The One by John Marrs

True Love, Murder, and Mayhem

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There were five main characters in this book who rotated chapter by chapter to tell us their stories. This methodology played out for all 103 chapters. It is noteworthy that almost every chapter ended in a cliff hanger, making it hard to read four more chapters until getting back to the most recent shocker. This is the perfect set up for a TV series. Indeed, this show is available on various platforms as of March, 2021, although there is a lot of difference between the book and the series.

The basic story line finds us in the not too distant future where DNA-based matchmaking is available. There is fictional science behind the process: scientists already knew that women produced pheromones and men had receptors that could bind to the pheromone. But a scientist discovered that when certain people were brought together, a variable gene kicked in. It allowed both sexes to produce pheromones and receptor genes. Once such a match was made, it was set in stone. One’s match could be in a foreign country, of any race or sex, and any age.

As the book begins, such matches have existed for a decade. Many are enthralled with the concept, but there are those who are incensed. The angry ones include people whose partners have left them to be with their DNA Match and people for whom there is no match – so far. The owner of MatchYourDNA tells us, “For every ten Matches we put together, three regular couples will split up.” There are lots of other things that can go wrong as well as we are about to learn from the five characters followed in the book.

1. Mandy is a thirty-seven-year-old woman with fertility problems whose husband left her for his DNA match. Her own match has just been found – Richard Taylor. She tries being in touch with him, but he doesn’t respond. Frustration turns to something else when she goes to find him, and learns from his mother that he is dead.
2. Christopher learns that a DNA match has been found for him moments after he murders a woman. When he ultimately meets his match, she turns out to be on the local police force. Since it is his game plan to kill thirty women, his new love relationship could be tricky.
3. Jade is a woman in the UK who has been matched with a man in Australia. The author tells us, “Fate could be a bastard…having placed her Match on the other side of the world in Australia. Maybe one day she might meet him, if she could ever afford it.” In spite of iffy finances, she takes herself to Australia, only to be turned away by her one true love. What is that all about??!!
4. Nick is a guy who is very happily engaged to Sally. She wants to have DNA tests to be sure they are meant for each other prior to their wedding day. Nick humors her and agrees. Test results find no match for Sally, but they do find one for Nick – a man named Alexander.
5. Ellie is a very wealthy woman who runs a multibillion-pound global company in London. We can imagine that some men would seek her out primarily for her money while others might steer clear of her because they are intimidated by it. So one needs to wonder how it will play out when she gets her DNA match, Timothy.

When Mandy starts off on her DNA matching process, she wonders, “What could possibly go wrong?” Let’s just say that in the hands of this author, a lot can and does go wrong. By the halfway point, major twists take place for all the characters. And then after that, more and more twists take place. It was almost comical.

Bottom line, I couldn’t put the book down. I found all the twists to be quite clever, but a little over-the-top. But still, it was just such a fun read…

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