John Marrs - THE GOOD SAMARITAN

Plot (via Amazon):

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.

Review:

Thomas & Mercer have done it again with a great choice! I have seen this cover all over Bookstagram and knew from all of the glowing reviews, this one would be something special.

This novel begins with a really creepy, dark and confusing opening that left me begging for more. I quickly got all of the details I needed to realize what was really going on...or I thought I did. With a deceptively poignant and moody plot, this is one heavy suspenseful novel that is not only full of amazing manipulations and characters that are terrifyingly deadly, but not one aspect of this novel is not classified as "addictive" for me. 

I was quickly sucked into the two character perspective as the short chapters were flying by. What I loved about the writing with this one is that the chapters are short and full of mini-cliffhangers, leaving you to ultimately say to yourself "one more chapter" but you have to put it down. Well, possibly. I read the first 20 pages in one sitting and finished the novel in the next, so my willpower to sleep, eat, etc. was non-existent as I immersed myself into this fantastic novel.

While I am a sucker for characterization, this one did not disappoint. These characters are terrifyingly real, brilliant, and emotionally charged which is I'm sure difficult to write, but Marrs did so effortlessly and gracefully as I found myself even loving the deceitful acts. I could not get over the twists and turns with the plot and how brilliantly these characters really carried the plot to this one on their backs and enjoyed seeing them through their honesty in their perspectives, but how cold and calculating they could come off in the opposite perspective. 

This novel is not only dark and addicting, but there isn't one thing about it that I would or could change. If you are a fan of suspense, psychological thrillers, and want a novel that even the most seasoned crime fiction fan will be manipulated by, this is the novel for you.

*I received a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 5/5