Family Business

By: Jonathan Sims

Narrated by: Jonathan Sims, Rachel Petladwala

A bone-chilling horror from the acclaimed writer of THIRTEEN STOREYS and hit horror podcast THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES

JUST ANOTHER DEAD-END JOB.

DEATH. IT'S A DIRTY BUSINESS.

When Diya Burman's best friend Angie dies, it feels like her own life is falling apart. Wanting a fresh start, she joins Slough & Sons - a family firm that cleans up after the recently deceased.

Old love letters. Porcelain dolls. Broken trinkets. Clearing away the remnants of other people's lives, Diya begins to see things. Horrible things. Things that get harder and harder to write off as merely her grieving imagination. All is not as it seems with the Slough family. Why won't they speak about their own recent loss? And who is the strange man that keeps turning up at their jobs?

If Diya's not careful, she might just end up getting buried under the family tree. . .

©2022 Jonathan Sims (P)2022 Gollancz

Critic reviews

"Combines a creeping sense of unease with all-out gore... Nerve-jangling." (Guardian)

"A wonderfully creepy climax, hitting that perfect spot of uncanny horror." (Grimdark Magazine)

Absolutely Delightful

I thoroughly appreciate Johnathan Sims’ particular style of storytelling. The growing unease and horror of the narrative is greatly enhanced by the quality of the narrator.

This book made me cry once and almost 2 more times.

I don't know if I'm just very emotional or unstable, but this book made me want to cry multiple times. It is so good. I would listen to this again.

Delicious, if you like quiet gloom.

First, I cannot emphasis how refreshing it is to find LGBT protagonists in stories where the focus is not on a manufactured sense of novelty and queerness (whether presented in the positive or the negative.) This is one of the very few stories out there that allows a cast of marginalised people be the heroes of a struggle any ordinary people in an extraordinary world could face. This, of course, in the book goes much deeper than just the cast's LGBT identities, and spans from the primary focus group to those around them, who are all in their own ways people society often... forgets.

Delightful October experience, with lovingly crafted characters you can't dislike and who bring their own warmth and colour into what could otherwise be a very bleak world. I don't know who I wouldn't recommend this book to.

Bonus points for the calming presence of a domestic feline!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

Admittedly a slow burn at first but the pay off was a wonderfully horror-filled delight!

This is the second audiobook I have ever heard with multiple voices. The first being Jonathan Sims' "13 Storeys" (another excellent title). Jonny, if you see this review, please keep doing this. It's new and fresh and I love it. If I had to add anything, I would have added sound effects like you did in "13 Storeys" but regardless, I will listen to this again and again. Guaranteed!

Great

I love horror & Jonathan Sims so this was great. Thirteen Storeys is still my favourite from him but this was great too. Great narration but a lot slower to start than Thirteen Storeys. It was worth it though.

Another Knockout

Jonathan Sims is possibly the freshest breath of air on the horror scene I've found in some time. A skilled hand at atmospheric tension and an increasingly well-honed political and social commentary meeting lively and diverse characters.

What is the forsaken was a thing?

It’s beautiful. The lovely framing of grief, not in some contrived way, is framed in a respect while retaining the entertaining quality of horror. The ending was sadifying in a way I’ve grown to enjoy from Jonny Sims.

Sims Strikes Back

I’ve been following Sims’ work since the beginning of The Magnus Archives and I have to say — having read his other novel, Thirteen Storeys — that he has done it again. A bold proclamation to be sure, but as a lifelong horror fan I think it’s safe to say.
Sims does a great job of weaving mythology and narrative, prose and dialogue. His characters, par for the course, feel real and not simply one-note write offs.
Family Business is a slow burn, but one with a creeping sensation that stays with you after putting down the headphones or book if you managed to get one.
10/10.

came for the story was astounded by performance

It's legitimately one of the best and most gripping horror stories I've had the privilege to read. it is a haunting and captivating portrait of grief while still being an edge-of- your-seat thriller. If you enjoy audio books or listening to stories at all, I would highly recommend the audio version of this book because the performance is spectacular. Rachel"s reading of the story is incredible, and the author's feature bits will send a chill up your spine.

How creepy Mr Bill is. John has the best voice of all time.

It was perfect! Amazing story! Loved the characters. Very atmospheric and creepy vibes all about.