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Family Business
JUST ANOTHER DEAD-END JOB.
People don't just disappear when they die. Not unless you make them.
When Diya Burman's best friend Angie dies unexpectedly, it feels like her own life is falling apart. Grief costs her friends, family, and even her job. But that's ok, because now she's got a new job: working at Slough & Sons, a family firm that deals in cleaning up after the recently deceased.
Old love letters. Porcelain dolls. Hoarded 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 nondescript man who keeps turning up at their jobs?
It's a dirty old business, cleaning up after the dead, and if Diya's not careful she might just end up getting buried under the family tree..
People don't just disappear when they die. Not unless you make them.
When Diya Burman's best friend Angie dies unexpectedly, it feels like her own life is falling apart. Grief costs her friends, family, and even her job. But that's ok, because now she's got a new job: working at Slough & Sons, a family firm that deals in cleaning up after the recently deceased.
Old love letters. Porcelain dolls. Hoarded 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 nondescript man who keeps turning up at their jobs?
It's a dirty old business, cleaning up after the dead, and if Diya's not careful she might just end up getting buried under the family tree..
336 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 13, 2022
162 people are currently reading
3528 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Sims
27 books1,176 followersJonathan Sims is a writer, performer and games designer whose work primarily focuses on the macabre, the grotesque, and the gentle touch of creeping dread. He is the mind and the voice behind acclaimed horror podcast The Magnus Archives, as well as story-game design duo MacGuffin & Co., and some of your favourite nightmares. He lives in Walthamstow with the two best cats and an overwhelming backlog of books that he really should get round to.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 367 reviews
November 27, 2022
unfortunately my signed and dedicated copy never arrived. i am inconsolable. i blame the english, french and german postal services. one of you lost it - admit it.
either way. i listened to the audiobook instead but that unfortunately didn't really work for me.
Bill was creepy and i liked him and he reminded me of Michael from TMA (won't tell you which one, there are only around 500 possibilities) but other than that.. *shrugs*
i do hope JS writes another book though so i can have another chance for a signed and dedicated copy ...
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Jonathan Sims could write five hundred pages of random letters strung together and i would read it and i would love it :)
October 8, 2023
the one (1) thing that jonny sims is gonna do is write an entire grandiose ending!
i liked this book kind of less than thirteen stories (probably 'cause i miss the 'short stories culminating into an overarching plot' structure) but the last few chapters were good! i think the reveal about mr bill (let's call him michael mcfuckmouth, ok?) or rather the concept of him could've been creepier ig? anyway, i am still reading jonny sims' next book when it comes out lol.
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pre read: yeah, i would probably read jonathan sims' grocery list :)
jonny sims wrote one (1) podcast once and got my undying loyalty!!
i liked this book kind of less than thirteen stories (probably 'cause i miss the 'short stories culminating into an overarching plot' structure) but the last few chapters were good! i think the reveal about mr bill (let's call him michael mcfuckmouth, ok?) or rather the concept of him could've been creepier ig? anyway, i am still reading jonny sims' next book when it comes out lol.
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pre read: yeah, i would probably read jonathan sims' grocery list :)
jonny sims wrote one (1) podcast once and got my undying loyalty!!
September 27, 2022
When Diya Burman's best friend dies, her life falls apart. She loses everything. But then she gets a new job: working at Slough and Sons, cleaning up after the recently deceased. Clearing away the remains of lost lives, Diya begins to see things. Horrible things, that can't be written off as imagination. Nothing is as it seems with the Sloughs.
What a nice cast of realistic and loveable characters. Diya gets a job with Slough and Son, cleaning up the recently deceased personal belongings - trinkets, love letters, etc. But Dina begins to see strange things and a mysterious man keeps appearing. This well written book is easy to read. The storyline will stretch your imagination. There are also parts that are quite creepy. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
I would like to thank #NetGalley #OrionBookGroup and the author #JonathanSims for my ARC of #FamilyBusiness in exchange for an honest review.
What a nice cast of realistic and loveable characters. Diya gets a job with Slough and Son, cleaning up the recently deceased personal belongings - trinkets, love letters, etc. But Dina begins to see strange things and a mysterious man keeps appearing. This well written book is easy to read. The storyline will stretch your imagination. There are also parts that are quite creepy. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
I would like to thank #NetGalley #OrionBookGroup and the author #JonathanSims for my ARC of #FamilyBusiness in exchange for an honest review.
April 9, 2023
Jonny Sims is one of a very small handful of authors whose work I will read (or often in his case, listen to) immediately, no questions asked, no summary needed. Jonny Sims made it, so I will consume it.
This book came to me at very funny time. Funny-coincidental, not funny-haha. Like I said a moment ago, I don’t need to vet my Jonny Sims content before I add it to my TBR; he’s got a standing invitation to take up space there any time he wants. The funny thing is, this book almost reads as though it was written very extremely specifically for me to read at this exact moment in my life. Earlier this year, I purchased my first home. The previous owner had passed away from brain cancer, leaving no family behind, so when I got the house, it was still full of her old possessions. The past eight months of my life have been spent cleaning up the remains of someone else’s life, getting glimpses into the person she must have been through the things she left behind. Many, many trips to the dump and many more donation runs to goodwill, the house is feeling less and less like living in the shadow of someone else’s life.
This tangent is relevant.
I am, in a far less dark and far more mundane way, doing something of the same job that Diya found herself in. I found so much to resonate with in the more and reflective portions of the narrative, in the quiet tragedy of a life unremembered and sorted through by strangers. This was, unexpectedly, the strength of the novel for me. Jonny Sims has a way of displaying observations about the world that make them feel meaningful – not just in the ways that he pulls horror from the mundane, but also in the ways that he shines a light on the small injustices of the world, the ones that hide in the places that society overlooks. He can pull the tragedy of the world into sharp and horrific focus.
