Twin Terror

Twin Sisters #2

by Janice Harrell

Believing that her twin sister, Isabel, is dead, Elizabeth Herrick begins impersonating her twin, but when Isabel comes out of hiding and is murdered, Elizabeth becomes the chief suspect

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Horror

221 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Isabel returns and reveals to her twin Liz that she's still alive, only to be shot. Of course Liz and Rob don't see who did it, but now the secret is out: Liz has been pretending to be Iz, and Iz is murdered. Naturally, the police suspect the person who has been impersonating her for the past few weeks and her boyfriend, so Liz decides she must hunt down the real killer. The big suspect is Iz's secret boyfriend, a motorcycle dude named Blackie. As Liz navigates her sister's funeral, she hunts for Iz's secret diary, too.

This book seems to begin at the moment the first book, Twin Sisters, ends, but it doesn't actually, unless Isabel was hiding in the hallway when Liz has the revelation that her twin is still alive at the end of that book. And then she's only alive for a few minutes before she gets her face blown off. Again. There wasn't actually much action in this book. Liz has to deal with a lot of fallout from the murder, including a police interrogation and the funeral, plus her mom coming back into town.

I was beginning to think I hadn't read this series back in my high school days, until Liz meets the lawyer her rich grandaddy sends along for her. He's only in one chapter, but I totally remembered him.

No wonder I didn't remember the rest of this book, because it was fairly boring. In the end, it turns out to be a character who we met briefly in book 1 Iz's best friend Jane's father, who Iz had discovered to have killed his first wife. Which she finds in a true crime magazine, because somehow the police knew what the killer looked like and printed his picture, but because Mr. C changed his name apparently meant they couldn't find him? Anyway..., and then there's a big car chase in which the killer tries to gun them down in a moving vehicle.

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read my full recap at ogwnostalgia.wordpress.com/twin-terror

Well, here we have it, folks - the incredibly disappointing sequel to Twin Sisters. Whereas that book was entertaining enough to overlook the ridiculous plot contrivances, this one isn't. In this book, we're back to the Janice Harrell who gave us the terrible Murder Game, instead of the Janice Harrell that actually stepped it up a bit in Twin Sisters.

So. Twin Terror. As the description tells us, Isabel is alive and well . . . until she's not. This time she's killed for real, and Liz once again sets out to solve her murder. With lots of heel-dragging to pad out the word count. If Ms. Harrell had evened out her pacing, this duology could have been one book instead of two. This is one of those books that manages to feel padded and rushed at the same time.

Also, it's obvious who the killer is, and the fact that Isabel claims not to know who tried to kill her is unbelievable and infuriating, even with the explanation that we're given.
The ending is pretty good I suppose, but the trash we have to wade through to get there just isn't worth it. I recommend reading the first book, then skipping this one and making up your own ending.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Not as good as the first but still good.

* So, right away Isabel turns up telling Liz that she can't steal her life or her boyfriend, and being bitchy. She answers the door and I shot in the head.
* Liz calls the police and they immediately suspect that either Liz or Rob did it, which we know isn't true.
* They speak to their friends, they have a funeral, they track down Blackie (the guy with the motorbike) and eventually go to the beach house.
* At the beach house Mr Crumpler (guidance councillor and Jane's father) turns up and starts shooting at them. They end up in a car chase and eventually get away after trying to run over Crumpler and him hurting himself with his own gun.
* Crumpler was a murderer, and Idabrl had figured it out after seeing his picture in a true crimes magazine which said that he'd killed his first wife.
* Liz decides to hang around town a bit longer but in her own apartment, basically because she was in love with Rob.

[B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly satisfying ending to the duology. My only complaint is that there could have been far more detail, which would have really made it stand out. As it is, for a 90s teen novel, it's right up there with Christopher Pike. Definitely worth the read. Fast paced and suspension of disbelief wasn't so extreme as to make it unbelievable.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starts off with a bang but isn’t as good as the first one.

[Abby Bannister · Rating 4 out of 5]

Returning to my first thriller series was fun! These are quick, easy reads- but worth the time.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like the first book, this one is a brisk read. Maybe I'd built up too high of expectations since it took me so long to get around to finding this sequel (years and years, actually), but I was disappointed with some of the events in this book, and especially with how some things were resolved. Isabel's death was the result of some exceptionally stupid actions; she had reasons for her actions, but they were inadequate in my opinion. The ending wrapped things up all right, but it was very abrupt.

[Hannah MacLean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy, quick read. Not a complete waste of time, but there are better mysteries out there.

[Jdrama-addict · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is the sequel to Twin Sisters. AMAZING!!!!! As you guessed, a horror story. These are both about a murderer. Just a heads up, before you decide if you wanna read it or not.