John Marrs

John Marrs

John Marrs was born in 1970 and is currently 55 years old. John Marrs was born in Northamptonshire, England.

John Marrs is known for writing in the Science Fiction, Thriller, and Crime Fiction genres.

John Marrs has written 9 standalone novels, starting with The Wronged Sons / When You Disappeared in 2013. The most recently released novel was Dead in the Water, which was released in 2026. There are no upcoming standalone novels by John at this time.

John Marrs has also written the Dark Future series which has 5 books including The One and The Passengers.

Prior to writing full-time, John worked as a freelance journalist for publications, including the Daily Express. OK! Magazine, and The Guardian's Guide, interviewing celebrities. He started writing initially for local newspapers in the Northamptonshire area, where he was born. Growing up, John was obsessed with the author Franklin W. Dixon, who wrote The Hardy Boys series of novels and wanted to be just like him. Later in life he would learn that it was just a "house name".

John is known for writing within two genres - psychological thrillers and speculative fiction. His debut novel,The Wronged Sons, was initially rejected by 80 agents and publishers, at which point he self-published it. He wrote it to challenge himself after reading a magazine article that gave him the idea for the book. It was later re-edited and published as When You Disappeared. On a related note, The One was initially self-published under a different title, A Thousand Small Explosions.

On his website, JohnMarrsAuthor.com, John stated that he wrote his first five books on a train while commuting. In an interview with The Creative Mental Health charity, John described his current writing process in more detail. An idea will come to him anywhere, and he writes it down in a notebook or on his phone and keeps fleshing it out until fully developed. Then he starts the book, with the goal of 10,000 words in a week. Following the completion of the first draft there will be a few re-writes, followed by sending a copy out to a few close friends to read prior to the final draft going to his editor.

All of the books in "The One Universe" can be read as standalone. However, they occur within the same universe and are better appreciated if read in order, with numerous references to incidents in past novels.

In numerous interviews, John has been asked what his favourite books are. While the answer can change slightly over the years, The Beach by Alex Garland is always part of the answer.

John has a great perspective on reader reviews - while he will look at early reviews of his books, he doesn't read them after that but just pays attention to the average rating. He states that reviews aren't for authors - they are "from one reader to another".

John Marrs: Awards & Accolades

Marrs' books have won multiple awards, The Passengers won the RUSA Awards, Adrenaline Award, in 2020. What Lies Between Us won the International Thriller Writers Award, Best Original Paperback Novel, in 2021.

The following novels by John Marrs were nominated for these awards:

• The Good Samaritan: The Dead Good Reader Award, The House of Horrors Award for Most Dysfunctional Family (2018). International Thriller Writers Award, Best Original Paperback Novel (2019).
• The Passengers: The Dead Good Reader Award, The Cancel All Plans Award for the Book You Can’t Put Down (2019). The Dead Good Reader Award, The Dead Good Recommends Award for Most Recommended Book (2019).
• The Marriage Act: Goodreads Awards, Best Science Fiction (2023).
• The Family Experiment: Goodreads Awards, Best Science Fiction (2024).
• The Stranger in Her House: Crime Writer's Association Award, Twisted Dagger (2025).
• You Killed Me First: Goodreads Awards, Best Mystery and Thriller (2025).

John Marrs: Lists & Other Mentions

• The One was a BBC Radio 2 Book Club July 2017 Pick.

John Marrs: TV/Movies Based on Books

The novel The One, which is a story about a futuristic dating service which matches people with the "one" person they are meant to be with, was adapted by Netflix into an eight-episode TV series. It launched in March 2021 and was created by Howard Overman. It starred Hanna Ware, Dimitri Leonidas, and Amir El-Masry.

Related Authors

Fans of John Marrs also enjoy these authors:

1. Andrew Mayne, author of The Naturalist Series.
2. Rob Hart, author of the Assassins Anonymous Series.
3. Jeffery Deaver, author of the Lincoln Rhyme Series.
4. J.T. Ellison, author of: Lie to Me.
5. Sharon Bolton, author of the Lacey Flint Series.
6. Kyla Stone, author of the Edge of Collapse Series.
7. Erica Spindler, author of: The Other Girl.
8. Marcus Sakey, author of the Brilliance Saga Series.
9. Caroline Mitchell, author of the DI Amy Winter Series.
10. Joe Hart, author of: Or Else.

John Marrs: F.A.Q