Maybe this book just wasn't for me? The writing is okay, so it's not that. I don't even know why this dropped on my radar when it did, but at least it's now off my TBR?

This book is for people who like miserable characters doing predictably miserable things to each other. Also for people who enjoy unnecessary and boring sex scenes that add nothing to the story and don't even manage to turn your crank.

A hard meh on this one. ( )

I'm not sure if I liked this or not, but I got the the end. I might try the next book, undecided atm ( )

Strangely weird but enjoyable ( )

I'd heard so much about Good Samaritans before I started reading it, all of it good. I was expecting unusual and a bit quirky and that's exactly what I got.

There are five major characters in this book, anyone else is simply a bit part. Seth is a chronic insomniac, who whiles away the night ringing strangers, asking them if they want to talk. Inevitably most don't, but occasionally he gets lucky. Maeve, his wife, puts up with his late night dalliances, but there's so much more to Maeve than initially meets the eye.

Then there's Hadley, a young and suicidal woman, who rings the Samaritans but somehow gets Seth. And Ant works for The Samaritans and inadvertently ends up speaking to Hadley. See how twisty this is already getting and this is the tip of the iceberg.

Character number five is a policeman investigating the three dead bodies. How they are all linked is clever and cunning, twisty yet never confusing.

There's a lot of dry humour in Good Samaritans. Many times I found I was smiling to myself. Most of this humour came from Seth who is an incredibly well-drawn character. The descriptions of his insomnia and the way it made him feel and behave were so vivid.

The first half of the book concentrates on Seth, Hadley and Ant until wham bam, something sort of unexpected happens. I say sort of because I was expecting it but not exactly how it happened. Surprise number 1. In the second half, the action shifts around and the focus on the characters changes around. As I headed towards the end, again, part of what happens was exactly what I was expecting, but then that curveball was thrown at me again and I had surprise number 2. Will Carver certainly plotted this novel carefully to ensure shock value.

I found Good Samaritans to be a perfectly dark story, naughty, different, surprising and edgy. I can't fail to mention the large amount of detailed sexual activity but it fits well with the characters and the story structure. All I can say is be very careful who you chat to on the phone and keep an eye on anybody buying bleach in the supermarket or petrol station. You never know what's happening behind closed doors! ( )

Good Samaritans – Are they really?

Never judge a book by its cover they say, never judge it by its title either. This is not a jaunty ride with bags of frivolity, this is dark and twisted, just how I like it. Will Carver, famous for his January David series, has come up with a book that will be a classic. There is the traditional noir and then there is The Good Samaritans, dark, twisted, and completely engrossing. When you think you have cracked the story you are sadly mistaken, as there are more twists than on a corkscrew.

Seth Beauman cannot sleep, an insomniac who stays up late, well he can do little else. While in those dark hours he likes to call strangers from his phonebook, just to talk, and if he makes a connection with someone, even better. While he does this, his wife Maeve is upstairs in bed sleeping like a baby. One night a crossed wire and he is talking to a suicidal Hadley Serf.

They talk regularly and build up enough confidence so that they meet in day time and it eventually turns into something more. A somewhat dysfunctional love trysts take a darker turn, even more so when he takes Hadley to his home. What Seth does not realise is that his relationship is being watched from afar.

Meanwhile Maeve loves watching the news, and is following the case of Detective Sergeant Pace, who is on the hunt for a murderer. Someone is killing women and bathing them in bleach, then wrapping them in plastic wrap before dumping them somewhere in Warwickshire.

This is a brilliant noir thriller with some wonderful twists and turns that will leave you gasping. There is a wonderfully dark heart at the centre of this thriller and it will keep you entertained from beginning to the end. ( )