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The Double
Someone, somewhere, looks exactly like you....
What are the chances of meeting your double? Impossible, Jess used to say, until the day she met hers on a train. But although they looked like identical twins, their lives couldn’t be more different. Jess has no money, no job and few prospects; her double has a fabulous life and everything that anyone could possibly wish for.
Jess is envious of her double but reasons that it’s just the way life is; that’s the way of the world and there’s nothing she can do to change it.
Her boyfriend, Mac, has other ideas.
Secretive and elusive, she’s never sure where he is or what he’s doing, but he always has money and he always has an angle.
And now, he tells Jess, he has a plan.
Events move swiftly and Jess thinks that maybe she’s in over her head, maybe she doesn’t want to do what Mac says.
Maybe, it’s all too risky.
But she can’t stop because she’ll lose Mac.
And she doesn’t think that she can live without him.
What are the chances of meeting your double? Impossible, Jess used to say, until the day she met hers on a train. But although they looked like identical twins, their lives couldn’t be more different. Jess has no money, no job and few prospects; her double has a fabulous life and everything that anyone could possibly wish for.
Jess is envious of her double but reasons that it’s just the way life is; that’s the way of the world and there’s nothing she can do to change it.
Her boyfriend, Mac, has other ideas.
Secretive and elusive, she’s never sure where he is or what he’s doing, but he always has money and he always has an angle.
And now, he tells Jess, he has a plan.
Events move swiftly and Jess thinks that maybe she’s in over her head, maybe she doesn’t want to do what Mac says.
Maybe, it’s all too risky.
But she can’t stop because she’ll lose Mac.
And she doesn’t think that she can live without him.
192 pages, ebook
First published March 25, 2022
397 people are currently reading
405 people want to read
About the author
Joanne Ryan
19 books159 followersJoanne Ryan lives in the south of England and has always loved writing. Her novels concentrate on the darker, secret side of life of seemingly ordinary people.
She also writes under the pen name of Marina Johnson https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
She also writes under the pen name of Marina Johnson https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
July 15, 2023
This is a good story and a nice twist of events.
You would think that meeting your double is something next to impossible, but for Jess, it just happened one morning on the train to London. Her double is a rich woman and it doesn't take long for Jess' boyfriend Mac to come up with a plan.
Mac looks too good to be true and Jess has trust issues herself.
The story's events are developing fast and Jess's character is enough likable.
The story is a good easy read and I recommend it to everyone.
You would think that meeting your double is something next to impossible, but for Jess, it just happened one morning on the train to London. Her double is a rich woman and it doesn't take long for Jess' boyfriend Mac to come up with a plan.
Mac looks too good to be true and Jess has trust issues herself.
The story's events are developing fast and Jess's character is enough likable.
The story is a good easy read and I recommend it to everyone.
October 1, 2024
What would you do if you came face-to-face with your double?
They say everybody has one. I actually kind of think I found mine.
Many many years ago, light years ago, a friend of mine, called me to tell me she had found my double. She showed me a hair magazine about different hairstyles. One of the images could have been me.
I could not stop staring at that hair model. She had my jawline. She had my teeth and eyes and skin tone and hair color and even the style.
She could have been me and I could’ve been her. I took the photo home and showed it to family members and I tricked them. I said this is me and you know what? they thought it was.
One of my biggest regrets is losing that picture. It was an eerie experience. Unfortunately misplaced the picture so very long ago but I’m telling you all this because that is the focus of this book.
This book is really well crafted and very unique. I wouldn’t categorize this at all as a suburban, domestic thriller it’s more a big city, modern Noir.
Jessica met her double. She was sitting on a train. On her way to the hair salon of all places, a girl sits down across from her and she has Jessica‘s face.
Can you imagine how creepy that would be? But it would also be intriguing.
Jessica immediately finds out who this girl is that’s not a spoiler because it happens within the first few pages. Her double’s name is Catarina and she has everything in life that Jessica does not have.
She has a lavish lifestyle and high-end clothes. She has a husband with money up at the Wasu and she is rich and well spoken, and seems to have that which many people pursue in life.
Jessica has none of that. Jessica wears plain clothes because she doesn’t have the money to buy anything else. Her mother is a professional shoplifter. Jessica lives in poverty and she hates the world except for her wonderful new boyfriend Mac.
Mac is movie star, handsome, the kind of guy who probably has a girlfriend in every city. Jess is terribly insecure about him and she always thinks he’s about to leave her because she feels she’s punching above her weight looks wise. Mac is also somewhat of a mystery because Jess doesn’t know what he really does for a living. He’s always coming and going.
