When we want a thriller, we don’t expect our books to pull any punches. We want tension and suspense and nail-biting jitters! Thankfully, CJ Omololu delivers all of the above in her new novel, THE THIRD TWIN!
Since they were young, identical twin sisters Ava and Alexa have jokingly blamed their small misgivings on Alicia, a fictional triplet. What their father doesn’t know is that they’ve also been using her as an alter ego of sorts: Alicia is the wild girl who goes on dates with guys who are certainly not good enough for Ava and Alexa. They do it for different selfish reasons. Ava becomes Alicia much more often and openly enjoys leading boys on with the shtick, but reluctant Stanford hopeful Alexa, our narrator, thinks her stuffy, studious self just couldn’t impress boys the way Alicia does.
Then Alicia’s dates start getting killed.
Suddenly, Alexa can’t be sure. Either her family has been very elaborately set-up or her beloved twin is in way over her head. With the police looking for Alicia and all the DNA evidence pointing to her or her sister, Alexa must find out exactly what’s happening before she ends up on trial for multiple homicides.
It’s a relief to read a mystery novel that doesn’t immediately feel predictable to the core. Omololu does an excellent job of leading readers astray– the most obvious scenarios are not the correct ones. Throughout the novel, I was sure I had the answer pegged a couple different times, only to have those theories dashed and discarded by the ever-changing plot. The story opens up into a much bigger world toward the end and gives you more possibilities and things to worry about than ever before. And that’s a good thing!
While riveting, the story hits a bump in the last 25% or so. The love interest in the book didn’t work for me, mainly because the first half of the book or so spent a long time making the reader fall for a boy Alexa was dating as Alicia. The actual love interest came on so strongly that when he made his declaration, I considered the possibility that he was the psychotic killer.
The ending reveal in THE THIRD TWIN was definitely a surprise! However, it did feel a little out of left field, like the ending of an episode of Law & Order. But Law & Order has also been insanely popular for decades, so maybe it’s a winning formula for others.
We would suggest this to YA mystery fans, especially those of you who enjoyed the PRETTY LITTLE LIARS series.
If THE THIRD TWIN sounds interesting to you, don’t hesitate to pre-order now! You may not see much author press for this book. That’s because author CJ Omololu has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. So let’s give her some support! This is definitely a worthy read if you love a good thrill!
