John Marrs - What Lies Between Us

Nina can never forgive Maggie for what she did. And she can never let her leave.
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.
Because in this house, the truth is more dangerous than lies.

Comment: This is the third book by the author I try. I've enjoyed the others and decided to read one more, hoping it would be as entertaining. Although it was so that, I didn't find it as enthralling.

Maggie and her daughter Nina live together in a house but most people think Maggie is in a nursing home, after a stroke. Librarian Nina seems to be a calm but boring person and she tries her best to appear so, but in reality she is having revenge on her mother for something she can't forgive. The problem is that Maggie knows things and can't be released, even if that means going through all the effort to keep her contained. Things change when a stranger contacts Nina on social media and this is the catalyst to everything leading to Nina's unraveling...

This is another bonkers story by the author. I really think mr Marrs probably sits down with his husband at the end of the day and says "what weird premises can I think of now" and that's how his books are fleshed out. His books are the kind of story which is more enjoyable to read without having spoilers, even though the little summary I have above, and the blurb, already hint at things which aren't easy to keep fully closed off. I was lucky because I chose this one for the cover, since it would suit a topic in one of the challenges I'm doing, so I went into it blind.

The story starts in a seemingly simple way, two women share a house in a very unusual manner, but the more we read, the more complex the situation becomes, especially since we learn they are mother and daughter, and the mother is shackled in her room, locked in the house and without others realizing what is going on. As the plot advances, we get to discover more and more layers about the situation, which adds drama and psychological complexity... when one thinks some things are done, a new twist comes up. I think this worked out quite well, even though the base of the whole thing isn't as easy to believe.

Nina is a mentally ill person, that's the only explanation I can think of, but as some things about her start to make sense the more int o the plot we are, including the apparent spiral into the situation we are reading about, the more I wonder if, perhaps, she is not exactly so, but affected by something else. I think the author attempted at a certain explanation, which can make sense, but to me wasn't as credible as it should. At least, not if we are to think of it from a medical/biological POV... of course, the author did add a lot of drama and exaggeration for plot's sake...

Maggie is clearly more likable and sympathetic. I think she did things in the past - all the secrets which drive the plot's endgame - which are morally grey and even criminal in the basic sense of the word, but I still wanted her to leave, to be able to get out of the house without Nina causing further damage. Once we understand completely what drove things to this point, that's when all the layers the author created make sense. I think that, for a psychological thriller, this story should have five stars.

However, I did not end up thinking this because the author has an agenda. He wants to shock and to push things into a point where the reader likely would say " oh what have I read", and to accomplish this, he takes Nina and Maggie to an impossible situation. Sadly, to me at least, it is also avoidable. The very end, when everyone involved knows what it's to know - well, almost because some details are left open ended - things could still be fixed, there was still hope to be had in the midst of all the bonkers parts and the hopeless ones. Still, the author went in to shock until the end. Of course, it's a plot choice but it didn't have to be this way and still achieve the bombshell factor.

This said, the end has some justice, or it is understood that justice is met somehow. I think this was a positive aspect because a part of us wants the positive to outshine the bad, but I will say I didn't like all the choices the author took in the final part. I could ignore a few elements throughout the story that I feel weren't as logically presented as they merited, but in the end, for shock factor, some things were over the top. I feel part of my emotional connection with things just faded out because of how unfair and unnecessary some things were. Still, it was certainly an engaging read.

Grade: 6/10

John Marrs - The One

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 soul mate. Since then, millions of people around the world have been matched. But the discovery has its test results have led to the breakup of countless relationships and upended the traditional ideas of dating, romance and love.

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

Comment: I was given this book for my birthday and decided to pick it up to be the last book of my 2023 reading year. I had previously read a book by the author, which I felt was bonkers in a thrilling kind of way, but while I liked both, I ended up enjoying the development of this one better.

In this book we meet a cast of characters who are going on with their lives knowing that there is an app that helps people to biologically find their match. Years ago, a scientist discovered a gene which everyone has but that can only be found in one other person in the planet and these two individuals will be a Match. The fact so many could now know exactly the person who should be "destined" made many happy, but many others who did the test found out their partners weren't the one and this led to a lot of heartbreak and split relationships. In a world where established love isn't really love or where mind over matter might not be the answer, can anyone truly believe in happy ever after?

I thought this thriller to be quite engaging, as I had found the other book by the author I tried. At first I was a little doubtful, as things start off pretty quietly, even though one of the five characters whose POV we have was a surprise, psychologically. Obviously the author dedicated some time to how his characters would be and I will confess that,having read the other book by him where things escalated into incredible levels, psychologically I mean, I was a little unsure on what to think now, since this seemed to be start quite normally.

Well, this was certainly a work in progress and the interest of this novel was in the slow process of how the characters dealt with what they learned when they found out about their matches. Even those who seemed to be in steady lives and occupations were, somehow, affected by the new knowledge and I think this was the best feature of the story, the way each character, in different places in life - mostly emotionally - could think and process what was happening. I really think the sort of philosophical idea of having a true soulmate out there which science could prove was a clever idea to develop.

