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The Family Experiment
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett, Clifford Samuel, Eilidh Beaton, Joshua Riley, Justin Avoth, Thomas Judd, Nneka Okoye
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
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The Family Experiment
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Publisher's summary
'If you love Black Mirror you have to read John Marrs. The Family Experiment is chilling, inventive, horribly plausible and brilliantly addictive.' - C. J. Tudor, author of The Gathering
Some families are virtually perfect . . .
The world's population is soaring, creating overcrowded cities and an economic crisis. And in the UK, breaking point has arrived. 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 subscription fee, clients can create a virtual child from scratch who they can access via the metaverse and a VR headset. To launch this new initiative, the company behind Virtual Children has created a reality tv show. It will follow ten couples as they raise a Virtual Child from birth to the age of eighteen but 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 . . .
Set in the same universe as John Marrs's bestselling novel The One and The Marriage Act, The Family Experiment is a dark and twisted thriller about the ultimate 'tamagotchi' - a virtual baby.
'John Marrs is a writer at the top of his game and The Family Experiment is his best yet. Frighteningly plausible, gripping, dark, and so clever.' - Claire Douglas, author of The Woman Who Lied
'An unsettling and immersive roller coaster which hurtles towards a chilling denouement - a truly thought-provoking, single-sitting thriller. Loved it. ' - Ellery Lloyd, author of The Club
'The Family Experiment is an eerie and darkly addictive thriller that will have your mind whirling throughout.' - Culturefly
Critic reviews
'It's so, so, good. This book deserves to be huge. It’s speculative fiction at its very best - original, dark and wickedly clever. I was utterly captivated by the way Marrs melded reality TV, AI and a terrifyingly plausible future. He's created a terrifyingly plausible world. The world building, the characters, the reveals and the twists are so well done that this book is crying out for a Netflix adaptation.' (C. L. Taylor, author of Every Move You Make)
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