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😜

Creative storyline. Characters that were kind of awful, but not in a way that made me dislike it, but more in a way that worked for the story to where the characters matched with what was taking place between this messy secretive family.

At times some of the book was imo predictable but maybe the author didn’t necessarily try to make it less obvious? I also had a feeling who the villain was early on but maybe all these suspense books are giving me a better intuition. I think the things that bothered me most (about the writing not the story because in general this is a dark story) was some of it seemed like filler, like instead of being actual dialogue it was more read out like a journal entry by the character so it was not necessarily boring but lacking..lacking in excitement I felt. The ending was satisfying & complete which is always appreciated😜

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.

Thank you to NetGalley & Amazon Publishing UK, so appreciative for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review!!

4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Another great book by John Marrs! This one was all over the place (in a VERY GOOD way)…and it really had me thinking. I would make predictions and think “Nah! That seems too obvious so it can’t be that person” but then I had a pretty good suspicion who the killer was. (Especially since my friend and I were buddy reading it and we put our heads together making guesses…FYI this is a fantastic book to buddy read or add to a book club). I don’t really know how to explain my feelings about the characters without giving away spoilers. All I can really say is that I didn’t like any of them 😂 BUT it didn’t affect my feelings on the book or storyline itself. I can’t go into detail or I’m afraid it will sway your opinion before you even start the book.

This one was really hard to put down. It was very twisted and disturbing!! The ending was satisfying BUT there were a few parts in the ending that annoyed me or seemed a bit “over the top”. It’s hard to say what they are without giving anything away. This book is definitely one that you should go into blindly with no hints of what happened. I understand WHY the author ended the way he did (the epilogue) and it was a total “WTF ending” BUT part of me wishes it would have ended slightly different….but absolutely no complaints on my end! This was a great book! It comes out in October and I HIGHLY recommend picking up a copy!!

The reason I gave it 4.5 stars (rounded down) was strictly due to the couple things that I felt were unbelievable. I mean the whole story is absolutely CRAZY but was so well written that you just wanted to keep reading, so for that alone it deserves the 4.5 stars!! This is the 3rd book I’ve read by John Marrs and he is a fantastic author!!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

To see other reviews I’ve left, check out my Instagram and Goodreads pages:
*Instagram - bookworm_traveler808
*Goodreads - Cherihy808

John Marrs is a favorite author of mine. This book was absolutely fan-freaking-tastic! There are so many twists and turns and secrets you’ll have whiplash by the time you get to just 50%! I don’t think I’ve ever read that much suspense in one book prior to getting to the 50% mark. Normally 50% is when the good stuff starts happening but this book is so jam packed from page one until the-very-end! Wow! Totally recommend! I love how each character had their own chapter so we knew what was going through their mind! 10 stars!

Is there a mistake in chapter 43 which notes 39 years ago? I think the chapters of 38 and 39 years ago are flipped…someone is “gone” in the 39 year chapter but the 38 year chapter tells that story of how. Which is backwards, looking back in time.

I've loved all of the books by John Marrs so far but this is on another level. Lots of suspense, loads of twists and completely gripping. Most definitely a 5 star read

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.

A chilling book that kept me on the edge of my seat, dreading what is to come yet not wanting to look away. The book is devastating, with horrific crimes inside. Yet is wrote in such a way that had me unable to put the book down, needing to see what happens next.

John Marrs is an incredible author, ever since I read When You Disappeared and The Good Samaritan I just know each story is going to have a twist that leaves me shaken. Brilliant story, I could have gone on reading this for so much longer.

Another fabulous read by John Marrs!

Whenever I pick a book up by this author I just know I’m in for something dark, something tense, and something that makes me question every main character!

Each chapter just drags you deeper and deeper into the story that you feel that immersed that you get such a clear image of what’s going on, which in this case, it’s pretty dark and gruesome.

What I love about the way John Marrs writes is the way he dedicates chapters to individual characters and leaves each chapter making you want to know more and more about them and which direction their character is going in, which just keeps you reading on and on and on.

This is yet another fabulous book by a fabulous author which I’d highly recommend!

Marrs outdone himself again. He is such a brilliant writer. It kept me on my toes until the very end. It's one of he darker books. There is abuse in it so if people don't like tha maybe shouldn't read. But I would definitely recommend it. I would say 5 out 5 stars. It's his best book yet.

