NO SHELF CONTROL

Title: The Family Experiment

Author: John Marrs

Publisher: Macmillan

Publication Date: May, 2024

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 400

My Rating: ★★★★★

John Marrs never fails to disappoint with his speculative thrillers. Set in a believable future, Awakening Entertainment’s interactive show, “The Family Experiment”, is the first of its kind, drawing in millions of viewers from all over the world.

“Over the next nine months, eleven carefully selected childless British contestants will compete to raise the world’s first fully interactive children in the Metaverse… What they experience and how they develop will depend on the nurturing they receive from each parent.”

The winners can either keep their virtual child, or take £250000, to start a real world family of their own.

We follow the contestants and the troubles they face raising their “children” to 18. From a variety of backgrounds, the contestants are a fun and diverse mix of well developed characters, each with an interesting story of their own. I particularly liked Hudson, both as a person and a dad.

Thought provoking and chilling in places, this was an unputdownable page turner for me.

Although not required, I’d advise reading Marr’s speculative thrillers in order as there are many references to plots in previous books, particularly The Marriage Act, that would make reading this book a little easier.

Marrs continues to be an author I will pick up, and know I’ll enjoy, without even reading the blurb.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Pan MacMillan for my advanced copy.