The Good Samaritan

Wow, such an intense and thrilling read from John Marrs. Laura, a manipulative crisis counselor at “The End of the Line” encourages callers to end their lives and Ryan, a man grieving the loss of his pregnant wife/unborn son to suicide are characters that completely drew me in, their interconnecting dynamics kept me on the edge of my seat. I can easily see this book being adapted for the big screen. I’d be the first in line to buy a ticket. One of the best books I’ve read this year.

The One by John Marrs was one of my favourite books I read last year so I knew I had to read The Good Samaritan by the same author.

The concept of this thriller is unique and brilliant. You assume if you were to call a suicide helpline you would be given support and advice. But what if the person on the other end of the line wanted you dead?

The main character, Laura, was such an intense and dark character - she is an expert at portraying herself as the perfect human, when in fact she is deeply flawed.

I am a sucker for an unreliable narrator and I absolutely adored this book. One of my favourite thrillers I've read, I couldn't put this book down.

Well where to start ......... this book really is a must read for anyone that loves psychological thrillers.

I don’t really want to say too much about it as I think it is a book you really need to read without knowing too much.

The story revolves around Laura, a middle aged lady with a husband and three children, who volunteers at a charity called End of The Line, which is basically a suicide hotline. Laura helps people who are considering suicide but does she help a bit too much ?

The story is written from two different views - Laura and a man called Ryan, whose wife ends her life after calling End of The Line. I love books that are written in this style with alternating chapters as it gives a real insight into how two people’s views of situations can be totally different.

The characters are brilliant and really complex, although you will probably find yourself feeling sorry for them one minute and then absolutely hating them the next.

All in all this is a book that you will find yourself totally engrossed in and will leave you wanting to find out what happens next at the end of each chapter. Be prepared to lose some sleep if reading in the evenings as you won’t want to stop.

Totally recommend this book if you love psychological thrillers . A definite must read !!

The Good Samaritan is easily one of the darkest and most disturbing books I’ve read in a long time. After being unable to put down John Marrs’s uniquely suspenseful The One, I knew I wanted more of his writing in my life. The Good Samaritan is a vastly different novel and its subject matter isn’t for everyone, but I found myself just as unable to put down this story, fascinated by the train wreck of two people absolutely determined to destroy one another.

The first half of the novel takes its time in setting the stage, introducing us to Laura and Ryan and their motivations. My interest drifted at times, repulsed by Laura’s character and how emphasized it felt because of the slow pacing. But once the second half takes off, the pace and tension skyrocket through plenty of twists and turns leading up to a haunting finale. My jaw was on the floor several times, and I’m still not sure how I feel about that ending.

Laura is the sort of main character you don’t love to hate, you just flat-out hate. There’s little room for sympathy for someone who exploits the good intentions of a suicide hotline and actively walks people toward that final ledge rather than away from it. Nevertheless, I begrudgingly came to love how carefully Marrs unfolds her story so that the true magnitude of her unreliability as a narrator and the depths of her scheming don’t become clear until you’re already sucked into her web of deceit. And I was similarly impressed by how Marrs contorts Ryan into a character that isn’t easy to like, even next to someone as twisted as Laura. It’s chilling to see the uncomfortable lengths that both of them are willing to go to, driven by desperation, grief, and anger.

Even though I often found The Good Samaritan to be disturbing and hard to swallow, I have to say that I enjoyed this crazy novel. Obsession, manipulation, and the touch of unreliable narrators are present every single page. I’m quickly learning to expect the unexpected with John Marrs’s writing, and I’ll definitely be on the lookout for more of his work. In the meantime, if you give this one a shot, be sure to have a nice, light read on deck for afterwards. You’ll want it.

I love A good Thriller and OMG this one did not disappoint it was great from beginning to end!

Wow. This book. The Good Samaritan is the second John Marrs novel that I have read, and boy, was it twisted. Part suspense and part psychological thriller, this book had me flipping pages late into the night.

Let's begin, shall we?

Laura is your basic middle-age suburban wife with a husband and three kids. Well, so it seems. She spends her days volunteering at End of the Line, a suicide hotline where people can call when they feel most desperate. Except, Laura has a little secret. Instead of helping counsel her clients and offering them alternatives to ending their life, Laura is acting as a predator seeking out prey. When she finds her chosen victims, she encourages them to end their lives. She does not simply just turn a blind eye, but she goes so far as to offer them suggestions on how to best go about this practice.