Another brilliant book from John Marrs! This is dark and twisted and I sped through it as I just wanted to unravel the story.

Woah, I really don't think I'm ready for the upcoming nightmares from reading this.
John Marrs writes some of the darkest thrillers I have ever read. What Lies Between Us is still one of my go to recommendations in the genre, even now years after reading it.
But Marrs has surpassed his standards with this one. Put it this way, every time I have seen or heard the word 'child' since finishing the book, I have got shivers. I genuinely feel traumatised from what happened.
The characters were all creepy too, which just added to the tension. I love Marrs' speculative fiction novels too, but I live for these disturbing messed-up reads.
The ending has had me thinking of little else, and I know the book hangover will last a while with this one.
Intense, crazy, and so compulsive!

John Marrs is a favourite author for many, I'd only read The One previously so was eager to read more.

Mia and Finn are a young couple who have just bought a ramshackle old house at auction. A gruesome discovery awaits, revealing their dream home as a nightmare house of horrors.

This is just the start, as a history of terrible crimes is gradually uncovered.

Told from the perspectives of Mia, Finn, and Finn's parents Debbie and Dave it gets off tho a cracking start. We also get chapters from an unidentified character who lived in the house in the past and witnessed some of the cruelty and crimes that happened there.

It is very dark book, children are the victims.

The characterisation is excellent, with plenty of detail and history. The writing style involves lots of thoughts and inner-dialogue and we share their fears and dreads.

There are plenty of reveals, and some big twists, one of which left me gasping with the shock.

The final section went on a little bit too long for me, and the inner-dialogue style can slow things down a little. This is a crafted and very detailed novel, with a lot of layers and history to be discovered.

This is dark and deep and really quite scary, but very good at what it does.

Thanks to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing

This is one of the craziest, hideous and obscene books I‘ve ever read and I still liked it. My jaw dropped so many times, because I couldn’t believe the horrible occurrences these poor little children had to endure and how remorseless some people could be. But I couldn’t put the e-book down it was so captivating and thrilling. I read 3 books by John Marrs and will definitely keep up with his work / sick mind ;). I think the blurb should contain a trigger warning hence the murder of children.

Thank you NetGalley & Amazon Publishing UK for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to Amazon Publishing, John Marrs and Netgalley.
I've not read Marrs more futuristic stories. I just don't care. But, he once wrote a book about the most messed up family. I loved it! So, I'd been waiting for something new. Something that didn't involve technology.
This book sounded right up my alley! Oh, it was up something I suppose.
Wasn't a good time.
Also, if you can see the twists coming, they aren't really twists.
Such a major disappointment.

On the 18th October, 2022, get ready for a chilling, unhinged, fun, bat-shit crazy read!

3.5 rounded up to 4.

The isolated, two-storey, five-bedroom Victorian house has sat empty for nearly forty years.

Until 2018, when first-time home buyers, married couple Mia and Finn, see it’s potential, and purchase it for a steal.

Renovations are well underway when an ominous message etched into the skirting board of one of the bedrooms, leads Mia, Finn, and Finn’s parents Dave and Debbie, to investigate the attic space more closely. Behind a false wall they make a horrific, macabre discovery – that sees their dream home become the site of a historical crime scene.

Following a very disturbing prologue, voiced by an unknown child narrator, things kind of slowed down, with the first 30% focusing on family drama, as Mia and Finn were forced to move back in with Finn’s parents following the grisly discovery in the attic. Having said that, I very much enjoyed that section – never fully realised the psychological and physical toll, financial ramifications, and media attention this couple would receive simply because they happened to buy the wrong house. I warmed to all four characters – Mia, Finn, Dave, and Debbie – even though I was certain they were all hiding a lot more than they were sharing. Of course I’m not going to divulge whether or not I still felt that way about them by the end…

Throughout the novel were chapters from an unidentified psychotic individual, beginning in the present and working backwards – one year, three years, etc. The insertion of intermittent interviews and news articles as a way of providing information essential to the plot gave ominous tantalising glimpses into what was to come. And what was to come was insanity times infinity, and exactly what I’ve come to expect from the dark, twisted mind of John Marrs. Even though I have used the word “fun” in my tagline, content wise there were some distressing passages involving children which could be upsetting and triggering. Anyone who has read a psychological thriller by this author should know exactly what to expect, but just to prepare you.

