Here are 14 books that The Family Experiment fans have personally recommended if you like
The Family Experiment.
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A witty story of a boy coming of age in a dysfunctional Australian family, made up of his absent mother, drunk father, and mute brother. Even in the darkest moments the book has a warmth and my heart was moved by both boys trying their best in a broken world. Loved this book (and the later film) and - like all the best books – I was disappointed to leave it behind when I reached the end. My only wish was that I understood more of the Australian cultural references which would no doubt have deepened my appreciation even more.
'The most extraordinary writer - a rare talent' Nikki Gemmell
An utterly wonderful novel of love, crime, magic, fate and coming of age from one of Australia's most exciting new writers.
Brisbane, 1983: A lost father, a mute brother, a mum in jail, a heroin dealer for a stepfather and a notorious criminal for a babysitter. It's not as if Eli's life isn't complicated enough already. He's just trying to follow his heart, learning what it takes to be a good man, but life just keeps throwing obstacles in the way - not least of which is Tytus Broz, legendary…
The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.
The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.
Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…
Edwards is one of my favourite authors, so I knew I was in for a treat when I downloaded this audiobook. The story follows Ethan and his family, as well as Fiona, who moves in next door. When Fiona starts spending time with 12-year-old Rose, we soon realise that Fiona is extremely evil. This book explores parental child relationships, and what it means to be a psychopath. Although there aren’t many twists as such, there is so much great character development and a constant edge of nerviness pervades the story. It was impossible not to race through it and is one of my top reads of the year.
In this mesmerising thriller from the bestselling author of Keep Her Secret, a family's fresh start is just the beginning of their nightmare...
Ethan Dove's family has moved to a new home in a safe community, and it's exactly the fresh start they need. Not only is his marriage to Emma hanging by a thread, but his son, Dylan, and twelve-year-old daughter, Rose, deserve to have a happy childhood.
After Rose is bullied by the boys across the road, Ethan is relieved when the woman who lives next door steps in. Fiona Smith has come into their lives at just…
I read this in twenty-four hours – it was that good! Following the death of her first husband, Lisa meets senior police detective Alex and marries him. He’s caring towards her young daughter, except nothing is as it seems. Alex is a master of coercive control and after Lisa finds a note written by Alex’s previous wife who supposedly died in a car crash, Lisa realises she’s made a terrible mistake. Except it’s not easy escaping the clutches of a police officer.
There is so much tension in this book, and the characters are so finely portrayed, you’ll find your heart racing and your breath catching. I’ve read many thrillers featuring controlling husbands and women fleeing abusive relationships, but this is surely the best. A must-read!
After a whirlwind romance, widow Lisa thinks she's found her perfect match in senior policeman Alex. He's everything she needs—a devoted husband and caring stepfather to her daughter Bella. And, like Lisa, he knows what it is to lose someone precious. Alex suffered his own bereavement when his previous partner, Polly, passed away.
But is he really Mr. Right?
As Alex's charm gradually morphs into rigid control, Lisa realises that he has a dark side, that she has married a man she doesn't really know.
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
It's an obvious statement to say 'the past leads to the present', but this story illustrates the impact of tragic events in recent history on the lives of people today. With two interwoven narratives set in 1970’s Uganda and present day London, Zayyan brings to life the country of Uganda, the tragedy of the rule of Idi Amin, and the casual racism that can still be seen today. A thought-provoking book which will stay with me.
WINNER of the Merky Books New Writers' Prize _________________ 'A remarkably accomplished, polished debut.' MALORIE BLACKMAN 'Rightfully tipped for greatness' SUNDAY TIMES 'This moving tale of love and loss ... is well worth the wait' INDEPENDENT '[W]hat's distinctive is the modern, multi-ethnic vision of masculinity she presents and the solidarity that emerges from it ... undeniably powerful too.' GUARDIAN '[A] sprawling and epic dual narrative ... woven together with gentle urgency; sensitive and with a rare perspective on how our mixed race backgrounds can help form feelings of both internal power and conflict.' I-D MAGAZINE
You’ve got to root for the underdog, right? And there’s no bigger underdog than fictional villains. While real-life criminals are doing very nicely, thank you very much, in fiction, the bad guy is screwed from the start. What could be more relatable than knowing on a bone-deep, existential level that you’ve already lost? And what could be more heroic than stepping out onto the field of play knowing that no matter how hard you play, you’re still going down? Keep your flawed anti-heroes; they’re just too chicken to go over to the losing side. I’ll cheer for the doomed bad guy every single time.
About halfway into Red Dragon, you meet Francis Dolarhyde, and from then on, the book is all his. Forget the FBI who are looking for him, the only person you care about is Dolarhyde, the serial killer who’s been brutally murdering entire families.
As far as I’m concerned, he’s the hero. Hannibal Lecter isn’t Thomas Harris’ best villain. It’s Dolarhyde. He’s everything Lecter isn’t. He’s awkward, shy, hates his body, hates himself and spends all his time stewing on his inadequacies. If I’ve got to pick between the Virgin Dolarhyde and the Chad Lecter, it’s Dolarhyde every time.
Deep down, he just wants to be loved, but the way he goes about it is almost comically misguided. Dolardhyde is on an impossible, bloody mission to fix himself, and no matter how many bodies he drops trying to do it, I’m always rooting for him to make it out the…
From the author of "Silence of the Lambs" and "Black Sunday", this is the book that introduces the most famous serial killer of them all - Hannibal Lecter.
