The Family Experiment (Paperback) - John Marrs

From the acclaimed author of The One and The Marriage Act, The Family Experiment is a dark and brilliant speculative thriller about families: real and virtual . . .

'John Marrs is not to be missed' - Freida McFadden, bestselling author of The Housemaid

'Few writers do domestic suspense meets dystopia better than John Marrs' - Lucy Foley, bestselling author of The Paris Apartment

'The books of John Marrs have become a quiet phenomenon . . . Thoughtful, well written . . . and alarming' - Daily Mail

Some families are virtually perfect . . .

The world's population is soaring, creating overcrowded cities and an economic crisis. A growing number of people can no longer afford to start families, let alone raise them.

But for those desperate to experience parenthood, there is an alternative. For a monthly fee, clients can create a virtual child from scratch, accessing them via the Metaverse and a VR headset. To launch this new initiative, the company behind MetaChildren has created a reality TV show. It will follow its contestants as they raise a MetaChild from birth to the age of eighteen, in a condensed nine-month time period. The prize: the right to keep their virtual child - or risk it all for the chance of a real baby . . .

The Goodreads Choice Award 2024 runner up, The Family Experiment is set in the same universe as John Marrs's bestselling novel The One and The Marriage Act. A dark and twisted thriller about the ultimate 'tamagotchi' - a virtual baby.

'Speculative fiction at its best - original, dark and wickedly clever' - C. L. Taylor, author of Every Move You Make

'His best yet. Frighteningly plausible, gripping, dark, and so clever' - Claire Douglas, author of The Woman Who Lied

'Hurtles towards a chilling denouement - a truly thought-provoking, single-sitting thriller' - Ellery Lloyd, author of The Club

'Chilling, inventive, horribly plausible and brilliantly addictive' - C. J. Tudor, author of The Gathering

About the Author

John Marrs is an author and former journalist based in Northamptonshire. After spending his career interviewing celebrities from the worlds of television, film and music for numerous national newspapers and magazines, he is now a full-time author. He is the bestselling author of: The One, The Passengers, The Minders, The Marriage Act, What Lies Between and When You Disappeared.