Keep It in the Family

Product Information

If you have this in your tbr read it! If not you’re probably not really missing out on a must-read but I did enjoy this book, it just wasn’t one that left me feeling wowed to where I will be telling my fellow readers to go read it.

I do love twists and turns, secrets and lies and more than a health dollop of dysfunctional behaviour but I also like things to cling onto some kind of thread of credibility and I am afraid it was here that things wavered for me a tad. Not too much, despite my banging on about it, hence the loss of only one star. It was still a thrilling ride and I never thought once of ditching it, I just rolled my eyes, smirked and carried on. Young couple Mia and Finn are excited to buy their first home, even though it has been empty for some time and needs lots of work. Whilst renovating the house, Mia discovers a message carved into the skirting boards – “I WILL SAVE THEM FROM THE ATTIC”. When she decides to investigate, what she discovers is truly horrific – but that proves just to be the beginning of the nightmare … The opening prologue, was in itself spectacular and spine chilling. Written from an unnamed narrator, admitting to being the bait for children being lured to a house. This novel has strong themes of child abductions and murders - big trigger warnings to be mindful of before reading. Mia’s happiness is cut short when she uncovers a cryptic message on a skirting board in their new house.

Featured Reviews

John Marrs has done it again! Keep It in the Family (out October 18) was the twisty, turny thriller I hoped it would be! While it was a little long, causing the story to drag on a tad, this story still delivered the wild ride of intensity we have come to expect from JM. This book was the gift that kept on giving, and not always in the right way. So many, so so many twists and turns and reveals and, double reveals debunking the previous... and well it all ended up a little bit of a farce at the end. A satisfying farce, but a farce nonetheless. Building and supporting a community of self-published authors dedicated to both sharing experiences and le Officially 15k Members Strong & Climbing!!

I have read and loved all of John Marrs’ books to date, and Keep It In The Family is so deliciously dark! I knew from the very beginning when I read the opening prologue that this was going to be a dark and twisted read. Penned by an anonymous narrator who pops up throughout the story tells of the part they played in the abhorrent and chilling murders, the story then begins with Mia and Finn's respective narratives, also interspersed with Debbie and Dave's. We are also given excerpts of transcripts, interviews, newspaper articles and reports throughout at just the right time before lunging deeper into the past under the guise of the anonymous narrator. It is eye-opening, insightful and at times heartbreaking. The entire story is dysfunctional, as is the family it portrays, but it's the ending that is just too sad. Mia and Finns' plans of turning their new house into a dream home turns into a thing of nightmares when Mia discovers a horrifying message on a skirting board ... 'I WILL SAVE THEM FROM THE ATTIC'. Looking into the attic, they find a wall hiding a devastating secret, true horrors of past events in the home. As Mia becomes further obsessed with the horrific crimes, she begins to find chilling secrets lying close to home. The danger might not be gone... in fact it could be closer than she thinks. At some point, however, it was enough for me, and I wanted it to end. I found the first 75% of the story excellent, but the last part loses credibility, and, sadly, I found the end rather predictable. I did enjoy the excerpts of newspaper clippings, and podcasts sprinkled throughout, which helped to fill in details of the story. There was even one from a YOUTUBE SERIES by ex police detective and crime thriller author, Caroline Mitchell which was a fun touch! 😉Admittedly, it was the cover that sold the story for me, since I had previously read a book by this author (The One) and as I was not particularly fond of that one, I didn't have too high expectations in advance. So Mia and Finn buy a n old abandoned house set on renovating it but of course things never go plan and when investigating a strange message saying “ I will save them from the attic “scratched into the woodwork of a bedroom they have to investigate and oh boy what they find is not at all what they expect and from then on in this story is filled with twist after twist that I can only say is you need to Read THIS BOOK it’s amazing it completely blew me away !! Building and supporting a community of self-published authors dedicated to both sharing experiences and learning as equals. I’ve started a review on this at least three times now & I’m at a loss for words, or I have too many words & don’t know how to properly get my thoughts out on “paper”. As a whole I really dug this book, if I had a do-over I would still read it! This is also my first book by Marrs & certainly won’t be my last. This was a super easy read (in a good way) that made for an easy cruise through the book..I read it in over the course of roughly two days with many (many! haha) interruptions😜