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graciado's review against another edition
4.0
One thing I love most about this genre is its ready accessibility in all libraries, from physical 'New Release' shelves through to collections of classics on the Libby app. That's where I found Will Carver's Good Samaritans. Its zazzy yellow cover with a dangling wooden puppet is eye-catching, and the two front quotes promise "crime thriller and domestic noir" and "darker than Fight Club", so okay!
I haven't read any of Will Carver's novels before, but he has two series of crime/mystery novels, and this book is the first in the Detective Sergeant Pace series. Genre-wise, the book is definitely crime rather than detective fiction, though. In fact, I was ambivalent about the detective's inclusion at all.
Good Samaritans follows a set of characters – murders, victims, investigators, and witnesses – through the week leading up to a specific murder and the week thereafter. We alternate perspectives and first- and third-person narration as we move chronologically through the weeks, with shared pre-occupations and neuroses binding the characters beyond their factual interactions in the world. Carver's plotting allows us plenty of suspense about who dies, when, how, and at whose hands, as all of our characters are desperate for connection and (to a greater or lesser degree) repulsed by themselves. The artificial constraint of following a week either side of a murder means that there is a nice build up of tension to the central death, but a little bit of a rush afterwards to wrap up the plot and rebuild to the final conclusion.
I found the characters' fixation on wanting to talk more compelling and interesting than the other shared fixation Carver gives them, on cleanliness and feelings of being dirty. This latter underpins the promise on the cover – 'One crossed wire, three dead bodies, six bottles of bleach' – but as descriptors of the heart of the novel, they're a bit misleading (there are more than three dead bodies, for one thing!).
This muddled focus contributed to my ambivalence about DS Pace as he appears in the novel. On the one hand, it seems necessary to have him given that there are multiple murders to solve, and he introduces some element of pressure. His presence (and poor policing efforts) also assist with some of the parallelism in the novel, foreshadowing a second potentially destructive relationship between a killer and an investigator. Otherwise, Maeve's character cannot really connect to the rest of the cast. However, a tauter and less thematically laboured book could have been produced by leaving him out, or introducing him only at the very end.
Those little niggles aside, Carver does interesting things with some of the typical materials of the genre – a tortured detective, multiple dead women left in fields, and small but disastrous nudges that unhinge precarious people – so Good Samaritans is certainly worth a read!
I haven't read any of Will Carver's novels before, but he has two series of crime/mystery novels, and this book is the first in the Detective Sergeant Pace series. Genre-wise, the book is definitely crime rather than detective fiction, though. In fact, I was ambivalent about the detective's inclusion at all.
Good Samaritans follows a set of characters – murders, victims, investigators, and witnesses – through the week leading up to a specific murder and the week thereafter. We alternate perspectives and first- and third-person narration as we move chronologically through the weeks, with shared pre-occupations and neuroses binding the characters beyond their factual interactions in the world. Carver's plotting allows us plenty of suspense about who dies, when, how, and at whose hands, as all of our characters are desperate for connection and (to a greater or lesser degree) repulsed by themselves. The artificial constraint of following a week either side of a murder means that there is a nice build up of tension to the central death, but a little bit of a rush afterwards to wrap up the plot and rebuild to the final conclusion.
I found the characters' fixation on wanting to talk more compelling and interesting than the other shared fixation Carver gives them, on cleanliness and feelings of being dirty. This latter underpins the promise on the cover – 'One crossed wire, three dead bodies, six bottles of bleach' – but as descriptors of the heart of the novel, they're a bit misleading (there are more than three dead bodies, for one thing!).
This muddled focus contributed to my ambivalence about DS Pace as he appears in the novel. On the one hand, it seems necessary to have him given that there are multiple murders to solve, and he introduces some element of pressure. His presence (and poor policing efforts) also assist with some of the parallelism in the novel, foreshadowing a second potentially destructive relationship between a killer and an investigator. Otherwise, Maeve's character cannot really connect to the rest of the cast. However, a tauter and less thematically laboured book could have been produced by leaving him out, or introducing him only at the very end.
Those little niggles aside, Carver does interesting things with some of the typical materials of the genre – a tortured detective, multiple dead women left in fields, and small but disastrous nudges that unhinge precarious people – so Good Samaritans is certainly worth a read!
saltycorpse's review against another edition
2.0
This author, or maybe the publisher, really wants him to be the next Chuck Palahniuk, to a point where it's kind of embarrassing. There's a LOT of technique lifted from Palahniuk, and I mean more than is just a nod. And tropes - the insomnia (Fight Club), the repeating, short sentences, and the violence and gore without any kind of point. The thing with Palahniuk is with his books, no matter what your feelings are, is he's usually trying to get at a larger social criticism (though I haven't read anything past Rant, so who knows, maybe he's gone downhill. I know he's certainly lost cultural relevance in recent years). Carver doesn't seem to be getting at anything. He just wants to write weird sex porn and murder porn. It wasn't a bad book, it was entertaining and all, but like a sub-par donut, all empty calories, no real substance, and probably not particularly worth it, enjoyable while you're eating it but followed by vague regret that you finished the whole thing. I think Carver (or the publisher or editor) could benefit by pulling their collective heads out of Palahniuk's ass and stop trying so hard. It's like you can smell the desperation of wanting to be next in line for that particular literary role. Also the overly obvious Ted Bundy play of the dude working for the suicide hotline felt like amateur hour. Congrats, you read something about the most boring serial killer and easter-egged it into your book.
