A Tangled Web

October 31, 1994
When identical twins Stephanie Andersen and Sabrina Longworth decided to switch lives for a week-long lark in Deceptions, the 1982 novel by this pseudonymous husband and wife team, they created a string of thorny problems-not the least of which is this sequel, which is far less involving than its predecessor. Stephanie, posing as her antiques-dealing sister, purportedly was blown up aboard a yacht at the conclusion of Deceptions; but lo and behold, she survived, albeit with a convenient case of amnesia. Sabrina, meanwhile, has exchanged her posh London digs for Stephanie's comfortable suburban home in Evanston, Ill., complete with a comfortable suburban husband (college-professor variety) and two kids (Central Casting variety). And she has come to cherish her (former) brother-in-law. How the siblings meet and resolve their convoluted existences forms the nub of this novel, in a wearisome plot filled with smuggling, counterfeiting, murder and descriptions of scenery that would fill hours of National Geographic specials. Sabrina-as-Stephanie, in particular, is too good to be true, repeatedly counting her blessings and spouting aphorisms ("hatred is awfully heavy to carry around, like an overloaded backpack"). Though fans may relish these heroines' escapades, a surfeit of talk and a relative absence of action tangles this web to little effect. 300,000 first printing; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selection.

October 2, 1995
Michael's sequel to Deceptions, in which an identical twin who has taken over her dead sister's identity learns that her twin may still be alive, spent two weeks on PW's bestseller list.