Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Boyfriend & Original Twin

Welcome to another edition of Thriller Thursday with Sharon.  My reviews for this week are, The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden and Original Twin by Paula Gleeson. I enjoyed both of these books so much.

Author: Freida McFadden

Publication Date: October 1, 2024

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

I can always guarantee that when I pick up a Freida McFadden book I am going to love it and her latest book The Boyfriend is no exception. I was very excited to read The Boyfriend and McFadden did not disappoint.

Sydney Shaw is a single thirty-year-old living in New York, and she has the worst luck with men. She has dated men who have stuck her with the check, lied on their dating profile, who are mama’s boys, and who won’t take no for an answer. Sydney believes she will never find Mr. Right. But then all that changes when she meets Tom, a charming, handsome doctor. Sydney thinks she has finally hit the jackpot. But when a young woman is brutally murdered and the prime suspect is a mystery man the woman dated, Sydney is on edge. She should feel safe dating Tom, but there are a few red flags that are starting to make Sydney suspicious that he may not be as perfect as she thought.  Sydney needs to get to the truth, or she could be the next victim.

The story is told in a dual timeline. In the present day we get Sydney’s POV as she navigates the dating world and tries to get the truth about Tom. And then we get Tom’s POV from when he was in high school.  In this POV we learn more about who Tom is.  I don’t want to say too much about what we learn from when Tom was in high school, I think getting that info as you read adds to the mystery and outcome of the story.

I liked Sydney for the most part, but I did think at times she made the worst decisions. She meets Tom, right after a young woman is murdered and yet she has no qualms about jumping right in. Sure, you are not going to just stop dating, but do a bit of research on the guy first. LOL!  I do give her points for what she does after she starts getting suspicious of Tom.

As always Freida McFadden created a story that had me engrossed from start to finish. As the story progressed and we got more info from Tom’s timeline, I really thought I had things figured out, and then McFadden threw in a twist that blew my theory out of the water.

The Boyfriend is another winner from Freida McFadden. If you have enjoyed her other books, then I believe you will enjoy this one as well.  And if you are looking for your first McFadden book, then definitely give The Boyfriend a read.   4 stars

Author: Paula Gleeson

Publication Date: June 1, 2024

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Original Twin is Paula Gleeson’s debut novel and what a debut it was. I am already looking forward to her next book that is due out next year.

May and June may be fraternal twins, but they are so different from each other. May is plain looking, quiet and withdrawn. Whereas June is beautiful, loud and outgoing. June went missing a year ago and at the time everyone thought it was just June being June. Now a year later they are having a funeral for June, even though she was never found. May doesn’t believe June is dead, but goes along with her father, aunt and grandmother to have the service. While she was looking through June’s things in her bedroom, May finds and old newspaper article from nineteen years ago. The article is about their mother who also vanished but turned up three weeks later. May had no idea their mother had also vanished at one time, but what really stands out is the date. Both June and their mother vanished on the same exact date. May now realizes that June was looking into the events of what happened to their mother. In order to find June and find out what happened to their mother, May has to follow the clues that June has left her. Following these clues will unbury a dark family secret.

I love how Gleeson unfolded this story. The book opens at June’s funeral, with May’s discovery of the newspaper article. And we then follow May as she finds more clues that June left her. With each clue that May finds, more questions are brought to life. We also get chapters from May and June’s mother, Diana. In these chapters we get bits of information on what happened to Diana when she was missing for those three weeks and the events that followed. And then there are chapters with letters that June wrote to Diana, who died the year before June went missing. In these chapters we follow as June investigates what happened to her mother all those years ago. I loved following each of these women and getting to know them, as well as trying to figure out both the mystery of what happened to Diana and what happened to June.

There were so many twists and turns in this story. I really thought I knew where things were going to go and then in comes a twist to turn things around. I was not sure who to trust while I was reading. I love when a story does that to me.

I thought all of the characters were well developed. They were all flawed and complicated. Original Twin was an amazing debut novel and I definitely recommend it.  4 stars