KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY by JOHN MARRS

‘Everyone except their families soon forgets about a missing child. And me. I remember every one of them. Because I am the bait that lures them here.’

John Marrs is one of our favourite Authors; he has been since picking up our first book by him, over five years ago. From then, he has continually wowed us with his compelling, future predicting, dark and thrilling stories. All very uniquely him and all somewhat dark, twisted, and disturbing. John Marrs is such a lovely bloke and family man, how on earth do these stories live in his head…. we’d be scared to fall asleep! But hey, we ‘re not complaining because this latest instalment had us up reading way past our bedtime, wait, strike that, readers don’t have bedtimes, right?! The prologue is one of the most powerful and gripping prologues we’ve read in a while, and we were filled with nervous anticipation at just what we were in for.

‘Even though I haven’t set foot under the roof in decades, I am forever part of its fabric. I’m the mortar that binds the bricks together, the pipes linking each tap, the wooden beams that hold up the roof. I have never truly been able to escape it. I am it and it is me.’

We could not put Keep it in the Family down, such was the grip it had on us in all its horrific, manipulative, twisted and macabre glory. Complex relationships, a history of horrors, mounting dead bodies and a huge emphasis of the nature versus nurture debate running commentary in the background. In some respects, we felt as if we were watching a true crime documentary on Netflix. This one felt a bit different to what we normally experience with a John Marrs novel. The writing style seemed more simplistic in its execution. This is not a negative though as we feel it suited the narrative and ensured a sense of the ordinary which is anything but. A seriously messed up family dynamic and characters we didn’t like very much, but then we’re not sure we were meant to.

‘I’ve grown to realise that when I don’t have blood on my hands, they are uncomfortably dry.’

The twists…. oh, the twists!!!!!!! You know the Author has nailed it when you have to reread the same sentence a few times to make sure you read what you think you read and then loudly exclaim…” now that’s bloody clever John!”  John Marrs did it again. What a wonderfully gifted storyteller!