Review: What Lies Between Us by John Marrs

They say every house has its secrets, and the house that Maggie and Nina have shared for so long is no different. Except that these secrets are not buried in the past.

Every other night, Maggie and Nina have dinner together. When they are finished, Nina helps Maggie back to her room in the attic, and into the heavy chain that keeps her there. Because Maggie has done things to Nina that can’t ever be forgiven, and now she is paying the price.

But there are many things about the past that Nina doesn’t know, and Maggie is going to keep it that way—even if it kills her.

 

Review

I am a fan of John Marrs’ books ever since I read ‘The One’ last year. Since then, I have devoured everything he has written and I am yet to be disappointed. He’s an author that I can always rely on to come up with something unique, disturbing, immersive and twisty.

What Lies Between Us is a dark, captivating, twisty thriller. The story is narrated in two timelines. In the present timeline, Nina is holding her mother, Maggie captive. Its such a bizarre situation that had me scratching my head and try to pick up my jaw from the floor a couple of times. Why on earth would anyone imprison and torture their mother? I had so many questions. The second timeline was set in the past. It explained the events that led to the imprisonment of Maggie by her daughter.

This was one twisty ride that had me changing my mind about events and characters a couple of times. The chapters were short and each ended with a cliffhanger. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.

Its hard to review this book without giving away the story so I’ll keep this brief. If you enjoy twisty, enthralling page-turners then this is definitely a book that you need to pick up. John Marrs never ceases to surprise me. Once again, he has written a story that surprised me. It will definitely stay with me.

 

 

 

Review: The Passengers by John Marrs

Eight self-drive cars set on a collision course. Who lives, who dies? You decide.

When someone hacks into the systems of eight self-drive cars, their passengers are set on a fatal collision course.

The passengers are: a TV star, a pregnant young woman, a disabled war hero, an abused wife fleeing her husband, an illegal immigrant, a husband and wife – and parents of two – who are travelling in separate vehicles and a suicidal man. Now the public have to judge who should survive but are the passengers all that they first seem?

Review

Eight self-drive cars have been hijacked. 8 people sit trapped in their cars waiting to die because that is what the hacker has promised. However, before they die, their secrets are being revealed one by one. Who is the hacker? Why were the 8 picked? What secrets are they hiding?

Intense doesn’t even begin to describe this adrenaline-filled thriller. My heart was racing from the first chapter. Through multiple narrators, we get to see the nightmare unfold as the cars are taken. Who is going to live? Are they all going to die? I had so many questions and most of the answers had my jaw drop.

Fast paced, suspense-filled with such an entertaining premise, I was totally hooked on this one. Like in ‘The One’, Marrs created something different yet realistic. At first, I kept thinking about how cool it would be to have a self-drive car. Imagine being able to read, sleep or simply enjoy the view as your car takes you to your destination. I could picture myself in that world. However, the fear soon became real and the idealistic world with automatic cars became a nightmare. My heart practically raced with each twist. Some were so unexpected that it took a while to recover from the shock.

The Passengers is my fourth book by John Marrs. Each one of his books has been unique and immersive and this one was no different. It was well-written, captivating and quite twisty. I can’t wait to see what else Mr. Marrs comes up with. What an entertaining read!

Review: The One by John Marrs

How far would you go to find The One?

A simple DNA test is all it takes. Just a quick mouth swab and soon you’ll be matched with your perfect partner-the one you’re genetically made for.

That’s the promise made by Match your DNA. A decade ago, the company announced that they had found the gene that pairs each of us with our soulmate. Since then, millions of people around the world have been matched. But the discovery has its downsides: test results have led to the breakup of countless relationships and upended the traditional ideas of fating, romance and love.

Now five very different people have received the notification that they have been ‘Matched’. They’re each about to meet their one true love. But ‘happily ever after’ isn’t guaranteed for everyone. Because even soulmates have secrets. And some are more shocking that others…

Review

Let me first begin by announcing that I am now officially a fan of John Marrs. This author is brilliant! I read his title, Her Last Move, last year and absolutely enjoyed it. This is what made me decide to try out his earlier books so I got The One and The Good Samaritan. It was love at first page with this one.

The story is narrated by 5 characters that have been matched with their soul mates through Match DNA. Genes can’t be wrong, right? Love is in the air. First dates, new connections and the excitement of knowing that science has brought love. However, there are many bumps along the way. Soon, lies, secrets, deceit and heartbreaks wreck havoc in many lives.

This is a very well written thriller. The chapters are short, gripping and snappy. Each one ended with a cliffhanger making the book harder to put down. The multiple narrations have an easy flow and each of the character’s stories is addictive. They all seemed to be connected by Matched DNA at first but eventually, other connections are also revealed.

I loved the uniqueness of the premise and how the author portrayed it so realistically. He had me totally immersed in a world where DNA Matching was a possibility and this got me thinking about such connections. Can you imagine if Science was used to match couples? Forget Tagged and Tinder, DNA matching sounds like the real deal for those seeking love. But then again, what would it mean for different people? What about us who are already married only for some DNA test to reveal that we aren’t soul mates? What if you get matched with a psychopath? What if your match is already dead, would you ever find love again? There were so many possibilities that added to the intensity of this narrative and they certainly had me thinking.

What a gripping, roller-coaster ride. I devoured this story in just day. I can’t wait to read the next book by the author.

 

Review: The Good Samaritan by John Marrs

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…

Review

Have you guys watched Creed 2, featuring Michael B. Jordan? Well, if you don’t know the movie, its about boxing. For some reason, this book reminded me of the movie. No, this book isn’t about boxing but it does have the kind of twists that hit you hard. I remember sitting down, just staring at a wall after one of those twists. They were coming in hard and fast! Like a blows in boxing match, they were raining down, unexpected and impactful. And like a boxer who refuses to go down, I was held captive by the narrative and couldn’t look away from the pages. Mine wasn’t a painful experience though. Twist after twist, I sat there with my jaw on the floor, utterly mesmerized by what I was reading.

 

 

Okay, I probably sound incoherent already but I don’t really think that my review can possibly do justice to the awesomeness that this book is. The story is about Laura, she is supposed to be there for people who are at the end of their line. However, Laura doesn’t  simply listen or reassure them. Instead, she pushes them over the edge. Yeah, Laura is a serial killer but she doesn’t actually do the killing.

This book is as dark as it is twisty. It is not gory in the blood and decapitation details kind of way.  However, the darkness creeps up on you like how the sun goes down. The light fades and soon you are engulfed in darkness. It got to a point where I felt like there was no way out. That is how convincing the writing was. I empathized with one of the characters and when he was pushed to a corner, I wanted to tell him to just quit. Stay down, throw in the white towel, and let the referee end the match already!

The Good Samaritan is the perfect read for fans of thrillers. It is dark, twisty and certainly memorable. Like me, you might find yourself open-mouthed, dazed, repeatedly shouting Whaaat or OMG and then left with a massive book-hangover because honestly, what do you read after this!