I think The Magnus Archives will “haunt” Jonny’s career as a novelist, in that it is so very tempting to sort his newer work into the categories laid out by the Fears, the entities he fleshed out so well in his much acclaimed podcast. I now find myself sorting most horror into the 15 fears – a lasting take away from the Magnus Archives that I simply can’t shake. I suspect Jonny’s audience will have a hard time not doing so here. Mr. Bill is so well suited as an avatar of the Lonely, after all.
That being said, I think this novel is an outstanding standalone piece. It’s stronger than his first novel, Thirteen Storeys, both structurally and conceptually (I loved that book, but it wavers a bit in the structure department). I think he is well on his way to a spectacular career as a novelist.
This book came to me at very funny time. Funny-coincidental, not funny-haha. Like I said a moment ago, I don’t need to vet my Jonny Sims content before I add it to my TBR; he’s got a standing invitation to take up space there any time he wants. The funny thing is, this book almost reads as though it was written very extremely specifically for me to read at this exact moment in my life. Earlier this year, I purchased my first home. The previous owner had passed away from brain cancer, leaving no family behind, so when I got the house, it was still full of her old possessions. The past eight months of my life have been spent cleaning up the remains of someone else’s life, getting glimpses into the person she must have been through the things she left behind. Many, many trips to the dump and many more donation runs to goodwill, the house is feeling less and less like living in the shadow of someone else’s life.
This tangent is relevant.
I am, in a far less dark and far more mundane way, doing something of the same job that Diya found herself in. I found so much to resonate with in the more and reflective portions of the narrative, in the quiet tragedy of a life unremembered and sorted through by strangers. This was, unexpectedly, the strength of the novel for me. Jonny Sims has a way of displaying observations about the world that make them feel meaningful – not just in the ways that he pulls horror from the mundane, but also in the ways that he shines a light on the small injustices of the world, the ones that hide in the places that society overlooks. He can pull the tragedy of the world into sharp and horrific focus.
I think The Magnus Archives will “haunt” Jonny’s career as a novelist, in that it is so very tempting to sort his newer work into the categories laid out by the Fears, the entities he fleshed out so well in his much acclaimed podcast. I now find myself sorting most horror into the 15 fears – a lasting take away from the Magnus Archives that I simply can’t shake. I suspect Jonny’s audience will have a hard time not doing so here. Mr. Bill is so well suited as an avatar of the Lonely, after all.
That being said, I think this novel is an outstanding standalone piece. It’s stronger than his first novel, Thirteen Storeys, both structurally and conceptually (I loved that book, but it wavers a bit in the structure department). I think he is well on his way to a spectacular career as a novelist.
November 12, 2022
Jonny, you’ve done it again! You’ve written another anthology disguised as a novel! This one even has a main character but we can work around that by making her have visions of the deaths of other people!
As a huge fan of The Magnus Archives and Jonny’s brand of horror I was unfortunately let down by this book. Aside from the fact that it’s another anthology that desperately tries to fit the format of a novel (which we already saw with his debut novel Thirteen Storeys) I just didn’t like the pacing, prose or plot.
It’s a shame because I thought the premise was intruiging and could’ve made for interesting horror. The plot follows Diya who, after experiencing the loss of her roommate and best friend, starts a job at a firm that cleans up after the dead. So far so good. It’s not really a plot I’ve seen before so it could be interesting.
Some parts of the firm’s business DID feel interesting. Thinking about what happens to the human body and the things around it as it decomposes in death is unsettling so reading about what needs to be done to the furniture and items that are soaked in human remains did leave an impression. That’s one of the things I can say in favor of this novel.
Other than that I felt like I was beaten over the head with a hammer at every plot point like *boink* did you see what I did there? *boink* did you see that? *boink* in case you didn’t see that I’m gonna make my main character comment on it so that you won’t miss it *boink*. (It’s going boink because I’m imagining a ridiculous inflatable toy rather than an actual hammer, I don’t want my head to be literally bashed in by the plot).
The fact that the plot is so unsubtle becomes even more sad because I know Jonny can write with subtlety from having listened to The Magnus Archives but so far I’ve seen none of that translated into either of his novels.
I enjoyed Thirteen Storeys well enough and thought the individual stories were mostly interesting even if the overarching plot and ending also lacked subtlety. At least the short stories themselves had vivid imagery and the type of horror elements that made The Magnus Archives such a popular podcast. The people in the piping of the building and the stain that refuses to be cleaned are two examples of that.
This book has none of that. There are so few elements of horror in this novel that I would actually be inclined to agree with another review I saw that described it as more of a supernatural story than a horror one. There were no specific images that will end up seared into my mind. Instead the characters mainly just died in entirely normal ways. Except it’s this one supernatural entity’s fault. And who is this supernatural entity? Well, there’s nothing remarkable about him aside from the fact that he is always smiling and also feasts on the forgotten dead. Two facts that were vividly clear from the start of the novel.
A man who stands in the background with a smile can be a terrifying image but again it just lacked subtlety. Almost from the same moment we heard about the guy we also had the main character realize who he was in the plot. There was no intrigue at all from that point. Thank you for clearing away the mystery so quickly.
I did think the photos of him in the phone of the dead guy as he comes closer and closer to his house was a nice touch. However as an IT professional who has daily struggled with people forgetting their passcodes and their emails and their passwords and anything that would help us getting into their phones, the fact that the phone was conveniently unlocked without a passcode or anything felt like the most unbelievable thing in this entire novel. This is where I need to suspend my disbelief. Not for any of the supernatural stuff.
That last point is not an actual criticism because that’s just a personal slight to me specifically but what I will actually criticize about it is that Jonny does brings attention to it by making the character comment on how she thought it’d be locked by a passcode but lucky her! It wasn’t! So he did realize it was horribly convenient that the phone was able to open at once and yet decided to do that anyway. And once again we have immediately cleared away any mystery of what the main character would find on that phone.
