The one by John Marrs

Welcome to the new world, where a simple test will connect you with your perfect match through the MatchYourDNA website.  It seems too good to be true, finding the perfect match, but that is exactly what a scientific break through has allowed us to do.  Ten years ago scientists discovered that everyone has a gene they share with just one other person - their perfect genetic match.  A simple DNA test lets you find the one person in the world for you, and reports show that people who meet their Match for the first time feel an undeniable spark and connection.  Millions of people have taken the test and paid the modest fee to find the details about their perfect match - including Mandy, Christopher, Nick, Ellie and Jade.

Taking the test is supposed to make things easier - but only if your perfect match is in the database.  Being a perfect match doesn't make the other person perfect though.  Mandy already has one failed marriage under her belt so the promise of her perfect match is too good to resist - but then she discovers she is too late, which could lead to heartache but instead leads to something else, something more.  Christopher is working on a project with single minded focus until he is matched with Amy - a match that is highly ironic considering what his special project is.  Will Amy be his perfect match or will it lead to disaster?  Nick is content with his fiancée Sally, but she wants to do the test to make sure.  Sally and Nick should have left well enough alone because you can't keep secrets forever.  Jade has always played it safe and resented it so racing off to meet her Match goes against everything she has held onto - and what she discovers will change everything.  Ellie is always guarded and controlled, so when she finally receives her Match she is surprised and treads carefully, but then her romance blossoms and she starts bringing down her walls.  What would you risk to find your one true love?

Speculative fiction is challenging to write - you have to create a world that feels like ours, but just a little bit more than ours.  John Marrs has tackled the challenge and pulled it off very well indeed.  Some people may find the constantly changing point-of-view frustrating but it is this technique that builds rapport with the characters quickly and allows you to see the world and understand it without being buried in too much information right from the start.  Reading this addictive (best read in one sitting) book it is very quickly apparent why it was adapted into a television series on Netflix.  Marrs not only creates a world where science has discovered something amazing and believable, he also creates characters that are perfectly flawed like all of us are - they seem real because everything about them could be about you, or a family member, or a friend.  

I've been saying this a lot lately, but this is a highly recommended read and I look forward to reading more books by Marrs in the future.  Even if The one doesn't sound like something you would normally read - give it a go, because it combines elements of other genre together into a very nice package indeed.

If you like this book then try:

• The dolls by James Patterson and Kecia Bal
• The runner by Stephen Leather
• Crimson Lake by Candice Fox
• The Store by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo
• Eeny meeny by M.J. Arlidge
• Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz
• Spare me the truth by C.J. Carver
• Kill a stranger by Simon Kernick

Reviewed by Brilla