If I should begin putting my dreams together into readable sentences, I’d have several copies of gut-wrenching stories lying around. I say this because John Marrs admits that the terrifying premise of his book Keep It in the Family came from a dream he had. Well, lucky (or unlucky) for us, he decided to turn that dream into a novel and what a sinister masterpiece it turned out to be.
I was both impressed and at the same time disappointed with how this book came to an end. It’s no doubt we wish for good to always prevail in the end and culprits brought to justice but here, the author had a different thought and I sort of found it oddly satisfying.
Now, to cut to the chase, the book follows Mia and Finn, a young married couple eager to start afresh in their fixer-upper of a home. Sounds cute, right? Except on one of the days when work’s being done in the house, Mia notices a writing on a board that gives off the idea that something’s hidden in the attic of the house which needs to be saved. She calls on Finn, compelling him to check it out. There, they make a shocking discovery of suitcases bearing the skeletal remains of missing children.
This discovery shakes Mia and of course the other family members which includes her mother-in-law, Debbie, father-in-law, Dave and her not-to-be-trusted husband Finn. The story spirals into a maze of dark family secrets, manipulations and betrayals.
One thing I find impressive about this book is that the author makes sure readers are not just peeking into the keyhole of evil, they are dragged inside the house and bolted in.
His writing lures you in with ordinary characters and then rips the rug right from under you. The pacing is sharp and the atmosphere is claustrophobic in the best way possible. The chapters are short (bless his heart for that), and each one ends with a mini punch that keeps you flipping until your neck starts to ache from hunching over. The last book I read was Kevin O’Brien’s The Night She Disappeared and if it had me feeling stalked, Marrs’ had me convinced that at least one of my insociable neighbors is probably hiding a secret basement or warehouse filled with things the police would be interested in.
As for the characters, I don’t know who frustrated me the most neither did I have a favorite. I was in for the catch. I wanted every single person involved to face the law. Mia actually did frustrate me but I had to understand that she was a woman dealing with postnatal depression. Finn, on the other hand, for all his initial helplessness, grew on me, though I constantly wondered what dark things he knew that he was refusing to let on.
I like that the author doesn’t hold back on the twisted family dynamics either, and I honestly had to pause a few times to catch my breath after each reveal. This is another book that will linger in my memory for a while.
I absolutely adore thrillers that mess with my sense of safety and this one checked all the boxes; the creeping unease, the “wait, there’s more?” gasp moments and an ending that seals the deal with unsettling finality. It’s dark, it’s chilling and it makes you question how well you really know the people closest to you.
If you’re into dark thrillers, you might want to check this one out.