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.

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

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.

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

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 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.

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.

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

Give me all the stars to give this exquisite psychological thriller. This mind bending, clusterfuck of a novel. I don’t think I’ve ever come across a story like this one, and truth be told, I’m not even sure if I’d still gone ahead and read it if I knew what I was getting myself into. But who cares? Because I’ve read it, and it was brilliant. Shocking, disturbing, intriguing, sad, so so sad, but most definitely worth it.

I wasn’t exaggerating when I said this book was sad. The underlying emotion in the story was sadness. It was everywhere. In the way Laura thought so dismissively about her ‘candidates’, the people she chose to ‘help’, in the way Ryan was so desperate and cornered about his wife’s apparent suicide, and in the general tone of everything that happened around these two messed up people.


I honestly can’t even bring my thoughts and feelings in a proper order to tell you how much I-loved? enjoyed?- this story. My mind’s all jumbled, my emotions are all over the place, and I just realized that I couldn’t even come closer to telling you a bit about this book. But then again, I guess there’s no need, the plot gives you enough of a nudge to start reading and after that, it’s a brutal downhill ride.

Yes, it’s been a long while since I’ve read a story like this, characters like Laura and Ryan and everyone in between. If you like psychological thrillers, that unreliable tone in such stories, read this. Read it, don’t waste any more time thinking about it, just pick up a copy, read it and be left bereft of any sense of normality for a while. I know I need a completely different book to read now, something happy and healthy for my mind. But you don’t be discouraged. I congratulate this author for keeping me up late until the sun up reading this story, for making me feel for these characters, be it hate, sadness, pity, anger and a lot in between.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 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.

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.

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!

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.