The One by John Marrs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The concept behind The One is interesting – match.com with DNA profiling. I was expecting a book that would explore whether likability or sexual attraction could be predetermined by something so scientific as a double helix. Some of the themes could’ve tackled the viability and ethicalness of such a solution, or social equality or religious considerations, heavy themes that would make you think.
Instead, John Marrs, the author, went down a different route. Five independent story-lines follow couples who have been matched, and in the nature of page-turning fiction, they were all worst-case scenarios. All the themes were light, all had more holes that a dirt track, and most didn’t have any authenticity or believability.
This book made me think of James Patterson – he was even referenced in the book, so I suspect this isn’t a coincidence. All chapters are a few pages long, they finish on a cliffhangers and revelations, and the writing, to be kind, could be described as ‘accessible’.
I think this was a missed opportunity, but given the success of James Patterson and his co-writers, I may have a minority view. Still, I did read to the end, and it was a page turner, so it’s unfair to give it less that a 4*.