Scan barcode
thearieslibrary's review
3.5
Crime scene investigator Holly Jennings is on the trail of a twisted and sadistic serial killer who seeks out single mothers, marries them, then slaughters his new family when they fail to measure up to his "perfect family" fantasy.
This was a fast paced thriller, which was quite enjoyable. The writing made the book very easy to get through. There were some parts (particularly the ending) where I found it hard to put the book down. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes Criminal Minds or Mindhunter, as well as Chris Carter's books!
I absolutely loved the multiple POVs in this book, especially the unsub as it was so interesting to see their character develop and to have a glimpse into their mind, as well as how they would prepare/commit crimes. I also quite liked Holly to a degree - on one hand, she was a fantastic strong female lead but on the other hand, she did not work well with others and would purposely not follow guidelines.
I quite liked the build up to the ending, however it fell flat, which was unfortunate. This book also uses a lot of outdated terms so these should definitely be updated. I would have also loved more background information on some of the characters, since they seem to be such an important part to the plot, as well as other characters who definitely faded into the background.
Thank you to Tandem Collective UK for letting me a part of this readalong and gifting me a copy of this book!
⚠️ TW: derogatory language, gun use, murder, profanity, sexism, absent parent, rape (and attempted), animal abuse, alcohol use, domestic abuse, sexual assault, incest, fire, discrimination, sexual situations; mentions blood, S&M, alcoholism, body shaming, male and female body parts, death and child pornography ⚠️
This was a fast paced thriller, which was quite enjoyable. The writing made the book very easy to get through. There were some parts (particularly the ending) where I found it hard to put the book down. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes Criminal Minds or Mindhunter, as well as Chris Carter's books!
I absolutely loved the multiple POVs in this book, especially the unsub as it was so interesting to see their character develop and to have a glimpse into their mind, as well as how they would prepare/commit crimes. I also quite liked Holly to a degree - on one hand, she was a fantastic strong female lead but on the other hand, she did not work well with others and would purposely not follow guidelines.
I quite liked the build up to the ending, however it fell flat, which was unfortunate. This book also uses a lot of outdated terms so these should definitely be updated. I would have also loved more background information on some of the characters, since they seem to be such an important part to the plot, as well as other characters who definitely faded into the background.
Thank you to Tandem Collective UK for letting me a part of this readalong and gifting me a copy of this book!
⚠️ TW: derogatory language, gun use, murder, profanity, sexism, absent parent, rape (and attempted), animal abuse, alcohol use, domestic abuse, sexual assault, incest, fire, discrimination, sexual situations; mentions blood, S&M, alcoholism, body shaming, male and female body parts, death and child pornography ⚠️
mymidnightbooks's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
realbooktingz's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Incest, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Murder
rina1986_reads's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
mariasmusings's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
imogencooper20's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
chronicreader96's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
There were so many parts to this book that were completely unexpected, I liked that it kept me on my toes!
Daddy’s Home follows Detective Holly Jennings on the hunt for a serial killer. The Family Man is targeting single mothers in his quest to have ‘the perfect family’. Can Holly catch him before more innocent people are killed?
This book was a whole lot darker than I had ever expected it to be. As a warning to any potential readers, a lot of triggering topics are brought up so please approach cautiously! I don’t want to give away some of the plot twists by stating what they were, but I don’t think I’ve ever read such a dark book before! That being said, I liked that this darkness came out of the blue and kept me on my toes. I also loved the hints of light that came through in the interactions between Holly and Brendan. There was a lovely message to their romance that warmed my heart.
I absolutely loved Holly’s strong, single mother character. It took me a little while to warm to her, but towards the end I truly admired her. She echoed the strength of so many single mothers that I know, with the added kick-ass detective aspect! I have definitely been left wanting to read more of this series to see what happens to Holly next. I loved the short chapters and swaps between multiple POV’s. I particularly loved being in the serial killers twisted mind. It added so much depth and darkness. Various characters are used in sporadic, one off POV chapters, but this wasn’t confusing as they always cropped up later on. If anything, I loved being able to get inside their head.
I would recommend this to fans of dark thrillers but please be really cautious of possible triggers! I want to thank Tandem Collective, the publishers and A.K. Alexander for sending me a copy of this book so I could give my personal thoughts.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
books2pineapples's review against another edition
3.0
Good book, but very predictable. I'm not so sure I would have ever read this book had I not gotten it as a free Kindle download.