I told you, twisted, right?

Well, Laura's mission is moving along swimmingly, until she meets her match in Ryan. Ryan's pregnant wife, suffering with depression, had recently been calling the hotline and speaking with Laura. At Laura's advice, Ryan's wife decides to end her life. Ryan had gotten wind of the fact that his wife had been speaking with a representative of End of the Line. When he does some further research, he realizes that there is strong speculation that someone working for End of the Line is acting as God. Ryan makes it his mission to find out who.

Ryan then concocts a plot to discover who is responsible for his wife's death. Pretending that he is at the end of his rope, he begins calling the center, and eventually identifies the responsible party. He vows to get revenge on Laura, and to harm her and her family, just as she has ruined his.

As we all know though, seeking revenge comes at a cost. Ryan and Laura become entangled in a battle, and no one is immune from the ramifications. As we see Ryan target Laura's family, we begin to realize how sick and disturbed Laura really is, and we cringe at the domino affect that her actions have. Who is Laura really? What had made her this way?

This book is truly twisted, and I found myself gasping aloud a few times at the plot twists and turns. Just when I thought that I had something figured out, the book would move in a completely different direction. John Marrs knows how to weave stories that have readers wondering what the heck is going to happen next. I would absolutely recommend for readers who are looking for something a little darker, as this is definitely not a light and breezy read.

Ok so it’s pretty certain this is going to be my favorite book of 2018. It was insane how intense this book was! Imagine calling a helpline expecting a friendly person to answer and talk through your problems but what you actually get is someone who agrees your life is heading no where and encourages you to kill yourself. This book is dark. This book should be read. Buy it now!

My second read of John Marrs and my second 5 star review. There’s something about his writing and storytelling that I just love, even though this is a completely different subject matter than the first one I read - The One.

Laura works for a volunteer suicide help line called End Of The Line. They take calls from people who are depressed, troubled and a lot of the time suicidal. Laura is not your average Good Samaritan though. She will listen and she will empathize with you completely and offer you her sympathetic ear, but if Laura thinks you are the right candidate she will encourage you to go through with your suicidal thoughts. She will help you plan it. She will advise you how to do it. She will convince you it is your only solution and she is there to help you end your suffering. The only thing she wants is a call from you when you do it so she can hear your last breath.

Approaching 40 and in a troubled marriage with 3 children Laura had a troubled childhood and upbringing and apparent serious ill health recently. She wants to help people end their suffering and leave this world. She is the ultimate chameleon. A big fundraiser for End Of The Line and a soothing and helpful voice to a lot despite talking plenty of people into taking their own life. But now someone is on to her. Someone has discovered who she is and they want revenge. Laura though is one resilient woman and will not be threatened lightly and will do anything and everything to protect herself and her secrets. She is determined to get her family back together at any cost and continue with her work.

Well wow, what a read. Totally exilerating. Laura our central character is absolutely bonkers. I mean over the top bonkers but you just love spending time with her as large parts of the book are spent in her narrative. She just becomes more and more creepy as the book goes on.

The story is fantastic. A quite unnerving subject matter it is brilliantly told as it unfolds into a game of cat and mouse and the absolutely mental world of Laura is slowly revealed. The tension throughout is really palpable and there are so many chapters where you really don’t know where the story will go, plenty of surprises.

I loved my first read by John Marrs - The One and I love this one just as much, despite being a completely different book. I just love this authors writing style and storytelling. Even the little things like the title chapters in this pleased me. They were titled “Laura - two months after “insert name here” death”. A simple but very effective way of easily displaying the passing of time without the usual adding of dates, which I always find a little confusing and have to check back in a book to see how much time has passed. The chapter title in one little sentence perfectly places me in an instant in the right time frame without me even having to think about it.

