How does Shan do it? Releasing a book every three months must put some strain on you, even if you have the entire series already written out, surely? And to also continue to produce exciting, thrilling books as well! How does he do it?

Following directly on from the last book’s thrilling cliff hanger, B is thrown into a world of trouble and torment, as yet unseen in this terrifying new world. But this time it comes in the form of humans, the true monsters through and through. And as these books have now taken up the habit, this one ends in another nail-bitingly aggravating cliff hanger.

The story continues to be highly interesting, never once dropping the ball as we get closer to the finale of this apocalyptic and, let’s face it, slightly confusing world. That confusion continues to be generated by more questions being raised, even as others are answered.

It’s a fast paced piece of work, the action never stopping, and those shock moments never ceasing; whether that be big plot twists (which there is enough of to cause cardiac arrest) or just Shan going to new heights in his gore-splattered writing, heights we never even considered in such an already messed up world.

That’s right. As well as the usual bout of gore, which is to be expected in a zombie infested saga, Shan ups the ante as he revels in the shredding apart of helpless victims as things slide slowly out of hand for B. And then there’s the torture on B herself. But when y [images] ou’re torturing something that doesn’t feel too much pain (aka a zombie) you have to think up new ways of inflicting pain… and Shan certainly does just that. For those with a nervous disposition… perhaps you’d be better off reading about puppies, rainbows and unicorns.

The best quotes from this book are:

‘…stick your head up your arse and eat yourself from the inside out.’

‘You’re nuttier than a squirrel’s stocking on Christmas Day.’

‘Time to put you out of my misery…’

Definitely one of the best of the series to date, Family is a fast-paced, torture fest of gore and misery with a nice slab of humour that fans of the books will know accompanies the character of B. You can see Shan is setting up those oversized dominoes, ready to be pushed over in a destructive wave of gore, shock and thrills as the finale finally hits us. Roll on the next book.

An 8.5 out of 10.