Blog Tour: Good Samaritans by Will Carver

Oh. My. Giddy. Me.

The quotes had hinted to me how good this book was, but my god, it was exceptional! I’m completely blown away by how dark and captivating this book was.

Will it suit you?

Well if you like a book that grips you from page one, takes you past your normal level of comfort and leaves you wondering if you can trust any of the characters… if you’re nodding now… then yep. This is the one for you. Oh and by the way…. *drumroll* this might even be the best book I’ve read this year. So I think this is an instant ‘add to basket’ situation… right?

If you need more persuading, then read on for my review….

The opening pages describes a scenario with a dead body and a lot of bleach. Whilst the word ‘or’ is dotted around to make you feel this is a hypothetical situation, you can automatically sense it’s not. You can feel it’s already happened but to whom? And by whom? It’s unsettling and feels like a warning to readers: beware this book is going to take hold of you and seep into your skin until you’re powerless to its charms.

We’re then introduced to Hadley – she’s vulnerable, suicidal and crying out for someone to make her feel normal.

She dials the Samaritans and at the same time a call comes through to her. On the other end of the phone is Seth – a helpful stranger who wants to listen to her – she believes he’s a Samaritan.

But he’s not, he’s an insomniac who gets his kicks out of calling strangers in the night to talk to. It’s a terrible condition to have, but if you think it’s causing him suffering, share a thought for his wife; Maeve. Each night she goes to bed alone and hears her husband chatting downstairs. And sometimes he’ll laugh. When he begins to laugh, she always becomes anxious, is he on the phone to a woman? Is he flirting? Because, it’s happened before. All she wants is her husband to come to bed and be with her.

But Hadley’s got herself attached. She wants to talk to Seth again, and so she calls the Samaritans, and is connected to Ant. Ant is taken in by the desperation in her voice and tries to find Seth. But when he gets back to the phone to report there’s no Seth working for the Samaritans, he finds she’s already hung up. He can’t get her out of his head. He’s becoming obsessed with her. He needs to find her.

Hadley is oblivious to Ant’s search for her, as Seth has called again.

Two men looking out for her.

Which given the fact a serial killer is on the loose; as the police have discovered a second murdered woman, Hadley should be feeling safe…. right?

At the very least, someone is always watching.

Just writing this review, I’m already sucked back into this plot, Carver’s writing style has an edgy pace that makes you addicted to turning the pages.

I also loved the short chapter approach to bounce between the men and women in this book, it keeps you on your toes and added to the fast paced nature of the book.

Carver’s skill at perfectly capturing the thoughts of the characters, allows both darkness and lightness to fill these pages, which means one minute you might find yourself snorting with laughter, and the next moment your eyes are popping out by the explicit intensity of a character’s thoughts – be it sexual, dark or the sheer loneliness they feel.

Totally consuming, utterly brilliant and capable of pushing you WAY past your comfort levels… a domestic noir blended perfectly with a dark thriller, creating a cocktail that’ll pack a punch and have you asking for another.

So Will… can I have another? ASAP?

If you need even more tempting than just this review (I’ll be personally insulted if you do…. jokes!), then your wish has been granted as Good Samaritans will be filling your timeline with reviews and insights for the ENTIRETY of November and even the first two days of December:

So I’m expecting to see this on everyone’s Christmas lists… RIGHT?

Thank you Anne Cater for organising another marvellous blog tour, that had me swooning again over the incredible stories that Orenda Books publishes, and thanks Karen for sending me over a copy of Good Samaritans!

Good Samaritans is out in paperback and eBook from 15 November.

Until next time, Chloé x