John Marrs

Multi-million bestselling British thriller author. Former celebrity journalist. The One: Netflix #1, million+ copies, 35 languages. ITW Award winner. Psychological thrillers and speculative fiction. Writes 2,000 words daily.

John Marrs is the author of #1 bestsellers including The One, The Good Samaritan, When You Disappeared, The Family Experiment, The Marriage Act, The Passengers, What Lies Between Us, Keep It In The Family and The Stranger In Her House. What Lies won the International Thriller Writers' Best Paperback of 2021 award. The One is a million-copy seller and has been translated into 35 different languages. It was also a Number One Netflix series. After working as a journalist for 25-years interviewing celebrities from the world of television, film and music for national newspapers and magazines, he is now a full-time writer.

From Northamptonshire, England, Marrs began as a self-published author, writing his first three books during his daily train commute. His debut novel, The Wronged Sons, was released in 2013, followed by Welcome to Wherever You Are in 2015. Publishing those early books opened his eyes to the power of social media in promoting his work, starting with Facebook book clubs, moving to Instagram, and more recently, TikTok. The support from readers on these platforms was instrumental in the early days and helped his work gain attention from two publishers: Amazon Publishing for his psychological thrillers and Penguin Random House for his speculative fiction.

In 2017, his third book, The One, was released. Originally self-published, it went on to become a No. 1 Netflix series, it has been translated into 35 languages, and has sold over a million copies. This breakthrough established Marrs as a master of high-concept thrillers that ask "what if?" about technology and society. His writing career spans two distinct genres: psychological thrillers exploring domestic suspense and dark secrets, and speculative fiction examining near-future dystopias where technology reshapes fundamental human relationships.

Ideas come to him from anywhere. He'll type them into his phone or write them in a notebook and keep developing them until they're fully formed. Sometimes they come at him from a friend's throwaway comment or a newspaper story that inspires him and makes him want to explore further. His first five books were written on trains when he commuted to and from London each day. Now he'll go to the gym for around 7.30am, then afterwards, start writing in the restaurant for a few hours before continuing at home. He tries to get at least 2,000 words written a day, which is very doable.

Marrs has written for The Guardian, Total Film, Huffington Post, Empire, and The Independent during his journalism career. His 2024 release The Stranger In Her House was optioned by a TV production company, while Dead In The Water releases January 2026. Critics compare his work to Black Mirror for speculative elements and Gillian Flynn for psychological intensity, praising his ability to craft page-turning thrillers that entertain while provoking thought about technology's dark promises and human nature's capacity for deception.