From the acclaimed author of THE ONE and THE MARRIAGE ACT, THE FAMILY EXPERIMENT is a dark and brilliant speculative thriller about families: real and virtual.

Some families are virtually perfect...

The world's population is soaring, creating overcrowded cities and an economic crisis. And in the UK, the breaking point has arrived. A growing number of people can no longer afford to start families, let alone raise them.

But for those desperate to experience parenthood, there is an alternative. For a monthly subscription fee, clients can create a virtual child from scratch who they can access via the metaverse and a VR headset. To launch this new initiative, the company behind Virtual Children has created a reality TV show called "The Substitute." It will follow 10 couples as they raise a virtual child from birth to the age of 18 but in a condensed nine-month time period. The prize: the right to keep their virtual child, or risk it all for the chance of a real baby...

Set in the same universe as John Marrs's bestselling novels THE ONE and THE MARRIAGE ACT, THE FAMILY EXPERIMENT is a dark and twisted thriller about the ultimate Tamagotchi --- a virtual baby.