A decade ago, a company called Match Your DNA cracked the genetic code for romantic compatibility: a single cheek swab, and you are matched with the one person on Earth you are genetically made to love. Millions have found their soul mate. Millions of other relationships have quietly fallen apart under the knowledge that somewhere out there, someone better waits.
The One follows five very different people who have just received their Match notification and are about to meet the partner science says is perfect for them. A woman matched to a man on the other side of the world. A newly engaged man who can't stop thinking about the stranger the test has chosen. A grieving parent. A man whose match arrives at the worst possible moment. Each of them learns that a genetically perfect match is not the same as a safe one — and that even soul mates keep secrets, some of them deadly.
John Marrs's breakout near-future thriller — the basis for the Netflix series and the opening of his loosely connected Dark Future books — braids five sharp, twisty storylines into a chilling exploration of love, technology, and the price of certainty.