I could go on and on about what I love about this book but would probably get into spoiler territory so I will just say that I would highly recommend this to any fan of thrillers or indeed just good storytelling. It’s a riveting read from the first page and in Laura, we genuinely have one of the most creepy, unhinged and bonkers central characters that I can ever remember reading.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Thomas & Mercer and John Marrs for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. Just wow! This book was so intense, dark, disturbing and uncomfortable to read at times. Yet I could not put it down; I was hooked from page one. The book is told from the point of view of two people (mostly). Laura- a mother, wife and volunteer at End of the Line (a suicide hotline). And then Ryan whose wife recently committed suicide. Laura both fascinated and horrified me! The lengths she would go to get her way. There were so many twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what the heck was going to happen next. His book was well written, characters were developed well and I’m glad it was written in dual POV. I have not read a book that has been so disturbing and fascinating at the same time since Gone Girl. Wow. Thanks to NetGalley, John Marrs and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

There’s twisted hope alive throughout the story and that’s what makes it gritty and fantastic. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys slow building domestic thrillers. There’s a great balance of character development, shock, and grit to propel the story from beginning to end. The unique combination of twisted characters, complicated back stories, and revenge all build a fantastic thrill ride of a read. I’ll be thinking about this book for a while.

This thriller is a roller coaster. The beginning starts a bit slow, much like waiting in line to board the ride. Laura’s situation comes to light. Just when you understand Laura things switch to Ryan. Once it’s clear how the stories intersect the lengthy background is very useful and helped me navigate the plot twists and sly details.

Neither character is very likable but the shocking plot twists had me rooting for both of them to come out on top. The alternating points of view is a great structure for telling this story. In each chapter I liked seeing both sides of the same story and that helped sway me from rooting for Laura to rooting for Ryan and then I’d be spun around when a new detail popped up and turned everything around.

What really make this story a real winner for me was the end. Just when it seems like the dust has settled and the drama is over the last two chapters bring things right back up again.

What an unpleasant person Laura is, but she makes this book worth every one of its five stars. John Marrs best book yet

Another fantastic read from this author. Gripping, dark, twisted. Clear your diary and read it in one go!

What a brilliantly f*cked up book! The story is so twisty that it keeps you rapidly turning the pages. Laura is a completely messed up character and an unreliable narrator which makes you doubt everything she's telling you. Finding out the truth kept me going.

Contemplating ending your life? Call "The End of the Line" hotline. They are there to listen, to be supportive, to be understanding, to be nonjudgmental. They have sympathetic volunteers whose jobs are not to talk you out of suicide, but to listen, to let you know you have options. But what happens when the kind, sympathetic, caring person on the other end has ulterior motives?

Laura loves the work she does at "The end of the line". This is where she shines. She is made for this. Oh, how she loves what she does! She doesn't feel fulfilled at home but at work she has found her purpose, her calling if you will.

Ryan is devastated. His pregnant wife has committed suicide with a stranger. Who was this man? Did his wife know him? Was she having an affair? He will do anything to get the answers he so desperately wants. He wants to know the truth but at what cost?

We get both Laura and Ryan's narratives in this book. Both have their own agendas, and both are little devious. This book had a couple of twists and turns along the way which kept things interesting. This is a dark book which deals with heavy subject matter. Suicide is not an easy subject and may be a trigger for some. What I enjoyed the most was one revelation which lets the reader know that not everything is as it seems. This provided for a nice "aha" moment for me.

I enjoyed this dark twisted book from the beginning but felt it really picked up steam around the halfway mark when one character realized the truth. From there is just got better. This is seriously one messed up book! Again, this book will not be for everyone. Those readers who enjoy twisted dark books with twist and turns, this book may be for you!

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer/Amazon Publishing (UK) and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is so dark and devious I had to follow it up with a much lighter read when I finished. It's not really graphic, so don't worry about that - it just takes you deep inside some twisted brains, and just when you think you know what's going to happen next, you're dead wrong.

Laura is a survivor, she beat cancer. Laura is a devoted wife and mother to her three children. Laura bakes lovely treats to share with her co-workers. Laura likes to encourage people to kill themselves.