But that night, after Jessica meets her double , she tells Mac and a gleam appears in his eye. A rather creepy and sinister gleam,
And he tells Jessica they can use this. They can use her double to make a better life for themselves…..
Oh my gosh, was this a hot simmering delicious dish!
I should tell you it’s a little slow in the beginning, but hot damn , this was so different than anything I’ve read this year. Actually, it was so different from anything I’ve read last year.
It kind of brings back the book and the movie, the grifters and the film House of games. It was really well written, remarkably well written, and it kind of settled into me in a way I didn’t see coming.
In the beginning and through the early middle, I thought I was going to rate it a three but the book really came into its own at some point, and then I just flew through it ,
it is it gets to the point where it is mesmerizing and you really can’t take your eyes off the pages.
I’m not going to do spoilers, but that ending! It was just (without saying what happens ) you just , even if you don’t like the book you want to hang on to see the ending. it was just amazing I could really see this is a movie
I always love coming across unusual books. I especially like it in the mystery genre because damn at , I am so burnt out on mysteries. It’s so hard to find a good one these days.
OK now I have to warn you, if you haven’t read the book the rest of my review will have lots of spoilers.
SPOILERS:
I love love the ending. Yes I knew that Jess was being set up but of course we don’t know any of the details.
The way they set her up and the way she turns the tables on them I mean it was just incredible.
I could really see this as a film provided . Of course that Hollywood didn’t ruin it and change anything.
And I love the ending. I felt Jess just needed a little joy in her life.
Working in the sun in Spain? Living on the beach and just having fun all day , it was a beautiful ending to a really intense book I mean I was so pleasantly surprised by this book because frankly?
I thought it was gonna be like every other domestic thriller I’ve been reading lately and again I wouldn’t even really call it a domestic thriller. It is something more than that. Highly highly highly highly recommended.
They say everybody has one. I actually kind of think I found mine.
Many many years ago, light years ago, a friend of mine, called me to tell me she had found my double. She showed me a hair magazine about different hairstyles. One of the images could have been me.
I could not stop staring at that hair model. She had my jawline. She had my teeth and eyes and skin tone and hair color and even the style.
She could have been me and I could’ve been her. I took the photo home and showed it to family members and I tricked them. I said this is me and you know what? they thought it was.
One of my biggest regrets is losing that picture. It was an eerie experience. Unfortunately misplaced the picture so very long ago but I’m telling you all this because that is the focus of this book.
This book is really well crafted and very unique. I wouldn’t categorize this at all as a suburban, domestic thriller it’s more a big city, modern Noir.
Jessica met her double. She was sitting on a train. On her way to the hair salon of all places, a girl sits down across from her and she has Jessica‘s face.
Can you imagine how creepy that would be? But it would also be intriguing.
Jessica immediately finds out who this girl is that’s not a spoiler because it happens within the first few pages. Her double’s name is Catarina and she has everything in life that Jessica does not have.
She has a lavish lifestyle and high-end clothes. She has a husband with money up at the Wasu and she is rich and well spoken, and seems to have that which many people pursue in life.
Jessica has none of that. Jessica wears plain clothes because she doesn’t have the money to buy anything else. Her mother is a professional shoplifter. Jessica lives in poverty and she hates the world except for her wonderful new boyfriend Mac.
Mac is movie star, handsome, the kind of guy who probably has a girlfriend in every city. Jess is terribly insecure about him and she always thinks he’s about to leave her because she feels she’s punching above her weight looks wise. Mac is also somewhat of a mystery because Jess doesn’t know what he really does for a living. He’s always coming and going.
But that night, after Jessica meets her double , she tells Mac and a gleam appears in his eye. A rather creepy and sinister gleam,
And he tells Jessica they can use this. They can use her double to make a better life for themselves…..
Oh my gosh, was this a hot simmering delicious dish!
I should tell you it’s a little slow in the beginning, but hot damn , this was so different than anything I’ve read this year. Actually, it was so different from anything I’ve read last year.
It kind of brings back the book and the movie, the grifters and the film House of games. It was really well written, remarkably well written, and it kind of settled into me in a way I didn’t see coming.
In the beginning and through the early middle, I thought I was going to rate it a three but the book really came into its own at some point, and then I just flew through it ,
it is it gets to the point where it is mesmerizing and you really can’t take your eyes off the pages.
I’m not going to do spoilers, but that ending! It was just (without saying what happens ) you just , even if you don’t like the book you want to hang on to see the ending. it was just amazing I could really see this is a movie
I always love coming across unusual books. I especially like it in the mystery genre because damn at , I am so burnt out on mysteries. It’s so hard to find a good one these days.