I have long had an interest in government conspiracies and have spent hundreds of hours researching the many experiments our government has foisted upon an unsuspecting populous. When the Church Committee released info on Projects MK Ultra, Bluebird, Artichoke, and others, people were stunned to realize what had been going on. Movies such as The Matrix dealt with mind control and the attempt to create the perfect soldier, and I am convinced such research and experimentation continues today.
This novel has so many reasons to recommend it. It incorporates radical experimentation and horrifying surgeries being done in a bizarre hospital. To make it even more mysterious, there is a hurricane threatening the island which complicates the investigation of US Marshall Teddy Daniels searching for a patient who has disappeared.
I loved the creepy island hospital and the use of weather as a character.
The basis for the blockbuster motion picture directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Shutter Island by New York Times bestselling author Dennis Lehane is a gripping and atmospheric psychological thriller where nothing is quite what it seems. The New York Times calls Shutter Island, “Startlingly original.” The Washington Post raves, “Brilliantly conceived and executed.” A masterwork of suspense and surprise from the author of Mystic River and Gone, Baby, Gone, Shutter Island carries the reader into a nightmare world of madness, mind control, and CIA Cold War paranoia andis unlike anything you’ve ever read before.
A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.
Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…
As a reader and a writer, I am drawn to the darker side of human nature. Dysfunctional families, toxic relationships, liars, murderers, bring on the bad. An avid reader of horror and thrillers, I love a jaw-dropping twist. I aim for that feeling in my own novels, opening up reader questions and slowly delivering satisfying answers until the final big reveal. While inside my head is very dark and murdery, outside I live a very normal, law-abiding life, in Tampa with my husband, our four kids, and two dogs.
Ruth and Gemma are two moms with opposing lifestyles. Ruth is affluent, while Gemma is struggling to make ends meet. Shunned by the other moms, Ruth clings to Gemma, showering her with gifts and trips and the two become best frienemies. Their toxic relationship is a fun ride, and two separate incidents years apart leave both moms finding themselves on the wrong side of scandal. This book got messier and messier with each page, and I was there for it. Every time I thought I had figured out what was going on, I’d read a sentence and question everything.
A suspenseful, gripping novel about families and friendships torn apart at the seams by obsession, secrets, and betrayal with relentless twists and turns that hurtle forward to a shocking confrontation.
When Ruth, a wealthy divorce e, offers to host the Hillside Academy kindergarten meet-and-greet, she hopes this will be a fresh start for her and her introverted daughter, Marley. Finally, they'll be accepted into a tribe. Marley will make friends and Ruth will be welcomed by the mothers. Instead, the parents are turned off by Ruth's ostentatious wealth and before kindergarten even begins, Ruth and Marley are outcasts.
This book is an almost perfect psychological thriller. The way the narration switches back and forth between Nina and Maggie, neither of which is a truly reliable narrator, makes it so that you don't even know who to root for. As the truth unfurls, you get caught up in a wild, emotional ride.
Nina can never forgive Maggie for what she did. And she can never let her leave.
They say every house has its secrets, and the house that Maggie and Nina have shared for so long is no different. Except that these secrets are not buried in the past.
Every other night, Maggie and Nina have dinner together. When they are finished, Nina helps Maggie back to her room in the attic, and into the heavy chain that keeps her there. Because Maggie has done things to Nina that can't ever be forgiven, and now she is paying the price.
As a suspense thriller author and retired police detective, I’ve seen how ordinary people can hide the darkest secrets. That’s why I love small-town mysteries. They show the endless ways people cover up what they don’t want others to see, and they remind me of the unsettling truth I’ve witnessed firsthand: behind every neat house and familiar smile, there can be lies, betrayal, or danger and nothing is ever as safe as it looks.
I loved Daisy Darker because it was haunting and impossible to put down.
The eerie, locked-in setting gave me chills, and every page pulled me deeper in. I kept thinking I had the mystery solved, but the ending shocked me completely. I closed the book in awe and couldn’t stop thinking about it.
*INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER* "Alice Feeney is great with TWISTS and TURNS." —Harlan Coben
The NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR of Rock Paper Scissors returns with a locked-room mystery when a family reunion leads to murder in a delightfully twisty and atmospheric thriller, as seen on the TODAY show.
“A dysfunctional family meets Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None with a truly gasp-inducing twist. This is the book you've been looking for.” —Catherine Ryan Howard, bestselling author of 56 Days
Daisy Darker was born with a broken heart. Now after years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker’s entire…
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
When I was 27, I thought it would be fun to write. I have no formal training, yet I have found success through reading exposure and trial and error for 30 years. Changing my voice was hard, but reading these books helped me define the kind of story I wanted to tell in my new novel, Missed Connection. Erotic thrillers truly are a guilty pleasure for me.
Witty writing is important to me both as a writer and a reader, and Palahniuk’s prose is sharp, aggressive, and biting, with more wit than most writers know what to do with. It’s a hard feat as a writer to be witty and aggressive and still maintain the flow of the story, and Palahniuk does it over and over, with this book being a stand out for me.
Not too many books can make me laugh out loud, shudder, cringe, and keep turning the pages like this one did.
Misty Wilmot has had it. Once a promising young artist, she’s now stuck on an island ruined by tourism, drinking too much and working as a waitress in a hotel. Her husband, a contractor, is in a coma after a suicide attempt, but that doesn’t stop his clients from threatening Misty with lawsuits over a series of vile messages they’ve found on the walls of houses he remodeled.
Suddenly, though, Misty finds her artistic talent returning as she begins a period of compulsive painting. Inspired but confused by this burst of creativity, she soon finds herself a pawn in a…