Abusing her position as a call-taker for End of the Line, a hotline for people who desperately need someone to talk to, Laura hasn't just encouraged one or two people to die. Her numbers have been steadily growing. End of the Line is supposed to be judgment-free, and they don't contact authorities if they think someone is in danger of taking their own life. However, they certainly aren't supposed to encourage it... snip at someone's thread of hope until it severs completely. But that's Laura's thing. It's what she does. She doesn't count on the husband of one of her projects looking deeper into the suicide of his pregnant wife and getting increasingly suspicious. His wife died holding the hand of another man as he ended his life at the same time, and he is determined to know how it came to that. Ryan is willing to do damn near anything to figure it out, and it can't be long before he starts to find answers.

I think the whole story was really engaging, and the characters will stay with me for awhile. The last few chapters started going a little off the rails for me, which kept it from being five stars. The very ending, however? Whoa. This one really got to me - I caught myself cringing a few times. It might be difficult for some to read. Overall, I was super absorbed in this one and so glad I picked it up.

I received a copy of this book from Net Galley and Thomas & Mercer, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.

When I open a book by John Marrs I know that I am in for a good read- I didn't realise it would be this good this time!

End of the Line provides a service for those who feel life is getting too much for them. There is a person at the end of the phone who is unbiased, non judgemental and impartial- or are they?

Laura is a dedicated fundraiser for the service. She takes her shifts on the phones, she listens- & she talks. She has her own agenda- she wants them to die, preferably when she is listening.

Ryan thinks all is right with his world. He loves his wife Charlotte and is eagerly awaiting the arrival of their first baby- they already know it is a boy. When Charlotte jumps to her death hand in hand with a stranger his world is shaken to the core. When he finds out about Laura & End of the Line he is determined to bring her down but he doesn't realise what a dangerous adversary he is up against.

Told from various points of view we see the minds of the characters. There are many occasions you find yourself whispering, "This is going to end badly!"

Totally engaging, this is a book that doesn't let up for a moment. It deserves more than 5 stars! John Marrs best yet! Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

EXCERPT: I listened with blissful satisfaction right until her final breath. That's the one sound that matters to me above all others. . . that one precious moment when someone breathes their last, then slips away. People in pain, like Chantelle, place themselves in my hands because I understand them better than anyone else in the world. I know more about what they need than their brothers, sisters, parents, spouses, best friends or children. I understand them because I know what's best for them. If they place their trust in me, I'll reward them by going to the ends of the earth to help them. I'll alleviate their suffering. I'll bring all that is bad in their lives to an end. I will save them from themselves. That is what I am: a saviour of lost souls.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: She’s a friendly voice on the phone. But can you trust her?

The people who call End of the Line need hope. They need reassurance that life is worth living. But some are unlucky enough to get through to Laura. Laura doesn’t want them to hope. She wants them to die.

Laura hasn’t had it easy: she’s survived sickness and a difficult marriage only to find herself heading for forty, unsettled and angry. She doesn’t love talking to people worse off than she is. She craves it.

But now someone’s on to her—Ryan, whose world falls apart when his pregnant wife ends her life, hand in hand with a stranger. Who was this man, and why did they choose to die together?

The sinister truth is within Ryan’s grasp, but he has no idea of the desperate lengths Laura will go to…

Because the best thing about being a Good Samaritan is that you can get away with murder.

MY THOUGHTS: The Good Samaritan by John Marrs should have been a chilling read, sinister, but it was all a bit flat. The premise oozes potential, the plot is brilliant, something that hasn't been done before, but it just never quite all came together for me. I never became invested in the characters. It took me until I was halfway through the book before I had an OMG! moment and my interest sparked. But it was fleeting.

I have been trying to determine just why this book was almost a failure for me. I had gotten to the point where I was skimming and starting to wonder if I might abandon this read when I got to that first OMG! moment. Then there were a few of these moments in quick succession. Yes! I thought. It's a slow burner that has finally taken off. I was excited. Briefly. By the time I was 70% through, my spark was extinguished.

As I said, the premise oozes potential and the plot is great. It was the execution that lacked that 'certain something' for me. It's not a bad book. It's okay. But nothing more. Which is a pity.

Thank you to Thomas and Mercer via Netgalley for providing a digital copy of The Good Samaritan by John Marrs for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system.

This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

The Good Samaritan is a roller coaster of a thriller! It’s off to that slow build with Laura ‘s perspective. When the chapter’s flip to Ryan’s perspective the twist and turns just keep coming & the book becomes so hard to put down. I’d recommend this for lovers of a slow building thriller.