OK now I have to warn you, if you haven’t read the book the rest of my review will have lots of spoilers.
SPOILERS:
I love love the ending. Yes I knew that Jess was being set up but of course we don’t know any of the details.
The way they set her up and the way she turns the tables on them I mean it was just incredible.
I could really see this as a film provided . Of course that Hollywood didn’t ruin it and change anything.
And I love the ending. I felt Jess just needed a little joy in her life.
Working in the sun in Spain? Living on the beach and just having fun all day , it was a beautiful ending to a really intense book I mean I was so pleasantly surprised by this book because frankly?
I thought it was gonna be like every other domestic thriller I’ve been reading lately and again I wouldn’t even really call it a domestic thriller. It is something more than that. Highly highly highly highly recommended.
November 26, 2022
Couldn’t put it down!
Wow! I finished it in less than 2 days, it was that good! Surprising ending that even surprised me. Can’t wait to read more from this author.
Wow! I finished it in less than 2 days, it was that good! Surprising ending that even surprised me. Can’t wait to read more from this author.
January 3, 2023
Brilliant
I read this in a day. Very intriguing and unputdownable.
Jess character seemed a little frustrating but I certainly warmed to her and loved the ending.
I read this in a day. Very intriguing and unputdownable.
Jess character seemed a little frustrating but I certainly warmed to her and loved the ending.
December 30, 2022
Jess is travelling on a train a train that she was not meant to be on and suddenly she is face to face with her double…. When she shares this encounter with her boyfriend he comes up with a plan a plan that involves Jess. But is everything as it seems?
Although it was obvious from early in the book that Mac was up to something this was a great plot. Wonderfully written by a very talented Joanne Ryan, raced through this brilliantly narrated audiobook to find out how it ended and to find out what happened to Jess.
Although it was obvious from early in the book that Mac was up to something this was a great plot. Wonderfully written by a very talented Joanne Ryan, raced through this brilliantly narrated audiobook to find out how it ended and to find out what happened to Jess.
September 5, 2022
I was instantly hooked by the premise of this novel. Jess has a tough life, so when she sees her doppelganger on a train to London but a posher version, she's intrigued and wants to know who she is. Luckily her double posts practically every waking moment of her life on Instagram. Things take a dark turn when Jess' boyfriend thinks that she could be useful in helping them start a new life in Spain.
The author does a great job with Jess. She's a flawed but relatable narrator who you can't help feeling empathy for every step of the way. The well constructed plot, writing style and interesting characters definitely made it unputdownable. Highly recommend!
The author does a great job with Jess. She's a flawed but relatable narrator who you can't help feeling empathy for every step of the way. The well constructed plot, writing style and interesting characters definitely made it unputdownable. Highly recommend!
July 25, 2024
Just like I said with The Lodger, I feel like this book served more of an insight into Ryan’s writing and how she has polished her craft with time; however, this was a bit more entertaining than The Lodger, though it was still short.
Again, I would have liked a bit more insight into the main character before we moved on to the action. I kind of knew what was going on, but I just didn’t know a small detail from the end; perhaps if it had been a little bit shorter, it would have made a great novella. Nevertheless, I was entertained.
Again, I would have liked a bit more insight into the main character before we moved on to the action. I kind of knew what was going on, but I just didn’t know a small detail from the end; perhaps if it had been a little bit shorter, it would have made a great novella. Nevertheless, I was entertained.
March 15, 2023
A Very Compelling Book!!
A lot of betrayal, twists and turns and suspense makes for an enjoyable read! You never know who to believe or who to trust but in the end leads to a mind blowing ending!!
A lot of betrayal, twists and turns and suspense makes for an enjoyable read! You never know who to believe or who to trust but in the end leads to a mind blowing ending!!
April 13, 2022
great read
I admit I had a suspicion as to who did what but loved the surprise ending. I recommend this if you enjoy reading about people you love to hate!
I admit I had a suspicion as to who did what but loved the surprise ending. I recommend this if you enjoy reading about people you love to hate!
Read
August 29, 2023Great book. Suspense and with many twists. She is a great author for suspense and thrillers.
May 4, 2025
I love that you can whizz through these addictive books
January 9, 2025
Brilliant from the beginning until the end.
March 28, 2022
Another great book from Joanne Ryan. This is a fast paced read that really grabbed me from the first page. As is usual with this author the characters are all slightly ‘dodgy’ but still enthralling. I couldn’t read this fast enough and loved the ending. They say everyone has a double, hope I never meet mine! Thoroughly recommend!!
August 25, 2023
Brilliant! The main characters got what they deserved. Another page turner by Joanne Ryan.