This is from a man who normally can build a gradually revealing plot over the course of 40 episodes per season in a podcast so I don’t really know what’s going on here. I think the novel format just doesn’t suit him as much as the podcast format. He also clearly wants to keep doing short stories as he builds his novels around the short stories rather than on the main characters. The things I know about Diya are that she’s into women and Clea DuVall in But I’m A Cheerleader, and is isolating herself in grief. That could be said about half of my tumblr mutuals. Another example of this is the side character who is a gay woman that’s in love with Daisy Ridley as Rey in Star Wars. Listen. I am a lesbian who loves But I’m A Cheerleader and who thinks Daisy Ridley is hot and has called Rey my girlfriend but that shouldn’t be all I know about these women. It feels like it was more important to show they’re gay than to show who they are as people. And there are other ways to make a gay woman. I’ll get into the one bit that DID resonate with me on an emotional level as a lesbian below.
The one thing that did feel real about Diya is the relationship she had with her deceased roommate/best friend. And that’s partially because her best friend Angie reminded me of a friend I’ve had so I could picture perfectly what kind of person she was and what kind of relationship they had. She felt real to me despite being dead before the book started. So I do gotta give him some points for creating a character that haunts the narrative and for understanding the complexity of female friendship between gay women who have known each other since they were kids and understood each other on some level others did not despite other people not really understanding how the two of them fit together and considering one to be a bad influence including the parents never really liking that friend and also the two of them never having dated but nonetheless being each other’s Person™️. Woah, oddly specific. Anyway, yeah I recognize that. That chapter alone gives the book one of the stars in my ranking. Moving on.
The two chapters I liked most were the flashbacks to the best friend and the son of the firm respectively. It’s in those where he shines. I would buy a short story collection from Jonny any day of the week. In comparison the parts that are actually taking place in real time in the novel feel so contrived. Following Diya along in her days was incredibly boring to be honest and I struggled to continue this book at many points but I still wanted to finish it just hoping something interesting would come along. Nothing about it surprised me or really caught my interest though and I can’t say that it was worth it to continue. So sorry, Jonny. This just ain’t it.
As a huge fan of The Magnus Archives and Jonny’s brand of horror I was unfortunately let down by this book. Aside from the fact that it’s another anthology that desperately tries to fit the format of a novel (which we already saw with his debut novel Thirteen Storeys) I just didn’t like the pacing, prose or plot.
It’s a shame because I thought the premise was intruiging and could’ve made for interesting horror. The plot follows Diya who, after experiencing the loss of her roommate and best friend, starts a job at a firm that cleans up after the dead. So far so good. It’s not really a plot I’ve seen before so it could be interesting.
Some parts of the firm’s business DID feel interesting. Thinking about what happens to the human body and the things around it as it decomposes in death is unsettling so reading about what needs to be done to the furniture and items that are soaked in human remains did leave an impression. That’s one of the things I can say in favor of this novel.
Other than that I felt like I was beaten over the head with a hammer at every plot point like *boink* did you see what I did there? *boink* did you see that? *boink* in case you didn’t see that I’m gonna make my main character comment on it so that you won’t miss it *boink*. (It’s going boink because I’m imagining a ridiculous inflatable toy rather than an actual hammer, I don’t want my head to be literally bashed in by the plot).
The fact that the plot is so unsubtle becomes even more sad because I know Jonny can write with subtlety from having listened to The Magnus Archives but so far I’ve seen none of that translated into either of his novels.
I enjoyed Thirteen Storeys well enough and thought the individual stories were mostly interesting even if the overarching plot and ending also lacked subtlety. At least the short stories themselves had vivid imagery and the type of horror elements that made The Magnus Archives such a popular podcast. The people in the piping of the building and the stain that refuses to be cleaned are two examples of that.
This book has none of that. There are so few elements of horror in this novel that I would actually be inclined to agree with another review I saw that described it as more of a supernatural story than a horror one. There were no specific images that will end up seared into my mind. Instead the characters mainly just died in entirely normal ways. Except it’s this one supernatural entity’s fault. And who is this supernatural entity? Well, there’s nothing remarkable about him aside from the fact that he is always smiling and also feasts on the forgotten dead. Two facts that were vividly clear from the start of the novel.
A man who stands in the background with a smile can be a terrifying image but again it just lacked subtlety. Almost from the same moment we heard about the guy we also had the main character realize who he was in the plot. There was no intrigue at all from that point. Thank you for clearing away the mystery so quickly.
I did think the photos of him in the phone of the dead guy as he comes closer and closer to his house was a nice touch. However as an IT professional who has daily struggled with people forgetting their passcodes and their emails and their passwords and anything that would help us getting into their phones, the fact that the phone was conveniently unlocked without a passcode or anything felt like the most unbelievable thing in this entire novel. This is where I need to suspend my disbelief. Not for any of the supernatural stuff.
That last point is not an actual criticism because that’s just a personal slight to me specifically but what I will actually criticize about it is that Jonny does brings attention to it by making the character comment on how she thought it’d be locked by a passcode but lucky her! It wasn’t! So he did realize it was horribly convenient that the phone was able to open at once and yet decided to do that anyway. And once again we have immediately cleared away any mystery of what the main character would find on that phone.
This is from a man who normally can build a gradually revealing plot over the course of 40 episodes per season in a podcast so I don’t really know what’s going on here. I think the novel format just doesn’t suit him as much as the podcast format. He also clearly wants to keep doing short stories as he builds his novels around the short stories rather than on the main characters. The things I know about Diya are that she’s into women and Clea DuVall in But I’m A Cheerleader, and is isolating herself in grief. That could be said about half of my tumblr mutuals. Another example of this is the side character who is a gay woman that’s in love with Daisy Ridley as Rey in Star Wars. Listen. I am a lesbian who loves But I’m A Cheerleader and who thinks Daisy Ridley is hot and has called Rey my girlfriend but that shouldn’t be all I know about these women. It feels like it was more important to show they’re gay than to show who they are as people. And there are other ways to make a gay woman. I’ll get into the one bit that DID resonate with me on an emotional level as a lesbian below.
