Two women have been murdered. Some time apart but it’s undoubtedly the same killer, yet nothing ties them together.
Seth is an insomniac. He feels frustrated, lonely and spends his nights drinking coffee and talking to strangers on the phone.
Maeve is his wife. She drinks too much and spends her nights alone in the marital bed listening to the murmurs of her husband as he talks and waiting for him to make yet another mistake so that he’ll need her again.
Hadley is depressed. She’s tried killing herself and still thinks about it constantly until one night she decides to call the Samaritans. Finally she finds someone she can talk to, someone who understands. At least that what she thinks…
Wowser, this is one that will stay with me for some time. Brutal, thrilling with no holds barred, this is an extraordinary novel; gradually building pace so you’re literally unable to put the book down until you arrive breathlessly at the end. It is somewhat disturbing right from the start but I found myself unable to look away. The characters are brilliantly constructed and each view point gradually adds to the story until the puzzle is complete.
This is the first novel I have read by Will Carver and I absolutely love his writing style. His short, punchy chapters are brilliant, each told from a different viewpoint. Great characterisation and a knack for picking up on the minute details of ordinary life, make this an extraordinary piece of crime fiction. He highlights society, the use of social media, the monotony of life when lived through technology; the things we miss and the sheer loneliness that we feel despite being surrounded by people, either in reality or virtually. The way we constantly suffer an overflow of information; it messes with our minds causing insomnia, depression and pushes us to spend our lives judging people, shutting out those ones that are close and yet never really knowing what is going on beneath the surface. Always comparing and never satisfied with our own reality.
‘….And he was sick of the way social media had made people less sociable and how the great art of conversation had seemingly been lost somewhere between your latest faux-bragging status and your next hashtag.’
I’m not sure that I particularly warmed to any of the characters but each one held me spellbound as I tried to work out how the dead women fitted in to their stories… and if another was about to join them. Who was the killer? There are clues dropped along the way but my mind kept changing as I explored every possibility. The end didn’t disappoint and already I’m flicking back through to look over the clues.
Good Samaritans is quite hard hitting. There are elements that we can all relate to – some of the references to Facebook certainly made me think and there were many parts that I found quite shocking and yet unable to stop reading. This is not a read for the easily shocked so be aware there are some hard-hitting scenes but oh my it’s good. I, for one, could not put it down.
One crossed wire, three dead bodies and six bottles of bleach
Seth Beauman can’t sleep. He stays up late, calling strangers from his
phonebook, hoping to make a connection, while his wife, Maeve, sleeps
upstairs. A crossed wire finds a suicidal Hadley Serf on the phone to Seth, thinking she is talking to The Samaritans. But a seemingly harmless, late-night hobby turns into something more for Seth and for Hadley, and soon their late-night talks are turning into day-time meet-ups. And then this dysfunctional love story turns into something altogether darker, when Seth brings Hadley home…
And someone is watching…
Dark, sexy, dangerous and wildly readable, Good Samaritans marks the
scorching return of one of crime fiction’s most exceptional voices.
About the author
Will Carver is the international bestselling author of the JanuaryDavid series (Arrow). He spent his early years in Germany, but returned to the UK at age 11, when his sporting career took off. He turned down a professional rugby contract to study theatre and
television at King Alfred’s, Winchester, where he set up a successful theatre company.
He currently runs his own fitness and nutrition company, while working on his next thriller. He lives in Reading with his two children.
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Thank you so much to Anne Cater for my review copy and for inviting me to take part in this blog tour with #RandomThingsTours This is another awesome novel from the good people at Orenda Books.
