One by One

Noah Matchett is Claire’s romantic interest and husband. He is the father of Aidan and Emma and works as a physicist. He was Jack’s college roommate and best friend. In college, Jack and Noah were opposites: Jack was the free-spirited musician, constantly cycling through girlfriends, while Noah was the more reserved, erudite physics major. Noah is described as having hazel eyes, a moderately athletic build, and glasses.

Noah is a dynamic character, especially in the context of Claire’s perception of him. At the start of the novel, Claire presents Noah as an unhelpful husband who does not contribute to the domestic running of the household. She’s frustrated by his lack of involvement, which stems from Noah’s failure to help with Emma as a baby: Claire recalls, “He acted like Emma was my baby, he was doing me a favor by trying to help, but if he didn’t want to do it, he didn’t have to” (71). Claire felt alone as a parent to Emma, and this loneliness contributed to the deterioration of her marriage to Noah.

However, Claire does acknowledge that Noah is a good parent: “Noah is good with the kids. I can’t say he isn’t. They adore him, and he loves them as much as I do” (14). Despite Noah’s love for the children, Claire and Noah still “fight nonstop” (23). Noah’s love for the children and Claire does not diminish despite this ongoing conflict, as evidenced by the photo he keeps in his wallet of Claire, Aidan, and Emma, which prompts Claire to fully reignite their relationship in the cabin. After Claire tells Noah the truth about her relationship with Jack, Noah reveals he already knew. He takes responsibility, admitting that their “disaster” of a marriage was also “partially [his] fault” (250), though he does not specify what exactly he did to exacerbate the breakdown of their relationship. Claire’s view of Noah shifts: Instead of the clueless, callous husband she had perceived him to be, he was instead trying to win her back throughout the trip. He ultimately saves her from Lindsay, and they return home reconciled, although Claire still has some lingering suspicions.

Jack Alpert is Noah’s best friend and former college roommate who has his own contracting business. He has shaggy dark hair, stubble, and brown eyes. He is married to Michelle, but he has been having an extramarital affair with Claire that began while he did construction work on the Matchetts’ kitchen. Jack has no children because Michelle did not want any, according to Claire. In college, Jack was an artsy musician whom Claire had a crush on before dating Noah. Noah and Claire were surprised by Jack’s decision to marry Michelle because of her intense personality.

Jack takes the lead in navigation during the group’s time in the woods, as he is a former Boy Scout and has some wilderness camping experience. He is also the only one prepared for their time in the woods: He has water-purifying tablets, extra food, and a hunting rifle. This preparedness initially casts him in a slightly suspicious light, as no one else seems to have thought to bring supplies for the wilderness since the intention was to spend the week at a well-appointed inn. However, Jack is simply another victim in Lindsay’s revenge scheme.

Jack’s relationship with Claire plays a crucial role in his characterization; Jack only appears on the page through Claire’s eyes, and her changing perception of him shows the multifaceted components of his personhood. At the start of the novel, Claire thinks she’s falling in love with Jack (47). However, as she realizes she trusts Noah more than she anticipated, her attraction to Jack fades. By the time she reaches the cabin, Claire realizes she only “thought” she loved Jack, but her real affections remain with Noah (254). Claire’s realization illustrates how her idealized perception of Jack slips with their time in the woods. The isolation strips away the romantic veneer of Claire and Jack’s affair, creating a more nuanced characterization of Jack as an individual.

Michelle Alpert is a secondary character in One by One. She is Jack’s wife who works as a divorce attorney. Claire and Lindsay dislike Michelle because they perceive her as cold and emotionless. Jack, though he cheats on Michelle, will not divorce her because he thinks she would use her knowledge from her attorney career to destroy his life.

Though Jack and Michelle’s marriage is rocky, they are still physically affectionate in the woods after Michelle sprains her ankle, which makes Claire jealous. Michelle, with her successful career, helped Jack start his own contracting business and supported him financially. Michelle is a perfectionist when it comes to her career, as she even plans to work during her vacation. Claire describes Michelle as “never [having] one hair out of place” (35), further illustrating Michelle’s perfectionism. Michelle is murdered by Warner and Lindsay, though she had no direct involvement in the various romantic entanglements that motivated Lindsay to plan the violence in the woods.

Lindsay is the primary antagonist of One by One and is the unnamed narrator. She is described as blonde and physically fit, with a bubbly personality. She experienced a troubled childhood, as her mother was emotionally and physically abusive and her father was frequently absent.

Even as a child, Lindsay was prone to violent outbursts. She gouged out the eye of a classmate after he bullied her for having lice and killed her mother’s cat for revenge for her mother’s abuse of her. Lindsay ignored her mother after she overdosed on sleeping pills, letting her die instead of calling the police. She also pushed her father down the stairs, killing him, after he confronted her about her role in her mother’s death. Once in college, Lindsay continued her killing streak, murdering Claire’s cheating ex-boyfriend and then continuing to kill the cheating or abusive male partners of her friends throughout her adult life.

Lindsay and Claire’s friendship is crucial to Lindsay’s character. She recalls that she had “never been so happy” as when she lived with Claire in college and would “have done anything for [her] best friend” (263). However, when Lindsay discovered that Claire was cheating on Noah with Jack, she was very upset, as Claire’s betrayal of Noah reminded Lindsay of her father’s betrayal of her mother. Her disgust over Claire’s behavior motivates her to punish Claire just as she punished her parents.