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Review: Betrayal by Gregg Olsen


In this action-packed thriller sequel to Envy, foreign exchange student Olivia Grant is stabbed to death after a party--and the prime suspect is her best friend. As twins Hayley and Taylor Ryan get pulled into the aftermath of this Amanda Knox-like crime, they realize nothing is what it seems. Could it be betrayal of the ultimate kind?
Betrayal features real-life crime-solving techniques, heart-stopping suspense, plenty of red herrings, hard-hitting ethical questions, and information about the Amanda Knox case that inspired the novel. As the crime unravels, so does the twins' past…and they must face off against a family member who may unexpectedly have carried out the worst betrayal of all.


***

Betrayal is the sequel to envy. The story focuses around the murder mystery following the death of a teenager in the town and picks up and develops storylines first mentioned in book one involving twins Taylor and Hayley Ryan

The main storyline following the murder mystery was much like book one. It was fast paced and gritty and had several twists and turns thrown in to keep you guessing from the first age until the last and picks up on the affect the murder has on the community at large rather well. However for me where the book was most interesting is where it looked at the story behind the twins and their talents in much more detail building on ideas from the first book. I am finding myself much more interested in them and the things they can do and wanting to know more about it.

I must admit all the continual pop culture references started to annoy me some what and felt really contrived in an attempt to make the writing younger and more in touch with teenagers when in fact I think long term it will actually just date the book for anyone reading in the future. I've been finding this is a common feature of books written by authors who mostly write for adults but try their hand at YA. I don't know about anyone else but I find it a bit condescending and patronising.

All in all an interesting story which was highly readable.

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