Hello there, bookworm, and do come in. It’s almost dark so I’ll just light a few lamps and candles to make it cosy in my little library. Sit yourself down in a comfy chair, help yourself to a fluffy blanket, some cake and a cat or two and I’ll be with you in a moment with a cup of tea. Perfect. Now that we’re settled, I really must tell you about a psychological thriller I’ve just finished reading or I may burst! It’s called The Twins and is written by J. S. Lark. I honestly think it’s the best psychological thriller I’ve read all year and I’ve read some fantastic books.

Let’s start with the blurb: If you liked Blood Orange you will love this! From the moment they are born, twins Susan and Sarah are inseparable. Through good and bad, the girls will always be together…forever.

Until they meet Jonny.

Older, charming and handsome, Jonny offers the girls the much needed love and attention they crave. But he can only choose one and for the first time in their lives the girls find themselves split apart–the invisible thread that binds them severed.

Set free from her twin, Sarah builds a new life for herself, marries, has a daughter. But Susan’s life spirals further and further out of control.

And now Susan is back. And she’s determined to reclaim everything she feels Sarah has taken from her.

Her home, her husband…her life?

Here’s a little about the author: Jane is a coffee, chocolate and red wine lover, and a late-night writer of compelling, passionate, and emotionally charged fiction. Jane’s books may contain love, hate, violence, death, passion, a little swearing, and an ending you are never going to forget.

And here’s my review: This is one of the most dizzying, compelling, nail-biting, thrilling novels I’ve encountered since discovering Gone Girl when it was first released. The narrative switches from present to past, from Susan to Sarah, and back again. Told in first person perspective, I often took a few lines to realise which of the identical twins was narrating but that added to the plot rather than taking something away from it.

Sarah seems to have it all, with her loving husband, beautiful daughter and successful business. Then along comes her evil twin, Susan, thirsty for revenge for events which happened decades ago and which Sarah can barely remember. But nobody else can see what a threat Susan is and soon, Sarah is seen as the bad twin, refusing to allow her sister to make amends and try and rekindle their relationship when they were so close as children and young teenagers.

Some of the scenes involving the twins’ younger years were harrowing, involving truancy, alcohol abuse, domestic violence, underage sex, rape and abortion. They are being left to run wild by their mother who seems barely capable of caring for herself, let alone her children whom she exposes to various ‘uncles’ who come to live with them over the years.

The way the past is intertwined with the present and often from a different perspective from the twin whose narration the reader has just been following was a clever trick in my view and led to the suspense being almost unbearable. There’s a shock about a third of the way in which I was stunned at and then spent the rest of the book trying to figure out what led to certain events. The final third of the book felt like I was on a rollercoaster as I tried to prepare myself for twists and turns, only to find a loop the loop coming out of nowhere to completely disorient me again.

And the ending… it’s so difficult not to say anything but I thought I was ever so clever having figured it all out, only to realise that I’d walked right down a blind alley decorated in red herrings! I absolutely loved this thrilling novel and wholeheartedly recommend it for fans of Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins. It has to be a 5 star rating from me!

If you fancy reading this nail biting novel for yourself, just click on the book image to go to the relevant page on Amazon. I don’t get anything for providing the link, I’m just being a helpful bookworm.

After all that excitement, I feel I need an afternoon nap although I’ll probably end up running the plot over and over through my head, trying to figure out if I missed some clues along the way. Until next time, bookworm, farewell!