Like A Ride In A Literary Time Machine

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 The Third Twin is a 1996 techno thriller by Ken Follett. It’s like a ride in a literary time machine set to the years James Bond movies ruled the box office and John MacDonald’s PI Travis McGee captured readers’ hearts and minds, where cops interviewing rape victims are accusatory, rapists openly visualize the crimes they’re about to commit while savoring the details, male and female characters have a robust sex drive that colors their everyday lives, and concerns about medical privacy and genetic engineering shadow the future, as AI does today. 

All the main villains appear to be political conservatives; Follett describes the ringleader: “Berrington sat at his desk, breathing hard. He had a corner office, but otherwise his room was monastic: plastic tiled floor, white walls, utilitarian file cabinets, cheap bookshelves. Academics were not expected to have lavish offices. The screensaver on his computer showed a slowly revolving strand of DNA twisted in the famous double-helix shape. Over the desk were photographs of himself with Geraldo Rivera, Newt Gingrich, and Rush Limbaugh.” 

Berrington and his two cronies have engineered the impending sale of their small biotech company for a big payoff they’ll split three ways. The Senator intends to make a run for the presidency fueled by his payoff, installing Berrington as Surgeon General, and if he wins, they will have carte blanch to engage in all kinds of genetic research to further their nefarious purposes.

The monkey wrench in the works is a female PhD researcher hired by the bad guys who discovers some strange anomalies in her genetic study that raise unexpected questions pointing to past unethical medical behavior, and gain her an investigative ally who becomes more personal than professional. The search for answers is difficult, leading her on a journey putting her at odds with powerful interests, could cost her everything she values, yet compels her to continue her search for the truth, culminating in an explosive press conference about the biotech company’s buyout. 

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