Every family has some “dirty little secrets” that they don’t want anybody to know about. The Radley family has more than their share of these secrets. The mother has some secrets that she hopes her husband never finds out about, the father has secrets that he does not want revealed to his wife, both parents have secrets that they are determined to keep from their children and the public.

Matt Haig has created a typical English middle-class suburban family containing a mother, father, son, and daughter. The family lives in a nice neighborhood, they own a car that is appropriate for that area, the father is a doctor, and the mother is involved in a book club. The thing that nobody knows about the Radley family is that they are vampires.

The Radley parents had decided to become “abstainers” after having children. They hoped that by not partaking of blood themselves, the children would not develop a desire for it. To protect their children (who are now teenagers) even more, they have not told them that they are vampires. 

An incident occurs that causes the vampire in one of the children to show itself and things start to happen. A somewhat unwelcome relative shows up, some links to the past start to be revealed, and the “normal happy family” finds itself in turmoil.

The book has many short chapters which help to keep the story moving fast.  There are some interesting twists and turns with plenty of action.

I would advise the reader to pay careful attention to the names of the characters. Several times while reading the book, I had to refer back to an earlier chapter to figure out who a character was.

There is some coarse language in this book and a few brief adult situation scenes. If not for these things, the book could easily be appropriate for any age

Disclosure of Material Connection: I was given an advance readers copy of this book by the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Tags: 4 STARS, action, fiction, language warning, mystery, thriller, vampire