The one thing that did feel real about Diya is the relationship she had with her deceased roommate/best friend. And that’s partially because her best friend Angie reminded me of a friend I’ve had so I could picture perfectly what kind of person she was and what kind of relationship they had. She felt real to me despite being dead before the book started. So I do gotta give him some points for creating a character that haunts the narrative and for understanding the complexity of female friendship between gay women who have known each other since they were kids and understood each other on some level others did not despite other people not really understanding how the two of them fit together and considering one to be a bad influence including the parents never really liking that friend and also the two of them never having dated but nonetheless being each other’s Person™️. Woah, oddly specific. Anyway, yeah I recognize that. That chapter alone gives the book one of the stars in my ranking. Moving on.
The two chapters I liked most were the flashbacks to the best friend and the son of the firm respectively. It’s in those where he shines. I would buy a short story collection from Jonny any day of the week. In comparison the parts that are actually taking place in real time in the novel feel so contrived. Following Diya along in her days was incredibly boring to be honest and I struggled to continue this book at many points but I still wanted to finish it just hoping something interesting would come along. Nothing about it surprised me or really caught my interest though and I can’t say that it was worth it to continue. So sorry, Jonny. This just ain’t it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
November 8, 2022I read a lot of horror over spooky season. Unfortunately that means that much of the plot lentils of this book have been absorbed into the October Soup of my brain.
Tasty soup tho.
Tasty soup tho.
October 18, 2022
I thought I knew what to expect when I started reading this book, I was so wrong. I was captivated with the whole storyline. Diya is dealing with a recent bereavement and a new job. But not any job she is working as a death cleaner and things take a very dark turn. Full of horror and so much more. A well deserved four and half stars. Pick up this book, I promise that you will not be disappointed.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.
October 13, 2022
It was really a strange way how I found this book and thought it would be something completely different- but instead I welcomed this horror novel and simply could not put it down!
Honestly - horror is not my preferred to go category, however this was a ride and a half!
I truly enjoyed the relatable main character and the family too- they were well written and thoroughly fleshed out bunch of characters.
The descriptions and the motivations for cleaning after a loss of life were very fascinating to me in a way I did not believe possible.
A true strong 4 stars from me and I will definitely be following this author to read more of his books, as the writing was superb!
Thank you, netgalley for the ARC!
Honestly - horror is not my preferred to go category, however this was a ride and a half!
I truly enjoyed the relatable main character and the family too- they were well written and thoroughly fleshed out bunch of characters.
The descriptions and the motivations for cleaning after a loss of life were very fascinating to me in a way I did not believe possible.
A true strong 4 stars from me and I will definitely be following this author to read more of his books, as the writing was superb!
Thank you, netgalley for the ARC!
July 22, 2024
This was fun, I was almost deceived by the cover but I actually really liked this.
The start was a bit slow but it picked up really fast, and it doesn't really drop from there. I liked the anthology-like structure for this, and there were just enough stories to be interesting but not repetitive. On that, this guy really likes writing anti-capitalist stuff (good).
My main critique is the ending felt a bit rushed. Like the way it gets resolved happened really fast and cartoonish in that it all ends nice and neat in an obvious way. It doesn't ruin the book or anything, thankfully. I think he could have explored the antagonist more, too, but the mystery does add intrigue and lets me make my own ideas about it.
The start was a bit slow but it picked up really fast, and it doesn't really drop from there. I liked the anthology-like structure for this, and there were just enough stories to be interesting but not repetitive. On that, this guy really likes writing anti-capitalist stuff (good).
My main critique is the ending felt a bit rushed. Like the way it gets resolved happened really fast and cartoonish in that it all ends nice and neat in an obvious way. It doesn't ruin the book or anything, thankfully. I think he could have explored the antagonist more, too, but the mystery does add intrigue and lets me make my own ideas about it.
January 9, 2023
Diya is adrift after her best friend has died. She is by chance employed by a clean-up crew. The sort that cleans up after unexpected deaths. After she begins, she starts to have stranger lapses of consciousness. There is also the mysterious death of the son of the clean-up crew, George, to contend with as none of his family wants to talk about. Why was she even recruited, since she's not family? The book moves into the paranormal of course and my interest dwindled. I eventually returned to finish the book, but it ended pretty much as expected and I could just as well have left it.
October 15, 2022
Love the concept but there was something very early Stephen King about the ending - rushed and kind of dissonant from the atmosphere building up to it
November 27, 2022
Mary slough is perfect and has done nothing wrong in her whole life
January 1, 2024
[buddy read with juls]
It was dirty work, but someone had to do it
starting the year with a bang, a smell of ozone, and the fear of being forgotten! (thanks jonathan<3)
It was dirty work, but someone had to do it
starting the year with a bang, a smell of ozone, and the fear of being forgotten! (thanks jonathan<3)
September 9, 2024
3,5*
Well, it was nice, but also it was a bit lacking and i found the ending a bit lackluster.
I mean, i know Sims from listening to the Magnus Archive Podcast (which i recommend wholeheartly), so my expectations were on the line with MAG.
It did a good job - yes it is very slow, especially in the beginning it is sooo dragging. If you want a fast paced, horror thriller, then this book is not for you at all. It's all very very slow, i was even thinking that he should have cut some part of the story, but okay. I mean it's his style to build up to the creepyness.
And he does a good job - the hallucinations are spot on, and the writing style is great. Especially how Diya changes from her normal world into the hallucinations is really good - it's overall just creepy and unnerving, especially later, when it's clear whats behind the hallucinations.
But thats around the 60 or 70% mark of the book, then it gets really great and MAG-like. I enjoyed that part a lot.
Then came the end, and I'm honest. I was a bit disappointed by it. Without spoiler, i just would say its... lame and normal. Like every other horror book ends. I expected something more sinister. But well. It was still a good read.