In fact, I had this book in mind as well when I've read another, by duo Christina Lauren, back in October. In their book an app to match soulmates had also been invented and we had a mix of science and romance. In this book by John Marrs, the goal isn't the romance of things, but the effects of the knowledge on people's beliefs and awareness... plus the placebo effect of doing something because a higher power (biology) makes it so. These two books go at it through different routes but the end is the same, and I can't help but think of this since I've read the books close to another another.

I can't say if one was better than the other and I certainly don't have knowledge to say if the science in one or the other, or both, is well presented (if such a gene/biological feature could really exist), but considering only the type of plot and genre, I did like better the way John Marrs developed his idea because he focused on more interesting details, in my opinion.

The plot isn't complicated, we have five main characters whose thoughts and actions we follow, in five alternated chapters, meaning we follow the five in a row, then again and again until a change or two closer to the end of the novel. All the characters were fascinating because each one is facing a different scenario based on who they were matched to. I did prefer two out of the five because those two had a little bit of romance imbibed in their character development and I simply like it more when there's romance involved, but all showed a valid side of life, if such a gene truly existed and would be reason to unbalance and change people's lives.

There are many ingenious details regarding the five main characters and until a certain point, each new information was a surprise but it wasn't that special or particularly noticeable. Things do become more intriguing after more than half way, when the author starts introducing enough clues to take the plot into true thriller mode. I think some things could have been done differently for more impact, but I can't complain about the end, which was somehow suitable. And there is even hint of true love...

My last read of the year was a good one for me, for certain.

Grade: 8/10

John Marrs - The Good Samaritan

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.

Comment: This book was published in 2017 and when I saw the blurb, I was curious about such a story. I finally had the chance to read it this month and it was much more engrossing than what I would have imagined.

In this story we meet Laura, whom we learn is a volunteer at End of the Line, a helpline for those who might be alone or in need of help of a friendly voice. However, Laura isn't an average helpful voice and her thrill is in helping those with suicidal thoughts to actually go ahead with this, and she even likes to listen while they end their lives on the other side of a phone call.

Things start to change for her when Ryan, the widower of a woman who committed suicide along with a stranger, starts investigating and realizes there has to be more about all the phone calls his wife did to End of the Line and he quickly learns about Laura. He decides to play a game, to get revenge, but the reality is that Laura isn't just someone bored with life, she has an agenda and she will want to stay on top of her game...

This was a very gripping read, so much that even though I had to stop often for "real life" issues, once I got back to the book, I was as curious about what came after as if I hadn't stopped, and I do count this as a positive aspect. The book is divided into several sections, the first told by Laura, the second by Ryan and from the third on is more or less alternate narrators.

The plot is actually much more complex than what the blurb suggests because while the focus is on Laura's activities at the End of the Line, we also learn a lot about her childhood and youth and the kind of experiences eh went through. This clearly shaped her mind and created this need for her to be in control of death, somehow, which means the psychological factor is more important for the whole reason why this is happening, instead of just Laura being a psychopath.

I think the author did a great job in setting up things with the first part, told by Laura. We are aware she is a monster, in the sense she plays with people's vulnerabilities and seeking help, but we also get an idea of the things she went through and there are sections where I felt pity for Laura. However, as the story advances, our feelings keep switching because we learn more things which are disturbing. Still, the author did a clever thing, always maintaining ambiguity in regard to certain information, so we don't truly know whom to trust in all this or which detail is true or exaggerated.

Ryan is an easier character to read because his moral compass is obvious, but he also does dubious things in his seeking revenge. I mean, it gets to a point where it can be easy to see where his path is taking him but I confess I felt rather emotional about some of the things that happened to him. I especially think the way his character was written, his sense of loss over his wife and unborn son were key factors in the plot, which certainly added urgency to some decisions of his, but of course we could see some of them weren't very clever...

Once Ryan and Laura clash, the story goes on a spiral game of who will have the upper hand in the game, and while this was intriguing for the most part, I could see the likely end wouldn't be one of closure. I was still curious, though, but the author introduced a lot more details and some could be seen as a bit too distracting, and not just to keep the reader guessing. I was still engaged with the read, I was eager to see how Ryan and other characters would deal with this whole scheme Laura was setting up and then something major happens, which changes everything.

The last parts I read with the dread of "will Laura be found guilty and discovered by everyone else" but things kept happening at a slow pace until the last chapter. In there, we do discover a new situation, a clue which was deliberately left unsolved, so that the end could be ambiguous and open ended. I confess, I would have preferred things to go a different way, but I understand why the author made the choice of being vague in relation to what would happen afterwards. I just think the plot would have needed closure and Laura should have been found guilty in a more exposed way.

Nevertheless, I think thriller readers certainly found this to be compelling and although this was my first read by the author, I also had a good time going through all the twists and turns in this story. The psychological aspects were well done, but there were one or two elements which, in the end, weren't as well solved. Still, I might try something else by the author in the future.

Grade: 8/10