May 9, 2022
I loved this book from the very beginning. The main character is so well rounded and I knew there would be a twist but I didn't see this one coming. I definitely will be reading me from this author.
October 14, 2022
SO FREAKIN GOOD! I absolutely LOVE this author. Even if I’m staying up late because I can’t put the book down. Fantastic storyline, fast-paced and surprisingly not predictable. I’m now on a Joanne Ryan binge so author, please keep turning out more fun novels!!!
April 11, 2022
Great Story
Jess loves Matt, he loves her and along comes a woman who could be Jess’s twin. “Oh what a troubled web we weave when first we practice to deceive”
Jess loves Matt, he loves her and along comes a woman who could be Jess’s twin. “Oh what a troubled web we weave when first we practice to deceive”
May 3, 2022
what a surprise!
A great read with an unexpected ending that didn’t drag out too long! Will definitely read more from this author!
A great read with an unexpected ending that didn’t drag out too long! Will definitely read more from this author!
May 10, 2022
very silly but quite fun
June 27, 2022
Very good book.
June 28, 2022
Such a fantastic book! Loved it from the first chapter. With so many twists and turns, it kept things interesting and really left you in shock!
June 19, 2022
Good read!!!
I really enjoyed this book even though it was short. Looking forward to reading the short story from Katerina side of
I really enjoyed this book even though it was short. Looking forward to reading the short story from Katerina side of
May 2, 2023
A very short story with very accessible conversational writing. It's plot driven, no depth to the characters who are merely sketches. The plot is totally obvious and predictable, specially the cliched ending. Perfect to read while relaxing by the pool or fire.
June 18, 2022
Satisfying
Truly enjoy when a plan comes together and the reader is blindsided by the cunning outcome. Satisfaction that the bait came out on top.
Truly enjoy when a plan comes together and the reader is blindsided by the cunning outcome. Satisfaction that the bait came out on top.
August 16, 2022
Sorry but I found this book slow and fat fetched. I kept going hoping it would ramp up but for me - no
April 15, 2023
It's a bit creepy knowing everyone has a doppleganger, and Jess spots hers on a train. She then gets her savvy (up to something) boyfriend to find out the name so she can check her out on social media - where Katarina is an influencer, so Jess can live through her double's high life in comparison to her own stuck on a sink estate with no job or life.
Her secretive boyfriend Mac who works away a lot, decides they should try and defraud the double with Jess not realising until later that she's got dragged into do the dodgy public work with the trail potentially leading back to her. Is her shoplifting mum right to be concerned about Mac, and how can Jess work that out and get herself out of the firing line if their plan goes wrong.
A story about jealousy, wishing for someone else's 'perfect' life, and trusting relationships. Who are the people to trust, old friends, family (however much you despair of them), or the new boyfriend?
An obvious plot, and an easy twist to guess, but a book that felt just the right length for the story, which just got on with it.
Her secretive boyfriend Mac who works away a lot, decides they should try and defraud the double with Jess not realising until later that she's got dragged into do the dodgy public work with the trail potentially leading back to her. Is her shoplifting mum right to be concerned about Mac, and how can Jess work that out and get herself out of the firing line if their plan goes wrong.
A story about jealousy, wishing for someone else's 'perfect' life, and trusting relationships. Who are the people to trust, old friends, family (however much you despair of them), or the new boyfriend?
An obvious plot, and an easy twist to guess, but a book that felt just the right length for the story, which just got on with it.
June 3, 2022
Amazing and so addictive. Joanne never fails to deliver the perfect suspense and shock factor about seemingly ordinary people getting up to extraordinary things. I think the message here is never underestimate a person because you just don't know what they're capable of. I'll be looking out for my double now and giving her a wide beth.
August 27, 2023
A very enjoyable quick one sit read. Nice flow to the story and although I thought I had it worked out in who was doing what to whom, the ending was not what I was expecting and topped off the story nicely . Couldn’t help but like Jess and thought the author portrayed her really well. My first book by Joanne Ryan but it won’t be my last
July 16, 2025
This was okay. It is a bit slow to get going and honestly doesn’t get exciting until about 70% in, but there was enough intrigue to keep me reading to find out what happens. I had a feeling something was off throughout so the ending didn’t massively shock me, but I couldn’t figure out what was going on so it was still a surprise.
Nothing amazing for me I’m afraid.
Nothing amazing for me I’m afraid.
July 29, 2024
worst book i have ever read, a woman finds another woman that looks like her and now she gets advantage of that because she is poor and she doesnt have anything else to do. the book makes you feel that the plot twist will be incredible but no.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews