The Good Samaritan by Toni Halleen is a slow burn, compelling mystery that will leave readers questioning what they would do when faced with this situation.

Matthew Larkin is struggling. After his toddler son died, his wife and teenage daughter left him and he lost his job. Now he has landed a rare tenured position at a small college and trying to overcome his past. When one night during a storm Matthew finds a young boy under a tarp, alive but unconscious, Matthew makes a split decision to put the child in his car to seek medical attention at a hospital. But when the boy wakes up agitated Matthew needs to make a quick decision and the repercussions of that decision will affect many more people than just Matthew.

This was definitely a slow buildup type of novel. While it is delicately written it does deal with some pretty heavy topics such as grief, foster care, sexual assault, addiction and divorce so just be aware. This is not really a psychological thriller in my opinion, more general fiction/mystery or drama. I do especially like the multiple POVs and how they are all interconnected. I will definitely check out more work by Toni Halleen!

Thank you to NetGalley, Toni Halleen, and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for this ARC. Publication day was March 4th 2025.

Matthew is a sociology professor on his way to tenure when he is drinking one night and finds someone on a porch. He doesn’t want to call the police because he’d been drinking but didn’t want to leave the boy either. He decides to take the boy to the hospital but the boy wakes up and takes off. Matthew is left wondering what to do to help the boy and also not hurt his chances at tenure.

There are other POVs in the book and their main link is to Matthew. I found the story very interesting and enjoyed how the writer crafted the characters reactions to situations. A quick and enjoyable read that you won’t want to put down!

I love a book with several different narrators but their stories didn’t come together as much as I wanted them too. I think I needed a little more details and connections!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #HarperPerennialAndPaperbacks for the book #TheGoodSamaritan by #ToniHalleen. This book is a great reminder that sometimes we get caught up in our own stuff that we neglect others. We need to slow down and appreciate life. Matthew is a professor at a college in Minnesota and is hoping for tenure. One stormy night, on his way home, Matthew finds a small boy hiding under a tarp passed out. He puts the boy into the car to take him to the hospital but on the way the boy wakes up and gets upset about going to the hospital or the police. Has Matthew made things more difficult on himself or did he do the right thing?

Toni Halleen’s The Good Samaritan is a slow-burning psychological drama that explores themes of morality, choice, and the unforeseen consequences of good intentions. The story follows a seemingly simple act of kindness that spirals into a complex web of tension and ethical dilemmas.

While the novel offers strong character development and thought-provoking themes, the pacing may be a drawback for some readers. The plot unfolds gradually—at times, too slowly—making certain sections feel drawn out and lacking urgency. There’s a solid emotional core to the story, but it occasionally feels like it’s missing a crucial spark to make it truly compelling.

Overall, The Good Samaritan delivers an intriguing premise and well-developed characters but may test the patience of readers looking for a more gripping or fast-paced narrative. If you enjoy introspective, character-driven fiction, this may still be worth a read.

2⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for an advanced copy of The Good Samaritan.

A college professor whose wife and teenage daughter left him after the death of their toddler son has a chance at redemption. While he is traveling he finds a young boy who has been abandoned. He has a choice to make to try to right the wrongs of the past but will he make the right ones.

This was classified as a mystery/thriller but it definitely was not that. It was more of a domestic family drama. It discussed a lot of important topics but I felt like there were just too many things going on at one time and the story felt disjointed to me. It was not my kind of book.

I loved this author’s book The Surrogate, so I was ecstatic to be approved for her sophomore book The Good Samaritan! This book covers heavy topics: grief, foster care, divorce, sexual assault, runaways, alcohol abuse….but Toni does so in a tasteful way. I was invested in the characters and worried about Seaver. I wish there were more foster parents like the ones taking care of Seaver. This is not a thriller, but rather a domestic drama maybe?

✔️Minnesota setting
✔️1990’s timeline
✔️multiple POV
✔️slow burn
✔️what would you do scenarios

The cover of THE GOOD SAMARITAN by Toni Halleen is a bit deceiving. In my opinion, it gives off dark and seedy thriller vibes, but I’d describe it as a mysterious neighborhood drama. I absolutely loved the author’s previous novel, THE SURROGATE so I jumped at the chance to participate in the book tour for her latest.

QUICK SYNOPSIS:
“𝘈 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯—𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘱𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦.”

The novel follows Matthew, a college professor, Claire, his teenage daughter, Seaver, a young runaway in foster care, and a social worker named Kira. With each new chapter, the perspectives alternate, and Halleen expertly weaves all four storylines together. All four characters were impeccably crafted. I was extremely intrigued by them all, and 100% invested in each of their individual narratives, yet Claire was definitely my favorite. As a mother to a teenage girl, I found myself looking forward to her chapters the most.

READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY:

- Multiple POVs
- Minnesota setting
- Family drama
- Reflections on loss and grief
- Slow-burning mysteries
- 1990s timeline
- Well-developed characters
- Marriage and divorce
- Foster care/social work storylines
- High school life and challenges

Redemption, loss, grief, and forgiveness are the main themes of this novel, yet it also includes some triggering subject matter like sexual assault, addiction, and the loss of a child. It was a bit heavier than I was expecting, but the author handled it all with care.

4/5 solid stars for THE GOOD SAMARITAN! It’s out now! Highly recommend!

In a suspenseful read, it is always intriguing when the narrator potentially is unreliable. I was intrigued in seeing where the storyline would lead us. I continued reading and rooted that he hoped he had the best intentions. The character that captivated me the most was the daughter, Claire. She piqued my interest loved how her character development. I appreciated the clever delivery and development of the crossover storylines.

This definitely isn't a thriller, it's a drama but I probably wouldn't have read it if it hadn't been listed as a thriller which would have been a loss because I enjoyed it. The story has minor twists, but the characters are well written and it was a fast read.

The Good Samaritan by Toni Halleen keeps you hooked till the very end.
A well written suspense filled with twists that kept me hooked from the very beginning.
A quick and fun read that I finished in a few hours.
The characterization was superb, the writing pacey and flowing, and the tension delivered in a series of shocks and twists along the way.
This is a tightly written story, with well developed characters and enough suspense to keep you reading.

This book started off so strong & I was highly invested into where it was going! Every chapter ending had me wanting to read more. But towards the end is where it lost me a little. I wanted Claire’s POV to be more connected to the story than what it was. I felt her part was a bit random? (Explain the bagel throwing please). I wanted more from Seaver’s story too since he’s the one the book revolved around. Matthew got on my damn nerves with his narcissism & self serving attitude. I just wanted more from this than a soft “mystery”.

This book was so intense and suspensful especially as it stems from making a quick decision and spirals from there.

The Good Samaritan by Toni Halleen

What I thought was going to be a psychological thriller turned out to be a slow burn drama.

Matthew loses his son by unfortunate events. He will later, make a decision that will change everything. While I did enjoy the story, the pacing was just too slow for my liking. However, if you enjoy slow burns with thought-provoking themes, definitely give this one a try.

Publication 3/4/2025
3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

This book follows Matthew, a college professor desperately trying to get tenure. When he drives by a passed out boy one night, he decides to pick up the boy and try to get him to a hospital. But those plans are quickly derailed.

This book started with an interesting premise, but devolved into what I felt was a very slow-moving read. The book followed several different characters and the problems they confronted, but all the scenarios felt very stereotypical and surface-level, and the resolutions at the end too pat. Overall, I was disappointed.

I really enjoyed this book. The pacing and characterization were great. I had a hard time putting it down. I'll be reading more books by this author.

Many thanks for gifted copy.
My full will be posted to @coffee.break.book.reviews

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. The story is ok and some parts are interesting but it definitely isn’t a thriller. Because I was expecting a thriller, it felt like a let down but if I look at it from the expectation of a domestic drama then it cn take the rating up some

There are a lot of subsidiary plots that stem off the main plot to keep readers interested.
Matt made some questionable decisions early in the story. I didn’t know one of the narrators would be his daughter Claire which made things more interesting.
I thought Kira was a devoted social worker and passionate about her job.
I really liked that the setting was in the Midwest and also it was in the early 1990s so it was nostalgic to read about pay phone and cordless phones instead of the tangle of technology we love with today.
The ending was good with the characters all moving forward in positive directions.

The story and characters were enjoyable. Matthew who happens to find Seaver and try to help him, spirals his life around from everything he tried to do. But in the end it helped him see what was going on with his life and get back what he was loosing.

The story was a fast read and enjoyable that you wanted to keep reading to see what was going to happen next.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc. I enjoyed reading this so much. It was very thrilling and entertaining. This book had me at the edge of my seat & I could not put this down.