The only thing that was a bit ??? is the LGBT-Tag, the book has. Because there is none. There is no romance. There is no explicit LGBT-person involved. You can ship Diya and Angie - but i wouldn't label that as lgbt, maybe Diya was one sided in love with her, but ... yeah. The whole book is LGBT-friendly, yes. But that's it.
Oh and i actually liked all the chars. They were well written, most of the time quite understandable. Especially Franks point of view - i sided way more with him, then with his daughters on later decisions. I especially liked Xen at the start - i dunno. I guess many people would say she's an over the top, exaggerated edgy goth, to have something "special" in the story. But she's actually really nice - i can see myself in her a lot with hobbies etc. I think Jon can write characters and traits very very well.
So, I recommend that to people liking MAG, liking slow creepy (but not blunt horror) books, aaand that's that. Everyone else will probably be pretty bored pretty fast.
Well, it was nice, but also it was a bit lacking and i found the ending a bit lackluster.
I mean, i know Sims from listening to the Magnus Archive Podcast (which i recommend wholeheartly), so my expectations were on the line with MAG.
It did a good job - yes it is very slow, especially in the beginning it is sooo dragging. If you want a fast paced, horror thriller, then this book is not for you at all. It's all very very slow, i was even thinking that he should have cut some part of the story, but okay. I mean it's his style to build up to the creepyness.
And he does a good job - the hallucinations are spot on, and the writing style is great. Especially how Diya changes from her normal world into the hallucinations is really good - it's overall just creepy and unnerving, especially later, when it's clear whats behind the hallucinations.
But thats around the 60 or 70% mark of the book, then it gets really great and MAG-like. I enjoyed that part a lot.
Then came the end, and I'm honest. I was a bit disappointed by it. Without spoiler, i just would say its... lame and normal. Like every other horror book ends. I expected something more sinister. But well. It was still a good read.
The only thing that was a bit ??? is the LGBT-Tag, the book has. Because there is none. There is no romance. There is no explicit LGBT-person involved. You can ship Diya and Angie - but i wouldn't label that as lgbt, maybe Diya was one sided in love with her, but ... yeah. The whole book is LGBT-friendly, yes. But that's it.
Oh and i actually liked all the chars. They were well written, most of the time quite understandable. Especially Franks point of view - i sided way more with him, then with his daughters on later decisions. I especially liked Xen at the start - i dunno. I guess many people would say she's an over the top, exaggerated edgy goth, to have something "special" in the story. But she's actually really nice - i can see myself in her a lot with hobbies etc. I think Jon can write characters and traits very very well.
So, I recommend that to people liking MAG, liking slow creepy (but not blunt horror) books, aaand that's that. Everyone else will probably be pretty bored pretty fast.
February 12, 2023
Diya's new job is making her question her reality, and whether there could be such a thing as ghosts. When things aren't adding up, and each job is becoming more dangerous, can she save herself and her friends?
I liked this book, it was a slow builder that introduced new parts but completely wrapped the story up before the end. I love it when stories do that. Creepy, a good one for people thinking about trying the horror genre.
I liked this book, it was a slow builder that introduced new parts but completely wrapped the story up before the end. I love it when stories do that. Creepy, a good one for people thinking about trying the horror genre.
September 26, 2024
4.5 rounded up to 5 stars.
I will read anything Jonathan Sims puts out.
Excellent mix of mystery/suspense and horror elements. Also, I love when villains/antagonists have wildly incongruous names to their nightmare appearances (ex. Mr. Bill). I always find it a bit funny but I feel like it adds to the ominous vibes the book builds up.
I will read anything Jonathan Sims puts out.
Excellent mix of mystery/suspense and horror elements. Also, I love when villains/antagonists have wildly incongruous names to their nightmare appearances (ex. Mr. Bill). I always find it a bit funny but I feel like it adds to the ominous vibes the book builds up.
August 8, 2024
I love the way Sims writes about grief and forgetting/being forgotten, love the way it builds up the creepiness but I feel like the end disappoints somewhat. Feels over explained and the final confrontation feels boring in comparison to the build up of the story. Still worth the read though. 3.5/5
January 25, 2023
This was so freaking unsettling and I loved it!!
I will start with the disclaimer that Johnny Sims could write a jingle for a cereal commercial and I’d devour it and summarily rate it 5 stars so my review may be a tad biased lol
Whilst I loved Thirteen Stories (and gave it 5 ⭐️ because again, I’m a hoe for JS), this felt like a marked improvement in Sims writing. He captured exactly the atmosphere of The Magnus Archives in written format: unsettling, creepy, body horror, and an incredibly loveable yet flawed cast of characters. This gave me major vibes of The Gentlemen from that one episode of Buffy (iykyk) and truly creeped me out at times (last nights reading was so atmospheric and was NOT helped by the dark house and thunderstorm in which I was reading it).
Whilst I’d love to dwell on the creep factor - because I truly cannot overstate how well done I found it - I was also incredibly touched by Diya’s story. It hit very close to home for me as someone who lives with one of my besties and who catastrophises thanks to my good pal anxiety. What would my life look like if she suddenly disappeared from it? *shudder* no thanks! Also the way that grief and loss were handled was multidimensional and empathetic.
Final shoutout as always to the casual inclusion that I have come to expect from Johnny’s work: BIPOC and LGBTQAI+ characters were all quite subtly portrayed. Characters were specifically identified as being queer or trans or BIPOC and it made up part of their identity but it wasn’t used for trauma or spectacle, nor did it feel like it was just another box ticked on the inclusion list. Loved it!
