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.
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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

my first book buy this author and very much enjoyed. Mia has had enough living with her husband' Finns parents Dave and Debbie as Finn a mummys boy. a house comes up for auction and Mia wants it but so does Debbie but they let Finn and Mia bid for it and they get the house but a lot of work needs doing now Mia is a city girl a bit of a celebrity as had famous ex boyfriend but what Mia would love to have is a baby but told cant. they start work on the house with Dave s help. then Mia finds out she is pregnant. they need the house done she is doing the nursery when she spots writing on the skirting board and wants Dave and Finn to look in attic and there they find the suitcases. this book has it all secrets lies deceit the author has a very dark mind i so recommend this book.you will never want to go in an attic ever again

This isn't a family you would want to be around!

John Marrs always writes in such a way that once I start reading his books I can't put them down and Keep it in the Family was no exception. Make sure you allow yourself plenty of time because once you start you aren't going to want to stop until you get to the end.

I won't give away any spoilers about the book because it twists and turns along the way. Even if you work out who has done what you won't feel cheated because the way it unravels is just so good!

Also, as a member of TBC on Facebook I have to say I think this is my favourite Tracy Fenton cameo to date.

As always John Marrs kept me entertained and in suspense for the entire book. He is one of my go to favorite writers who can always have some crazy and wild things happening in his mysteries. It was a pleasure to read this and I cannot wait to recommend it.

Mia and Finn purchase a decaying home to fix up to make a home for themselves. While falling pregnant, they unearth a horrible discovery within the attic. Mia cannot let go of what’s happened there and it seems her in laws and husband are keeping secrets. But is the danger only in the past or is it in the present and is she far more entangled in it than she knows?

Hold on to the edges of your seats because you will not want to miss this house of horrors mystery. The evil lurks closer than you know.

Worth more than 5 stars this book was fantastic... His best yet, As soon as I was approved I dropped everything and bumped this right to the top of the pile...

I am a big fan of John Marrs and was super excited for a new book and this book was just so so good so many twists and turns I Feel Dizzy!!

Every moment I thought I had this figured out I just got spun around and just left it shocked when the next major twist happened. I was up way into the night getting this book finished and even reading while walking to work just could not put it down. My only complaint is I finished it too quickly it was that good!

I highly recommend this book who are already fans of John Marrs But if this is your first then please make sure you buckle up for a thrill ride and be warned this book is a great distraction from any housework you may need to do!

Thanks so much and I can't wait for the next book all I can say is I hope your next dream is this exquisite!