteout, World Without End, The Century Trilogy, and A Column of Fire. Many of his novels have been adapted into films and television miniseries. He has won numerous awards including the Corine Prize in 2003 for Jackdaws. His nonfiction works include On Wings of Eagles. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Is contained in
Set of 16 Techno-Thrillers by Ken Follett (Whiteout, Hornet Flight, Jackdaws, Code to Zero, Hammer of Eden, Third Twin, A Place Called Freedom, A Dangerous Fortune, Night Over Water, Lie Down with Lions, Man from St. Petersburg, Key to Rebecca, Triple, Eye of the Needle, Pillars of the Earth) by Ken Follett
Is abridged in
Reader's Digest Condensed Books 1997 v02: The Third Twin / Small Town Girl / To the Hilt / The Burning Man by Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest Condensed Books: To the Hilt • The Outsider • The Third Twin • Moonlight Becomes You by Reader's Digest
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Il terzo gemello
- Original title
- The Third Twin
- Original publication date
- 1996
- People/Characters*
- Jeannie Ferrami; Steve Logan; Harvey Jones; Barrington Jones
- Important places*
- Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Washington, D.C., USA
- Related movies
- The Third Twin (1997 | IMDb)
- Dedication
- To my stepchildren: Jann Turner, Kim Turner, and Adam Broer with love
- First words
- A heat wave lay over Baltimore like a shroud.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"You deserve it."
- Original language*
- Inglese
- Disambiguation notice
- Please do not combine an abridged audio with the complete work. Thank you.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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- Members
- 3,470
- Popularity
- 4,788
- Reviews
- 34
- Rating
- (3.43)
- Languages
- 15 — Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Multiple languages, Norwegian (Bokmål), Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 112
- ASINs
- 41