10/10 recommend this book to anyone who: liked The Magnus Archives, likes spooky books, likes both the emotional and the funny that an excellent writer can achieve (seriously the opening paragraph has beg Hill House energy followed by a hilarious throwaway line about cleaning products), has good taste. Now to return to patiently waiting for more TMA…
I will start with the disclaimer that Johnny Sims could write a jingle for a cereal commercial and I’d devour it and summarily rate it 5 stars so my review may be a tad biased lol
Whilst I loved Thirteen Stories (and gave it 5 ⭐️ because again, I’m a hoe for JS), this felt like a marked improvement in Sims writing. He captured exactly the atmosphere of The Magnus Archives in written format: unsettling, creepy, body horror, and an incredibly loveable yet flawed cast of characters. This gave me major vibes of The Gentlemen from that one episode of Buffy (iykyk) and truly creeped me out at times (last nights reading was so atmospheric and was NOT helped by the dark house and thunderstorm in which I was reading it).
Whilst I’d love to dwell on the creep factor - because I truly cannot overstate how well done I found it - I was also incredibly touched by Diya’s story. It hit very close to home for me as someone who lives with one of my besties and who catastrophises thanks to my good pal anxiety. What would my life look like if she suddenly disappeared from it? *shudder* no thanks! Also the way that grief and loss were handled was multidimensional and empathetic.
Final shoutout as always to the casual inclusion that I have come to expect from Johnny’s work: BIPOC and LGBTQAI+ characters were all quite subtly portrayed. Characters were specifically identified as being queer or trans or BIPOC and it made up part of their identity but it wasn’t used for trauma or spectacle, nor did it feel like it was just another box ticked on the inclusion list. Loved it!
10/10 recommend this book to anyone who: liked The Magnus Archives, likes spooky books, likes both the emotional and the funny that an excellent writer can achieve (seriously the opening paragraph has beg Hill House energy followed by a hilarious throwaway line about cleaning products), has good taste. Now to return to patiently waiting for more TMA…
October 18, 2022
Diya Burman's best friend & flatmate, Anita, dies of a brain aneurysm & Diya finds her body. Her life goes into freefall & she loses her job - all she has left is her elderly cat, Winston. What makes it all the more hurtful is that her family & even former classmates don't seem to remember Anita at all. Money is tight & Diya needs a new career & she is surprised to be offered a job with Slough & Sons, a family business that clean up after the deceased have been removed to remove any trace of biohazards.
It's a physically demanding & emotionally taxing job, but Diya is surprised to find herself enjoying working with Frank & his two daughters, Xen & Mary. That is, until she starts getting weird visions where she feels as if she is living out the deceased's last moments. Initially worried she is ill, Diya starts to notice other odd things at the business: the phonecalls to Frank from 'Mr Bill' that seem to lead to jobs, the fact that at a building collapse where the tenant died, the neighbours are adamant that the flat was empty for months, & the fact that another member of the family, Frank's son George, recently died & everyone avoids the subject.
Based on the synopsis & cover I thought this was thriller rather than a horror, but right from the start, there's a current of the supernatural running through the story. The author does a good job of making the reader empathise with Diya's predicament & the sense of menace gradually builds. The main issue I found was with the pacing - the pacing was so very slow right up until the end, when it suddenly did a 180 & sped through the conclusion. I was left a little disappointed but it hasn't put me off reading more by the author, in fact I have 'Thirteen Storeys' in my TBR pile.
My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Orion Publishing Group/Gollancz, for the opportunity to read an ARC.
It's a physically demanding & emotionally taxing job, but Diya is surprised to find herself enjoying working with Frank & his two daughters, Xen & Mary. That is, until she starts getting weird visions where she feels as if she is living out the deceased's last moments. Initially worried she is ill, Diya starts to notice other odd things at the business: the phonecalls to Frank from 'Mr Bill' that seem to lead to jobs, the fact that at a building collapse where the tenant died, the neighbours are adamant that the flat was empty for months, & the fact that another member of the family, Frank's son George, recently died & everyone avoids the subject.
Based on the synopsis & cover I thought this was thriller rather than a horror, but right from the start, there's a current of the supernatural running through the story. The author does a good job of making the reader empathise with Diya's predicament & the sense of menace gradually builds. The main issue I found was with the pacing - the pacing was so very slow right up until the end, when it suddenly did a 180 & sped through the conclusion. I was left a little disappointed but it hasn't put me off reading more by the author, in fact I have 'Thirteen Storeys' in my TBR pile.
My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Orion Publishing Group/Gollancz, for the opportunity to read an ARC.
June 4, 2023
Family Business by Jonathan Sims
Book 22/60 of 2023
This was hard to put down, and a lot of fun! I picked it up after hearing Jonathan Sims talk about all things writing horror at an event, and I wasn’t disappointed. Some really really fucky stuff in here which will stick with me, and an ending that left me feeling good - which horror rarely does. Had a really great time!
Book 22/60 of 2023
This was hard to put down, and a lot of fun! I picked it up after hearing Jonathan Sims talk about all things writing horror at an event, and I wasn’t disappointed. Some really really fucky stuff in here which will stick with me, and an ending that left me feeling good - which horror rarely does. Had a really great time!
November 7, 2022
I really enjoyed this horror novel
That used the idea of the firms that clean up after people die to go on a trip into unearthly schemes. Cunning murders, an unstoppable foe and lovely human characters you root for made this a really strong tale that explores the people society just forget about
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
That used the idea of the firms that clean up after people die to go on a trip into unearthly schemes. Cunning murders, an unstoppable foe and lovely human characters you root for made this a really strong tale that explores the people society just forget about
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
May 17, 2024
hey hi jonathan sims your mind is so cool
January 17, 2025
3 and a half star
Loved the concept and how the chapters were divided. But somehow it felt a bit rushed to me. I had a lot of questions and kinda hoped there would be more about the connections of the characters and more of the spooky elements. That said I really liked it! To me it kinda read like an older horror book, which was cool
Loved the concept and how the chapters were divided. But somehow it felt a bit rushed to me. I had a lot of questions and kinda hoped there would be more about the connections of the characters and more of the spooky elements. That said I really liked it! To me it kinda read like an older horror book, which was cool
May 13, 2023
Creepy and original. I liked it.