So many delicious twists! For such an action packed plot, this book was still very realistic and I found the characters very relatable which made this book a great read. Parts really tugged on my heart strings. I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for other books by John Marrs.

This truly kept me on my toes!! I've been frustrated with psychological thrillers recently because the actions that people take are so out of character. But Laura is SO crazy (for want of a better word) that I wasn't prepared for anything, nothing she does surprises me. I almost expect it of her. Kept reading this one well after I should have gone to bed, and gasped out loud more than once!

Thanks as always to NetGalley and the publishers for a pre release copy of this novel.

Laura is a volunteer at "End Of The Line", an alternative (and possibly fictitious) to Samaritans, where people go to just talk about their problems and not have anybody judge them. We could all do with someone like that at some point in our lives right? One of the conditions at End Of The Line is that if someone is contemplating suicide, the volunteers don't try to talk the caller out of it. Laura, however, actively encourages it. But, with the bodies piling up, all of which have chosen to end their own lives with Laura's help, she finally meets her match.

This novel had so, so much potential to keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page. And, for the most part, that's just what it does. However, the novel's secrets are revealed fairly early on and, from there, it's just a question of how it's going to end for all parties involved. Sadly, for me at least, the ending is a massive anti climax. This is solely the reason I've rated it 3 stars and not 4, as it's a very well written story and the characters are mostly believable. This novel promised so much but, ultimately, failed to deliver.

The topic of this book is quite dark. The story centres around Laura who works for a call line called The End of the Line which deals with people who are contemplating suicide. In the course of their work the staff have to support the callers in whatever way they can, Laura takes this to the extreme!!
I found the first part of the book quite slow to start but once we were introduced to Ryan the story sped along! Laura is a narcissistic dangerous woman who is very delusional but she is compelling. Her back story is fascinating!!
Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review #TheGoodSamaritan #NetGalley

Imagine you reach the end of the line, well in this case literally, because here we have a charity which goes by the same name. The idea is to help if someone feels suicidal, and you would expect, they talk you out of whatever step you are planning to take to end your own life.

This is where author John Marrs offers an interesting dark twist, what if they are actually encouraging you to do so?

This dark, disturbing and unputdownable thriller is told from two different points of view. There's the husband, Ryan, of a pregnant wife who took her own life after contacting the charity and then there's the helpline operator, Laura, who is generally angry and frustrated with her own life and believes the best thing she can do, is to encourage others to commit suicide.

Ryan's wife didn't die on her own, no, she went hand in hand with a stranger. Who was this man? What did he mean to Laura?
Ryan has questions, but is Laura the right one to answer them?

The Good Samaritan had me miss my stop and I had to wait for another train to take me back to my destination, I was that hooked.
What makes the thriller stand out is that you are emotionally on a rollercoaster ride, at least that's how I felt.
Sometimes I found Ryan frustrating and at others, when you think you know all about Laura, there's more horror to come.
I found The Good Samaritan actually more thirilling than Marrs's bestseller The One.

The Good Samaritan plunges headfirst into a theme of depression and suicide. I need to admit straight off that I think the concept, in general, is a great one. We have an antagonist, Laura, who spends her day/evenings volunteering at a “help-line” service with the goal of pushing depressed callers off the edge as it were. So not really a good Samaritan at all .... Oh I see what the author did there.

So through Laura's perspective, we get oriented in her typical day. We are force fed how arrogant and smart she is and gulp down her pity about her weight and low self-image.

I thought to myself about a ¼ of the way through this book why I haven’t heard much on gender appropriation in modern literature (men writing women badly .... or the other way around). With so much cultural appropriating going on you'd think the internet would have headlined the gender type by now. I mean come on, you out there, if you're going to spend the money on a degree in gender studies you better use it for something.

Well, after we read through most of the female stereotypes in existence, either through acts of Laura or her costars at the help-line office we know a few things.

One: Laura is a little crazy.

Two: She is pretty self-conscious of her body and looks down on all her other female co-workers.

And three: She kills people by convincing them to commit suicide.