Oh, and the number of sentences he starts with "And" is embarrassing. I'm not the fuckin grammar police and I tend to enjoy when people 'break rules' with language but this was just like holy fucking shit could you structure ONE SENTENCE differently, bud? Like, just for variety?
Oh, and the number of sentences he starts with "And" is embarrassing. I'm not the fuckin grammar police and I tend to enjoy when people 'break rules' with language but this was just like holy fucking shit could you structure ONE SENTENCE differently, bud? Like, just for variety?
cernunnos's review against another edition
5.0
Will Carver has a dark and twisted imagination.
Will Carver has a killer sense of humour.
Will Carver has a new fan.
Will Carver has a killer sense of humour.
Will Carver has a new fan.
vkellermann89's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
So many twist and turns. Quite the page turner and you don’t really know how it will end.
bookber's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
This was a really fun, dark, sexy read!
We follow 3 very twisted and interesting characters, all of whom are revealed to be a bit disturbed in a slow-burn sort of way so that by the time you know, you're already invested in them.
Seth's POV was my favourite as he had such a satirical, outsider's perspective on the world and he felt quite relatable. I also felt very emotionally connected to Hadley as her story was so tragic! I didn't expect this book to go in the direction it did, but it was so dark and I loved. There was also a surprising amount of smut in this book, which equally as surprisingly I enjoyed?
My main qualm with this book is that it dragged a little bit at the end, and I'm not sure I loved how it ended. But it was a fun and enjoyable time for the most part.
This was a really fun, dark, sexy read!
We follow 3 very twisted and interesting characters, all of whom are revealed to be a bit disturbed in a slow-burn sort of way so that by the time you know, you're already invested in them.
Seth's POV was my favourite as he had such a satirical, outsider's perspective on the world and he felt quite relatable
Spoiler
despite being a serial killer lolMy main qualm with this book is that it dragged a little bit at the end, and I'm not sure I loved how it ended. But it was a fun and enjoyable time for the most part.
clobo2021's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
It wasn’t a bad book, just not my go to recommendation. It was quite slow in some places but overall it was okay. A lot of spicy scenes
redheadbookgirl's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
3.5
Fast paced, addictive, macabre + downright disturbing, yet also gripping and unputdownable, this was a uniquely, f*cking WEIRD book that I obviously devoured + loved!! This naturally gave me John Marrs’ THE GOOD SAMARITAN vibes at the start, but soon sets out on its own path of infatuation, mental health difficulties, sex, dysfunctional relationships and obsession, and discusses these topics openly.
The plot was dark and gory; the characters were multi-layered and complex (Seth especially) and the TWISTS were refreshing and well thought out. There’s no clear cut good guy/bad guy with the characters: everyone in this book is flawed, which made for an interesting read as I related to NOBODY.
I thought Seth’s insomnia was described brilliantly and genuinely had me feeling anxious and uneasy just listening to his line of thoughts. The narrator was great, however I felt multiple narrators would have enhanced the listening experience as it was difficult to differentiate between POVs.
There are some graphic and strange sex scenes in this + a LOT of talk of suicide so be aware of these things, but if you like a dark and sinister book I’d recommend this! After doing some research, I’ve discovered ‘dark and sinister’ seems to be Carver’s signature themes for a book and I’ve already ordered THE DAVES NEXT DOOR!
𝑬𝒇𝒇𝒚 @ 𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 🥀
The plot was dark and gory; the characters were multi-layered and complex (Seth especially) and the TWISTS were refreshing and well thought out. There’s no clear cut good guy/bad guy with the characters: everyone in this book is flawed, which made for an interesting read as I related to NOBODY.
I thought Seth’s insomnia was described brilliantly and genuinely had me feeling anxious and uneasy just listening to his line of thoughts. The narrator was great, however I felt multiple narrators would have enhanced the listening experience as it was difficult to differentiate between POVs.
There are some graphic and strange sex scenes in this + a LOT of talk of suicide so be aware of these things, but if you like a dark and sinister book I’d recommend this! After doing some research, I’ve discovered ‘dark and sinister’ seems to be Carver’s signature themes for a book and I’ve already ordered THE DAVES NEXT DOOR!
𝑬𝒇𝒇𝒚 @ 𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 🥀
corinne82's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
🎧 This one is a dark, intriguing but griping storyline. It would also fall under the umbrella of disturbing and crazy and you will question what you’re reading but you can’t stop yourself from wanting to know more. It definitely has the creep factor and no character is off limits. The plot is told from multiple points of view. The characters are really well written but really not likeable but in a good way if that makes sense. They really add to the story. The author really did their homework with it comes to specific aspects of the storyline and what it entails. Its a fast paced read that will keep you engaged and turning those pages.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bolinda Audio for the opportunity to listen to #GoodSamaritans