Author: Marti Green
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Pages: 263
My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
The book begins in September 1990 when 17-year-old Sasha Holcolm gives birth to twin girls and gives one of them up for adoption.
Twenty-six years later, Mallory Holcolm is a waitress who hates her miserable life. The only positive aspect in her life are the art classes she takes twice a week, in hopes of making it as an artist.
(I read this book through NetGalley.)The book begins in September 1990 when 17-year-old Sasha Holcolm gives birth to twin girls and gives one of them up for adoption.
Twenty-six years later, Mallory Holcolm is a waitress who hates her miserable life. The only positive aspect in her life are the art classes she takes twice a week, in hopes of making it as an artist.
When a guest at
her restaurant mistakes her for Charlotte “Charly” Jensen, insisting that the resemblance
between them is uncanny, Mallory first becomes aware of Charly, rich heiress
and owner of an art gallery, married to Ben Gordon, her childhood sweetheart.
Subsequent
investigations reveal to her that Charly is the twin sister she never knew she
had. Her attempt to
connect with Charly leads her to Ben, who is excited about meeting Mallory for
reasons of his own.
A middle-class man, Ben hates his job at his father-in-law’s
hedge fund company but enjoys the perks of being rich. His marriage is stale
but he would never leave his wife for his lover, because a prenup would mean
giving up the lifestyle he can’t do without.
Ben has his own
plans for Charly and they don’t include the two sisters ever meeting. Lying to
Mallory that Charly is a bitch who worships money and hates her family, Ben
turns Mallory’s heart against her rich sister. Mallory resents her sister for
her rich lifestyle, her life of abundance, and is easily persuaded.
He makes an offer.
If they were to get Charly killed, Mallory could pretend to be her dead sister,
and they could split the money. One billion dollars each. It’s an offer she can’t
refuse.
But is Ben to be trusted?
And will Mallory fulfill her role in this devious plan? Will they get away with
murder?
The story is
written in the 1st person past tense PoV of Mallory and Charly,
divided in two parts. Ben’s 3rd person past tense PoV is
interspersed in alternate chapters. The third part is taken up by Mallory
again.
We get to see very
little of Charly in Mallory’s account, and come to know of her motivations only
in the second part, which features her PoV. The third part once again shifts to
Mallory’s account.
I found the pace better
in Mallory’s account. Charly’s was unnecessarily rushed. It seemed as if it was
in a tearing hurry to fill the gaps that peeked out in the earlier account. Of
course, none of it mattered because in the end, neither of the two sisters came
across as being likeable. On the contrary, such were the bizarre twists and turns
in the third part, that I thought both the sisters were nice and obnoxious, at
the same time.
One big boo-boo
was the fact that the dialogue with reference to the same scene changed,
depending upon the person whose first person account it was. This happened twice,
once in connection with a scene at which the two narrators were present, and
the other relating to a phone conversation.
Other than these
issues, it was a fun read, one not to be taken seriously.
All said and done,
I’m still wondering which one was the good twin.
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