We also know that the first part of the book was either written in haste or not proofed with the reader in mind at all. The scenes are structurally sloppy, and I found myself backtracking to figure out who was speaking. Information about the character seems created on a whim like how we are introduced to Laura’s two daughters and husband, then several chapters later, her son (the most important person in her life, her “anchor” as she describes). You think such a person would have come up sooner.

She also has two more anchors in her life. I’m no sailor, but one will usually do the trick.

Her main requirement for victims is for them to contact her several times so she knows they are serious about suicide. She mentions that the switchboard is automatic and random so if they manage to get her back on the line, they must really mean it. She also mentions there are something like 300 people taking calls at any given time around the world for this company. So these victims have a 1 in 300 chance (or something, without bothering to do the math and not considering the fact that these people have lives and aren't always going to call when she is even working—whatever) to get her back on the line, and just by luck they do .... daily. This is stupid. My god.

It gets better actually. I want to be careful not to ruin this for anyone, but I'll just bull ahead anyway.

The story changes to another character's perspective, and this is when it gets good—turning into a cat and mouse thriller. Ryan, the husband of one of her victims, is out for revenge. Clues from his dead wife point him to Laura, and the tables start to turn.

There is a great scene where Ryan is talking to his palliative care grandfather and gets the validation he needs to take an “eye for an eye,” and I truly loved it. Ryan’s brother, whom he is very close too does not approve and causes a rift between them, and we see Ryan develop slowly into what you think will surely be someone more evil and crazy than Laura.

Then we learn Laura is actually clinically crazy, and her husband left her, taking the kids quite a while ago and is even living with someone else. Normally, you would think this creates the motive and reason behind her actions, but instead, it just feels cheap and meaningless. Turns out, to my surprise, that the poor writing at the start was the author's way of foreshadowing her as a loon. Wouldn’t be my first method of choice but alright. When relying on unreliable narrators, writer's need to have a great deal of skill and creativity that I feel was just not there. Sorry.

So as my hopes rise, they drop. Fast as if they were coerced with words to jump off a cliff.

The story takes a twist, and the next writing "technique" seen fit to utilize is completely changing the personalities of the characters that were built earlier. It’s cheap really, instead of the story following the characters created we see characters who change to meet the requirements of the story. There were some decent characters I enjoyed, and it infuriates me when out of the blue they become complete dimwits. Instead of reacting like the normal human beings they are, we are expected to relate to them acting contrary to how the author wrote them in the first place (or how anyone would act, even people suffering from mental disorder which I can't even get into here).

What's worse, we are expected to believe the author was being clever (using unreliable narrators) to add depth to the plot. Unfortunately, the reality is that the writing is merely unapologetically opportunistic and lazy.

He's sure to hide it as a “twist,” but I assure you the only twisting going on is a spiral going down the toilet.

Rated 1 star out of 100 have a nice day.

Fast becoming one of my favourite authors, another fantastic book that kept me hooked the whole way through, couldn't put it down!

You think Laura is a good woman, with her picture perfect life, volunteering at End Of The Line, for people who have lost hope.
However Laura is manipulative and uses her job to find vulnerable people to talk into suicide, to kill themselves while she talks to them on the phone with her. She wants their last moments to be with her.
This book starts off with Laura helping a pregnant woman take her own life, leaving the woman's grieving husband looking for answers, why would his wife take her own life when she had only 2 months till giving birth. Then he finds Laura.
And from there becomes a game of cat and mouse.

Reading the first half of this book, i had predictions I wasn't going to enjoy this book, the first part of the story that focuses on Laura alone, was purely boring. I was thinking 'What is the point of the story?'
But things start to pick up in the second part of the story when Laura's true colours come out and you realise how bat-shit crazy Laura really is. And the book took some unexpected turns.
Ii feel like when Laura's past was revealed and how it was told i felt like it was done poorly.

However I would recommend this book to people if they like reading from hateful, evil characters who have no remorse for what they do.
Provided copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

John marrs as good as always. Throughly enjoyed. A interesting story with a different angle definitely recommended

This is one of those books where you might think you know what's going on but you really don't. Don't assume anything.

So I was already a John Marrs fan. I read The One last year and loved it. I recommended it to everyone. When I heard about this book, I could not get my hands on it fast enough. I was not disappointed.

