Author: John Marrs
Series: Dark Future #1
Pages: 438
Format: Paperback
Published: July 15, 2016
Publisher: Hanover Square Press
View on Goodreads
Date Completed: June 11, 2025
My rating: 
Thoughts
This book follows five loosely-connected stories. The connection – a simple DNA test can tell you who your perfect match is.
This is the first of John Marrs’s Dark Future books; a series of “what-if” scenarios and various potential outcomes. This book explores what could happen in a world where your perfect match is one DNA swab away. What happens if you’re already in a relationship and are matched with someone else? What happens if you’re matched with someone of the same gender even though you know you are not gay? What happens if your perfect match is dead or dying?
This book explores all of these and more. Although there are twists and turns, it isn’t exactly a whodunit. The main mystery revolves around how each of the people will deal with what they learn about their match and how their world may change.
I really don’t want to say any more for fear of spoiling it. What I will say is that you should give this book a chance. It sounds like it could be Romance; but it isn’t really. It sounds like it could be sci-fi; but it’s more speculative than sci-fi. It sounds like it could be a thriller; it really is in a way. Marrs has a way of writing that makes you keep turning the page to find out what happens next. That’s the mark of a talented author right there.
Overall, I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. I was really hoping the 5 stories would end up converging at some point, but I’m also okay that they didn’t in the way I was hoping. I’m really looking forward to reading more of Marrs’s books – especially others in the Dark Future.
