While I did enjoy this book, it didn’t seem to all flow nicely. We have Kiera who is a social worker trying to find a run away boy. We have Seaver, the boy, trying to deal with an alcoholic mother and a male predator he comes across twice. We come across Claire whose father encounters Seaver but also has a drinking problem and is dealing with losing his son. I guess I don’t fully understand this story…lots of plots intertwined but still not really getting to a particular point.

This book has such an interesting and intricate premise.

Matthew is a man who is wrestling with his inner guilt, trauma and struggles from the loss of his son, eventually his marriage, and his daughter pulling away. Driving down a dark road, having had too many drinks one night, he finds a boy curled up on the road in the pouring rain.

Matthew's decisions in that moment are dangerous and risky, but the child reminds him of his lost son.

Although I was expecting a twisty, suspenseful thriller, I found this to be more of a family drama. The narrative weaves in themes of loss, trauma, and grief, yet the characters search for redemption and forgiveness.

This book might not meet your expectations if you're expecting a fast-paced, action-packed thriller. Instead, it offers a '90s vibe, an academic atmosphere, and a family grappling with grief thrust into a precarious situation that could either shatter them or lead to healing.


🎧Although I loved the multi-narrated cast, this particular book worked better in print for me. But I am always grateful to have the audiobook to pair with my reading.

3.5 ⭐️

Thank you @uplitreads and @toni.halleen for the gifted book.
Thank you @harpercollins #harperaudio for the gifted audiobook via #NetGalley.

The Good Samaritan is not a thriller. So, if you are expecting something fast paced and/or action packed you will be disappointed. However, if you love psychological drama and great character development you will love this intense psychological family drama which covers about as many topics as there are characters. Grief, guilt, alcoholism, teen insecurity, sexual assault are all part of this beautifully written story about a father who has to finally figure out who he is after the tragic death of his young son 8 years earlier.

The vibes were SPOT ON. Set in the 1990s made this so much better. This was a good story, it held my interest. The multiple POVs gave it more depth and kept the book development in total suspense. I had no idea where it was going!

Thanks to HarperAudio & NetGalley for providing an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was billed as a mystery/suspense, but it is NOT that. If anything, it's a domestic drama with many (perhaps too many) intertwined characters. A semi-alcoholic college professor hell-bent on getting tenure (despite the narrowly-avoided DUI that didn't make him quit drinking), his teenage daughter, who is TSTL, even for the '90s, her school counselor, who is also a social worker (are these not two different jobs? Seriously asking) for a missing child, Seaver, who, it turns out, was sort of kidnapped by the professor, who found him unconscious under a tarp at a feed store while the professor was taking shelter in a hail storm, fearing damage to his car ... deep breath, because there are SO MANY more characters.

Halleen touches on many important topics: alcoholism, sexual assault, drug abuse, the foster care system, divorce, child abuse; but because of the myriad of characters, we do not delve very deeply into any of them. Instead, the alcoholism is treated as a mild annoyance that is more annoying to other minor characters than something ruining the professor's life (although it does eventually affect his attempts at tenure). The child abuse is merely hinted at after a protracted scene setting up the situation, and not dealt with again until the final quarter of the book (after I completely forgot about it).

Also annoying is Halleen's stage-setting, Mary Higgins Clark-style, of future romantic outcomes to expect at the end of the book. Whhyyyy

Not terrible writing, but the plotting is slow, and I felt bamboozled by the lack of mystery and driving plot. 2 unenthusiastic stars. I blame the PR Team for selling this badly.