This book is not for everyone. This book is dark and disturbing, so if that is not something you could stand, best just move on. But if you can stomach it, and I truly mean that because it is stomach turning, then carry on. John has an incredible writing style that truly pulls you in. You want to read more. You want to know more. I want to know where he comes up with these ideas.

I will stay spoiler free here, but if you love the dark and twisted, this one is for you. The story is crazy, the writing is genius, and you will not regret picking this one up.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this.

I had such a hard time with this one. I so badly wanted to like it, but couldn't. In this, I think it is my fault. I see the appeal of the story. Laura, a woman desperate for control, uses her influence at a crisis hotline to gain that in a terrible way. Ryan, a man desperate for answers, may discover Laura's secrets. Honestly, it is a brilliant premise! But the characters! They are horrible! No redeeming quality. But I guess that's the point. Not a book for me, but may be perfect for others. 2 stars.

Great concept but slow and boring story. The backstory of Laura and why she is the way she is came across as a side thought. I really wanted to enjoy this book.

I found this one a bit of a slow starter, maybe I kept putting it down because it was so hard to be in Laura's head (?), I don't know. Once Ryan came into the story, I found it much more engaging and it sped along at a cracking pace with plenty of twists and turns. Will definitely pick up another of this author's books.

Two people one hell of a story!

Laura is a good Samaritan and works for the End of the Line suicide hotline. Ryan's is the husband of a woman who ended her life after calling the same charity for help. Neither of them are happy bunnies.

The story is written from both points of view with the good Samaritan being Laura, although it's very quick to see that Laura is far from good and is actually quite despicable. The first half of the novel shows us what makes each character tick, but it's the second half that really engulfed me as I'm lead literally down the garden path with no idea how it's going to end - until it does!

The lengths these characters will go through to get what they want is amazing. Their desperation holds no boundaries and this is captured brilliantly as the tension mounts between Laura and Ryan.

Such a well-written story, which shows how even grief can turn the average person into an angry monster. But the big question is, who is Laura and why did she end up such a vile beast?

A dark, disturbing but utterly compelling read!

Wow, what a dark and broody book, but absolutely brilliant!!! Laura I think in many ways is exactly the way we all wish we could be. Tell people what we want to tell them, and not some PC version of the truth.... The book was very well written, and I just loved the way the story came together at the end. Well done, highly recommended.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5

What the WHAT did I just read. The Good Samaritan by John Marrs has trigger warnings galore and was incredibly dark AND disturbing. This book will not be for the faint of heart!

Laura drove me absolutely insane and you definitely have to suspend disbelief a bit for this book, she gets away with so many things that I wished I could jump into the book and kill her myself. I really liked Ryan as a character although I didn't agree with a lot of the things he did (or didn't do) either. There is a lot of evil in this book and if you don't like books where you can't stand a lot of the characters then this isn't the book for you. I couldn't really connect with any of them and they are mostly bad people, so it was a bit like watching a train wreck.

The Good Samaritan was so hard to put down, and I loved the short, quick chapters and the setup of the novel. This was my first time reading Marrs and I can definitely see why people love his books. It will probably be too over the top for some people, {see: pretty unbelievable}, but I personally love books like that. Some parts of this were pretty tough to read and there is a little bit of gore as well. I can see how someone would call this a 'miserable' book!

Song/s the book brought to mind: Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden

Final Thought: The Good Samaritan is super twisty, and so many things happened that I never saw coming. The plot was very complex, and this book completely threw me for a loop. The ending gave me actual chills and I wouldn't be mad if there was a follow up book! If you like twisted, dark, disturbing novels that are unlike anything you have ever read this will be perfect. Marrs has just become an auto-buy author for me and I can't wait to devour the rest of his books!

Thank you to the publisher for my advanced review copy via NetGalley. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

I don’t know how he does it, but every single one of John Marrs’ books is completely different and yet completely addictive. The term ’page turner’ is often bandied about to describe books, but here, it is completely justified.

In The Good Samaritan, Laura is one of those characters who you absolutely love to hate. She works for the End of Line – a phone line purporting to be there for people who feel there is no other option left to them but suicide. She is an incredibly complex character and far from offering these people reassurance and hope, she has much darker motives.