What let this novel down though was that a couple of the twists I could see coming a mile away, and I think most readers will too. Therefore, I’ve had to mark it down accordingly. That’s not to say there weren’t some good shocks, surprises, and chapter cliff hangers, but compared to the unhinged bizarreness of What Lies Between Us and The Good Samaritan, Keep It in the Family just wasn’t as unique or clever. Still a well above average domestic thriller though that I highly recommend.

I’d like to thank Netgally UK, Amazon Publishing UK, and John Marrs for the e-ARC.

Mia and Finn are rehabbing an old neglected home into their dream home when they find a disturbing message carved into the woodwork. It says, “I will save them from the attic.” The couple now discovers that their home was once the location where some horrible events took place. Mia becomes obsessed with uncovering the full history of the crimes that took place here. Are all of the dangers really still in the past?

I am a big fan of author, John Marrs. This book was excellent, just like all of his previous works. The premise in this story is very original, but dark and disturbing as well. Plenty of twists and turns to keep you fully engaged throughout the book. If you are a fan of John Marrs, you will likely love his newest work, KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

Wow what a book !!! This is everything and more you would want in a thriller dark, uncomfortable and addictive !
It’s told from the perspective of a family and each have their own chapters throughout !
It starts with a brilliant , nasty opening and I loved it ! Every twist and turn is just perfection !!! John marrs you are the best ! Go and read it you will not regret it !
Unputdownable from start to finish ! Thank you for the chance of reading this in advance ! Brilliant

I am a huge John Marrs fan, I love that all his books have so many twists and turns in them, you never know what’s going to happen next and this absolutely did not disappoint!

I loved that all the characters had so many of their own issues that were deeply rooted and in turn presented a lot of behaviours and thoughts that you were constantly questioning. I was always trying to work out each characters motivations and I loved that they all seemed so unreliable and untrustworthy.

The story is extremely dark but absolutely full of atmosphere and tension. It genuinely does grip you so much you just can’t stop reading until problems get resolved and then straight away something else will happen and you’ll think “oh I’ll just read on and see what happens with this” .. before you know it you’ve finished it in a day..

As ever with a John Marrs book, you don’t get just one twist you get quite a few which was just brilliant. One of them especially I absolutely didn’t see coming. It was such a brilliant turn. The ending was great. Again, I thought it would take a different turn but I’m glad it went where it did. The pace was really well done, I often think the end of thriller books are rushed but I didn’t with this one.

I loved the whole psychological element to this, I loved the chapters were split into different timelines and also the little break ups with the interviews and article snippets.

Creepy, dark and extremely gripping with so many twists and turns, and throw in a lot of manipulative, unreliable characters.. what else could you ask for in a thriller?

✨Book review✨
Keep It In The Family
By John Marrs

Just when you think it can’t get any darker…..it does.

Much different than any other book Marrs has created, but I loved every word of this book.

It was eerie, twisted, and just messed up. There were parts in this story that I tried to pull my eyeballs away from the pages, and I couldn’t. The characters were so well done, and just so tragically full of their demons!

I won’t lie, this one had me having crazy dreams at night. It was a lot to take in and deal with. Many sensitive subjects dealing with children, abduction, and murder. Not for the faint of heart!

Really enjoyed seeing this side of Marrs, he is such an amazing story teller, and once again proves it to all.

Highly recommend you go check this one out…..if you think you can handle it…….
Pub date is October 18th!
📷: attic city

Thanks so much to @netgalley @amazonpublishing for the copy of this E-Arc in exchange for my honest review.
#bookstagram #bookinfluencer #bookinfluencers #bookstagrammer #canadianbookstagram #albertabookstagrammers #netgalley #keepitinthefamily #johnmarrs #johnmarrsauthor #kindlepaperwhite #kindleereader #thrillerbook #canadianbookcrew #whatdidijustread #readthisbooknext #pageturner #darkandtwisted #bookreview #bookreviewersofinstagram #tbrpile #goodread #suchagoodbook

Just finished 'Keep It in the Family' by John Marrs. We all know what a brilliant writer he is, and this book is no exception. What a sick f*ck. Absolutely loved it. 4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

John Marrs is one of my favourite authors and i’ve read every one of his books! This one didn’t disappoint! I page turned and gasped in equal measures, as it twisted and turned its way to the very unexpected end! 10/10 for me