January 1, 2024
(read with my favourite reading buddy daria)
ending 2023 and starting 2024 with my favourite british horror guy, once again it was really spooky and really fun (and I am absolutely in love with xen)
now all that's left for us is to wait for the magnus protocol (we will suffer, yes daria WE)
ending 2023 and starting 2024 with my favourite british horror guy, once again it was really spooky and really fun (and I am absolutely in love with xen)
now all that's left for us is to wait for the magnus protocol (we will suffer, yes daria WE)
November 17, 2022
The sadness that inhabits the main protagonist, Diya, feels palpable. The death of her best friend means she has lost one of the few constants in her life. She has been adrift in her own existence and it’s only the prospect of financial stability that finds her tidying up after the dead.
The majority of Slough & Sons’ clients are those who existed on the periphery of society. Frank Slough, the family patriarch puts it simply; heartbreaking suicides, troubled addicts or lonely shut-ins with no family to care for are all entitled to the same respect as those of us who are loved. It’s an admirable sentiment, and Frank appears to be a stand-up guy, but perhaps there is something just a little bit off about him.
Frank’s daughters, the Sons having been from generations long passed, couldn’t be more different from their father. Xen is brash and outgoing, while Mary is a thoughtful spirit. Diya feels like she has met some kindred souls. Maybe cleaning up after the dead won’t be so bad after all. Almost as soon as that realisation occurs, that’s the moment the nightmarish visions begin.
One of the things I loved about 13 Storeys, and again in Family Business, is the characterisation. The author takes time to flesh out his creations. The arguments that sometimes explode between Frank and his children have a raw, visceral edge. There is real venom in one moment and then sulky indifference the next. Exactly the sort of thing that is often seen in a real family.
The supernatural elements in the story start off really slowly and build with each passing chapter. Initially, Diya believes her visions are due to her fragile mental state. There is that niggling persistent doubt, perhaps it is all in her mind. As events start to pick up pace it becomes evident, however, that there is something far more insidious going on.
The other area where this novel excels is the depth of thought that has gone into what could be quite triggering subject matter. Death is front and centre in Family Business. Sims uses a delicate touch, weaving insightful, reflective moments throughout the narrative.
"We do not disappear after death. Small pieces of our being can remain, persisting in those places that were once so meaningful to us."*
I love writing like this. Subtly wrapped up in a horror novel, there is an exploration of the human condition. Death is something we are taught to shy away from, and not talk about. Maybe it wouldn’t be quite so scary if we talked about it a little more. Every action and reaction we create in our lives send ripples out into the world. We all leave our mark, every one of us. What if there was something that fed on that? Something that erased us from memory. I’ve heard it said that nobody really dies as long as someone remembers them. Family Business explores what happens when we are forgotten.
For years now, I’ve found that the horror stories that stay with me longest are those that feature ordinary people trapped in extraordinary circumstances. Diya, Xen, Mary and Frank are trying to live their respective lives, just the same as the rest of us. They find themselves part of an increasingly disturbing situation with no obvious means of escape. Who is the mysterious Mr Bill, and why is he so keen to keep Slough and Sons in business?
*That gem is from page one, and I’ll admit it does form the basis for some gallows humour but it is insightful nonetheless.
The majority of Slough & Sons’ clients are those who existed on the periphery of society. Frank Slough, the family patriarch puts it simply; heartbreaking suicides, troubled addicts or lonely shut-ins with no family to care for are all entitled to the same respect as those of us who are loved. It’s an admirable sentiment, and Frank appears to be a stand-up guy, but perhaps there is something just a little bit off about him.
Frank’s daughters, the Sons having been from generations long passed, couldn’t be more different from their father. Xen is brash and outgoing, while Mary is a thoughtful spirit. Diya feels like she has met some kindred souls. Maybe cleaning up after the dead won’t be so bad after all. Almost as soon as that realisation occurs, that’s the moment the nightmarish visions begin.
One of the things I loved about 13 Storeys, and again in Family Business, is the characterisation. The author takes time to flesh out his creations. The arguments that sometimes explode between Frank and his children have a raw, visceral edge. There is real venom in one moment and then sulky indifference the next. Exactly the sort of thing that is often seen in a real family.
The supernatural elements in the story start off really slowly and build with each passing chapter. Initially, Diya believes her visions are due to her fragile mental state. There is that niggling persistent doubt, perhaps it is all in her mind. As events start to pick up pace it becomes evident, however, that there is something far more insidious going on.
The other area where this novel excels is the depth of thought that has gone into what could be quite triggering subject matter. Death is front and centre in Family Business. Sims uses a delicate touch, weaving insightful, reflective moments throughout the narrative.
"We do not disappear after death. Small pieces of our being can remain, persisting in those places that were once so meaningful to us."*
I love writing like this. Subtly wrapped up in a horror novel, there is an exploration of the human condition. Death is something we are taught to shy away from, and not talk about. Maybe it wouldn’t be quite so scary if we talked about it a little more. Every action and reaction we create in our lives send ripples out into the world. We all leave our mark, every one of us. What if there was something that fed on that? Something that erased us from memory. I’ve heard it said that nobody really dies as long as someone remembers them. Family Business explores what happens when we are forgotten.
For years now, I’ve found that the horror stories that stay with me longest are those that feature ordinary people trapped in extraordinary circumstances. Diya, Xen, Mary and Frank are trying to live their respective lives, just the same as the rest of us. They find themselves part of an increasingly disturbing situation with no obvious means of escape. Who is the mysterious Mr Bill, and why is he so keen to keep Slough and Sons in business?
*That gem is from page one, and I’ll admit it does form the basis for some gallows humour but it is insightful nonetheless.
August 10, 2024
How am i supposed to be normal after reading this. I’m just supposed to be normal again. I need to tell my friends I love them.
