Meet Abi, a 29-year-old ex-twin. Struggling to move on with the loss of her “better half,” she drifts through life as little more than a shell of who she once was. It is only when she meets Beatrice, a spirited and happy-go-lucky woman, who bears a striking resemblance to her late sister, that Abi begins crawling out into the light. It is not long after, that Bea invites her to come live with her and her own twin brother, Ben, in their seemingly perfect mansion. But even as Abi begins opening up her feelings, there is something lingering in the shadows.
Something creeps along unseen, words unsaid, tainting the otherwise pristine picture she is being presented. We all have our secrets, but just how dark is the one of these charismatic twins?
For readers of 'The Girl on the Train'
Marketed towards lovers of “The Girl on the Train,” this novel doesn’t disappoint, whilst so many before it did. This is a Psychological Thriller you will not be able to put down. It’s been a while since I read a book I tore into as quickly as I did this one. This is definitely not a book you can read a few chapters of. In fact, I finished the book in just two sittings in the space of 24 hours. Definitely a quick read, this novel will hook you from the first word, and keep you guessing until the very last.
This is one of these books best read knowing as little about the story as possible - and the ending will definitely throw you a curve-ball, it certainly spun me 360 degrees around.
A unique style
Whilst many thrillers create an air of mystery through unsettling prose, and dark scenery, Douglas makes her suspense in an entirely unique way.
Instead of using the darkness as her driver, she uses light. Her writing flows in leaps and bounds, with cheerful tones and bubbly characters and the reader is uneasy because of the sheer normalcy of it all. The characters she creates all have an exterior of lively, carefree people, but beneath all the elegant prose it seems they are all hiding skeletons.
Sometimes it is the most beautiful canvases that hide the darkest secrets. This book and the characters within are the very personification of Joseph Conrad’s “Whited Sepulchre.”
In the interests of keeping this spoiler free, I will leave you to discover the rest of what this story has to offer. Though this is, in essence, a psychological thriller, I think even readers not usually drawn to this genre would also enjoy this. This is not a thriller that uses gore and violence to tease the reader, but rather mind games and an artful story. We so often think we know someone by looking from the outside in, but how well do you really know them? How can you possibly judge someone based on their exterior? Are they really who they say they are? These are all questions we try to ignore in our everyday lives, but Douglas forces us to confront them and the result is certainly worth the journey.
