(AUDIO) BOOKS

Are you sure your partner is the one?

The One by John Marrs — a book review

This book — The One by John Marrs — appeared as a recommendation while I listened to Pretty Little Wife, by Darby Kane. The words above the title on the cover of the book intrigued me: Finding your perfect match has never been easier. Or more dangerous…

I didn’t know what to expect of the book, but once I started listening to the audio version, I was hooked. I actually listened to this book in record time, as I continued to listen to it in the daytime, on one of my drives to and from an appointment with my coach.

The One by John Marrs

The book was first published in May 2017, and in paperback it counts 416 pages. The audio version lasts just over 11 hours.

John Marrs worked as a freelance journalist in London, England for 25 years, interviewing celebrities for national newspapers and magazines. He wrote for several publications.

The Wronged Sons was his debut novel, released in 2013, and re-edited and released as When You Disappeared in July 2017. His second book, Welcome To Wherever You Are, appeared in May 2015. The One was his third book and ended up as book of the month on BBC Radio 2’s Book Club.

Many of his books became bestsellers: The One, The Good Samaritan, When You Disappeared, Welcome to Wherever You Are, Her Last Move, The Passengers, The Minders and What Lies Between Us.

Because of his successes, John Marrs is now a full-time author.

Five main characters

The book follows the lives of the main characters: Mandy, Christopher, Jade, Nick, Ellie. They have all taken the DNA test to find their perfect match and have all received the email telling them who their matches are.

Mandy’s match is Richard, but she finds out he is dead, and builds a relationship with his mother and sister. It turns out that Richard’s sperm has been saved after surviving an illness in his teens, so Mandy falls pregnant with his child, after his mother has suggested this to her. Mandy, desperate to learn more about her match, digs deeper, and uncovers one lie after the other.

Christopher is a serial killer and wants to be remembered forever. He has a goal, to murder 30 women he has found through the dating website, women who haven’t found their match yet. Christopher, however, receives an email that Amy is his match, and when he meets her, she turns out to be a police officer. They fall in love, and he knows he can be happy with her, but first want to reach his goal.

Jade’s match is Kevin, and she has to travel halfway around the world to meet him, only to find he’s only the shadow of the man in his picture. She spends as much time with him as possible in his last weeks fighting cancer, and even marries him. Then his mom catches her in bed with Kevin’s brother, Mark, after they have denied their feelings for each other from the moment Mark has opened the door for Jade.

Nick’s fiancée Sally convinces him to take the DNA test, and when his match turns out to be a man, she encourages him to meet Alex. Nick, who is a sworn heterosexual, refuses to believe a DNA test can determine who he falls in love with, but the moment he sees Alex, he knows how wrong he has been. Alex, also in a happy relationship with a woman, feels the same spark Nick as. They explore together, and since Alex has to go back to New Zealand because his father is ill, Nick wants to go with him. But then Sally turns out to be pregnant.

Ellie has discovered the gene who could tell every soul on the face of the earth who their perfect match is, provided the other has also taken the test. She takes her own test and finds her match. She has let no one come close to her, but when she meets her match, she falls in love. They are the perfect match, and she happily agrees to marry him. An innocent remark of one of her employees makes her look deeper into Timothy’s background, and what she finds shakes the empire she has built on its foundation.

Five story lines

With these five main characters, there are actually five story lines and the binding factor between those is the DNA tests they have done. The five characters never cross lines with each other, but that doesn’t mean you feel you are listening to five different stories.

The book jumps from one character to the other, and then starts at the first one again, constantly in the same order. Every time I was at the end of a chapter, I couldn’t wait to know what will happen next. Each character is intriguing, as is each of the five story lines.

There are many twists and turns in each of those story lines — twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

A Netflix series

While researching more information about John Marrs, I discovered The One has been turned into a Netflix series. If you don’t want to read the book or listen to it, then make sure you watch the series. It’s as good as the book!

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