Next we meet Ryan and from that point on, the pace increases and a cat and mouse game ensues as Ryan desperately tries to expose Laura for the depraved character she is. This rollercoaster of a novel raises serious questions about the effect of loss and the manifestation of mental health issues whilst keeping you on the very edge of your seat.

The Good Samaritan is available for free at the moment with kindle unlimited and available to buy for only £1.99 – an absolute bargain.

I would like to thank both Net Galley and Thomas and Mercer for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review

I know this is very late to give a review of another wonderful book by John Marrs, but while in lock down I am catching up on all the older books especially John Marrs who I think is absolutely great.
This was another wonderful book by this author, it was certainly a great thriller.
Laura works for End of the Line where she is supposed to help people who are finding it hard to live their life, either financially or through ill health or depression.
But Laura has another motive for wanting to help people, which is opposite to what she is supposed to do.
Thanks netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book even if the review is very late.

John Marrs never fails to surprise me. His twisted tales leave me flabbergasted. I love how he writes and the characters he creates always complement the plot perfectly. Loved it.

The Good Samaritan

What can I say? You’re always in for a treat when you pick up a John Marrs book, The Good Samaritan is no different!

Wowsers, it’s completely engrossing, I was totally gripped from the start. I found myself making dinner with my kindle in my hand so I didn’t have to stop reading! With characters that you can love and hate at the same time, it’s dark, disturbing and a rip roaring five star read!!

John Marrs is my new favourite thriller author. The Good Samaritan got under my skin and had me hooked. The pacing, the character development, the plot twists, just kept blowing my mind. I will definitely be picking up anything John Marrs writes from now on.

I love John Marrs books, his fantastic storylines always make you really think about what you're reading.

Life getting you down and don't know where to turn them call the End of the Line. Their staff are trained to lend a listening ear with no judgement. Laura is one member of the team who does things her own way and actively encourages people to end their life rather than offering any kind of solace. When Stephen calls in she is more than happy to overstep her already questionable boundaries.

I am not always one for prologues in books as I find them hard to follow and don't always link them to what comes later. However this time the prologue sets the shocking tone for the story to come and the darkness continues. At first I thought the End of the Line phone service was an suicide enabling service however I then realised no it is just one particular member of staff. It still made for uncomfortable reading at times but I read on hoping that Laura would get her comeuppance at some point. Laura's actions were tantamount to those of a serial killer but ingeniously never involved getting her hands dirty or even being implicated in any way. Even when her shift ends it is obvious that it is not only unwitting members of the public that are affected by her psychopathic ways. As the reader you are drip fed information that indicates not all is well in Laura's life and hasn't been for a long time. Then the addition of new caller Stephen adds to the twists and turns and threatens to spiral everything out of control. Just when you think you have it all figured out Marrs hits you from behind and you are shocked all over again. Laura is the obvious villain of the piece but there are others that are precariously balanced on the line between good and bad.

This book was absolutely brilliant. I will definitely be reading John Maars other books, they are thrilling, page turners

Laura works at End of the line, a hotline for troubled souls to vent their sadness. What they don't know is Laura is always looking for the perfect candidate to help them die in the proper way. Hiding behind a perfect housewife persona, nobody would believe her capable. But Ryan is on to her and wants to make her pay.

I've been struggling to put into words how I felt about The Good Samaritan. While I can't say I entirely enjoyed it, I also couldn't put it down either! It had all the things I love in a psychological thriller; flawed characters and twists and turns I didn't see coming, yet it's one of the most disturbing books I've read for a long time.

To me, Laura was a car crash kind of person. You know you shouldn't look or get involved, but you couldn't help but be drawn to her. She is one of those rare characters where I think she was entirely unlikeable and I don't think she had one redeeming quality. She was so unpredictable, I couldn't help but read on to see what she did next.

On the other hand, Ryan is one of those characters that you start off feeling for, after what he's been through, but he pushes things too far and becomes unlikeable.

The Good Samaritan is quite a slow burn read. It took until about halfway through to really get going, but when it did; I raced through those pages.

Of course, the whole book deals with suicide and a few other serious issues, like child loss, so if you find those sorts of things upsetting, this may not be the book for you.

If you are looking for a character driven, dark yet compelling thriller, then I would recommend The Good Samaritan to you.