December 6, 2022
boooo i didn’t wike it. i think jonathan sims’ writing is much better suited to shorter fiction - idk if that’s a result of having written ~200 short stories for the magnus archives or if the magnus archives stood out from the start precisely because of his ability to write compelling short stories, but whatever the case this attempt at a novel felt flimsy and insubstantial to me. the first half is very repetitive and i didn’t find it particularly interesting - it actually reminded me a lot (tonally and content-wise) of season 5 of tma which tbf i didn’t enjoy much either! just kind of a dour slog through a bunch of extremely incidental characters’ Personal Hellscape Experience(tm) with a very very overt social message pasted over the top, and it isn’t that i disagree with the message because i don’t but i do like my fiction to make me reach a little harder for meaning than this did. all of this is critique that could be applied to his first novel too - thirteen storeys, which i enjoyed far more - but imo that one worked better because it functionally was just a bunch of very different short stories linked by the connective tissue of the overarching plot (again much like tma) and the variety worked very much in its favour. this too has a waft of the loosely connected short story thing with diya’s different cleaning jobs but the variety is definitely lacking! i also didn’t find diya a compelling enough character to carry the weight of the narrative alone, and in fact all of the character work in this novel felt a little thinly sketched. and while i mentioned thirteen storeys i think it’s also relevant to note that in my review for that book i said i often found myself mentally rearranging sentences to make them flow better; i’ve wondered since if that was kind of a harsh comment to make but now having read this one i stand by it! for example on page 2 of family business we get “it had been hard to see any way out, but maybe irritation would turn out to be her path out of grief” - that’s just too many times to use the word ‘out’ in a single sentence lol. i don’t even think sims is a bad writer - his prose is often quite evocative but it tends to flow much better when read aloud than it does on the actual page imo. very little of this worked for me, sadly!
May 13, 2023
Was expecting so much more after enjoying 13 Storeys. This was absolute chick-lit level garbage.
February 24, 2025
This was certainly an improvement on Thirteen Storeys in terms of editing and pacing. There were only a couple of minor typos and overall the story was structured better, moved more smoothly, and came together better -- it didn't try to do too much, though it still did a lot. It was a decent story with some compelling questions and some genuinely unnerving scenes, but unfortunately in other places it was underdeveloped. I feel that there should have been way more about Mr Bill; I don't need such things explained in the minute detail and in fact I think that often takes away from horror, but I do need something to get my teeth into (no pun intended) and this just felt a little slippery. I get his motivations and what he does fine; I just wish there'd been a little more about his origins. The characters briefly speculate, but that's all. It's a shame, because it's an interesting premise and a genuinely unnerving villain.
As with the previous book, I was also quite surprised at how the writing often seemed a little juvenile. I feel bad constantly talking about The Magnus Archives when I review books by Mr Sims, because I'm sure that while he's rightfully proud of his work there he probably also wants to do other things, but I have to mention it here because his writing in TMA is absolutely phenomenal whereas in his novels it really does lack in comparison. I don't think long-form novel-style stories are Jonny's thing. I'd love to see him write a collection of short stories, independent of each other or maybe just set in the same universe with other things going on. I know he's brilliant at writing short stories that come together (again, see TMA) but in novel form that didn't work out either, so I'd really love to see him just focus on something small and contained. I think that would be the winning shot here.
The writing in this isn't bad, but it's not spectacular either. It's an easy read, which is good -- while it's compelling, I think it wouldn't hold up if it wasn't so easy to devour in a few sittings. But it does sometimes feel a little immature, and could do with an editor to browse through and get rid of all the filler words. There's so much use of the comma though comma in this that it's distracting. (Think, she didn't want to do that, though, as...) There are also other filler words like this that could have been removed and massively streamlined the writing and probably saved a few trees too. It does just sometimes feel a little clunky, and I'm always aware that I'm reading. I wonder if, being a voice actor, Jonny writes these books with the audiobook more in mind -- maybe the strange choices would work better when read aloud. But my half-deaf ass isn't going to be picking an audiobook as a first choice, so here we are.
Having said all this, it's a solid story that delivers enough that it's still enjoyable. It just seems to be lacking a little something that would bring it to the next level: lingering on some details, cutting down on others, more use of the editor's red pen. And I'd still love to see more by this author -- just hoping it's a short story collection next. I really think that would fix a lot of my gripes, but don't let me tell you want to do Mr Sims.
As with the previous book, I was also quite surprised at how the writing often seemed a little juvenile. I feel bad constantly talking about The Magnus Archives when I review books by Mr Sims, because I'm sure that while he's rightfully proud of his work there he probably also wants to do other things, but I have to mention it here because his writing in TMA is absolutely phenomenal whereas in his novels it really does lack in comparison. I don't think long-form novel-style stories are Jonny's thing. I'd love to see him write a collection of short stories, independent of each other or maybe just set in the same universe with other things going on. I know he's brilliant at writing short stories that come together (again, see TMA) but in novel form that didn't work out either, so I'd really love to see him just focus on something small and contained. I think that would be the winning shot here.
The writing in this isn't bad, but it's not spectacular either. It's an easy read, which is good -- while it's compelling, I think it wouldn't hold up if it wasn't so easy to devour in a few sittings. But it does sometimes feel a little immature, and could do with an editor to browse through and get rid of all the filler words. There's so much use of the comma though comma in this that it's distracting. (Think, she didn't want to do that, though, as...) There are also other filler words like this that could have been removed and massively streamlined the writing and probably saved a few trees too. It does just sometimes feel a little clunky, and I'm always aware that I'm reading. I wonder if, being a voice actor, Jonny writes these books with the audiobook more in mind -- maybe the strange choices would work better when read aloud. But my half-deaf ass isn't going to be picking an audiobook as a first choice, so here we are.
Having said all this, it's a solid story that delivers enough that it's still enjoyable. It just seems to be lacking a little something that would bring it to the next level: lingering on some details, cutting down on others, more use of the editor's red pen. And I'd still love to see more by this author -- just hoping it's a short story collection next. I really think that would fix a lot of my gripes, but don't let me tell you want to do Mr Sims.
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