Unlikely to read - had for a while but now removed from my tbr. Thank you for the opportunity to read

This is probably one of the darkest thrillers I've ever read...... I will need time to get over this one.

A good Father has you mentally locked in for a roll coaster ride of mistrust, abandonment and mental health issues.

The last chapter broke my heart, a very good thriller just be prepared!!

3 stars from me!

The opening line in the book sets the pulse immediately racing. “By the end of next summer, before the kids go back to school, I will kill my family”.

Des is a good husband, a good father - a good man. He encourages his wife's artistic endeavours. He holds down a well-paid, if unfulfilling, job. He is manager of his sons' Under-11s football team. He reads bedtime stories to his children every night. But appearances can be deceptive, and behind closed doors secrets threaten to ruin everything.
Des is afraid...

I'm not normally a thriller girlie but i will always try out new genres and authors when given the chance! The story is narrated by Des and it's told over 2 timelines and the ending is brutal. Des is not a nice person - which can be hard to read at times. I didnt love the book, but i didnt hate it either (and it might be because the protagonist is a horrible and abusive man).

However, i kept reading with intrigue and i'm glad i read to the end. For a debut novel in the thriller genre which is saturated there's alot to admire in this book

Disturbing and compelling novel showing the damage that damaged people can do. A detailed insight into the thoughts and compulsions of a man whose grip on his demons loosens, with catastrophic results.

Although I am thankful for the opportunity to read this as an eARC, unfortunately I absolutely hated it.
Awful awful characters means that I only got 54% of the way before abandoning it.

I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

Tried really hard to enjoy this book but it wasn’t for me. Had a promising start but fell quickly into brooding complaining by the main character throughout attempting to justify his actions.

He is a good father, a good husband, and a good employee. He coaches his son’s under 11’s football team. He encourages his wife in her artistic pursuits. However, underneath it all the house of cards is not just crumbling, it’s made of smoke. He is deeply afraid of everything, the world, his wife leaving him, failing his children and he hates his job. He feels a lot of resentment towards everyone and everything and has a strong sense of entitlement, and as he feels that he does not have the life he is owed, he lashes out at those around him and justifies his abuse.

I did not enjoy this. It was dark, but you know from the first sentence that it will be. However, considering the themes it should feel more intense and suspenseful. Instead, I felt very remote from the events in the book. I knew what was coming, and the whole book felt like this whiney, winging justification for domestic abuse. I do not recommend this book. I should have felt strong empathy with the wife but, because I knew what was going to happen in the end, I found that I just didn’t care. The whole book feels icky and tasteless, and I only finished reading it because I was hoping for an intelligent twist at the end, but it was just the ending we are promised from the start.

Sadly, after two attempts, this book has officially made it to my did-not-finish shelf.

The premise of the book was great, but sadly the writing style was not for me.

Due to this, I have not provided a review on any online sites.

A book with a quite disturbing topic. I did find this book quite difficult to get into. I think it was more the topic than anything .
Sadly not for me

Thank you Penguin and Netgalley - why didn't I read this when I got it.
A good story, but I found it a bit slow, but well the ending ...... don't know what to say!
Now highly recommend.

Very dark and disturbing and an interesting writing style. It didn’t keep me gripped the whole way through like most thrillers do I got a little bored of it.

A very shocking ending which bumps up my rating but I just didn’t love this book. I would have loved to have known more from Jenny’s pov

A great, thrilling read, which will keep you entertained throughout. A good one sitting read, get the nibbles ready, close the door, and read!

After an incredbily hard hitting opening line, I expected to be on the edge of my seat but I struggled with the rather mundane plot that immediately followed. An unsettling book as you would expect from the premise.

This book focuses on the father of the family, and his struggles to preserve his sense of how his family should be. This book makes for uncomfortable reading for the way in which the narrative voice dominates and reflects the way Des dominates his wife. It is interesting as a female reader to engage with a tale of abuse and control and somehow to be alongside the abuser. A book that makes you think

𝘼 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙮 𝘾𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙗𝙤𝙩

I just want to start by saying that my star rating does not mean I hated this book - it definitely had some good parts, it just wasn’t for me and I try and remain completely honest in doing these reviews. I had high expectations for a super gripping plot with the first line, a hard hitting -“by the end of next summer, before the kids go back to school, i will kill my family”. The first half of the book after this however just seemed to be a lot of mundane descriptions and a bit all over the place.

A huge downside for me, personally, was the lack of quotation marks- I just couldn’t get on with it and found myself frustrated with trying to figure out when someone was speaking. Something I also feel inclined to point out was I just didn’t appreciate the level of detail about Des’ vomiting that featured throughout the book.

Despite this, I was gripped by the second half a lot more and think the book does a good job of depicting the appearance of normality on the outside of an abusive relationship. It was interesting to flick between the past, when Des met and fell in love with Jenny, to the present and we experience the small acts of control and violence that preface the unspeakable act. I would have liked to see Jenny’s POV to see how Des and his moods affected her. This is an uncomfortable read, definitely not for the faint hearted, and for a debut novel I think this showed a lot of potential - I'd recommend picking it up to form your own views.

𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ (1/5)

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫 + 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐀𝐑𝐂!

This is an unsettling family drama which is told in dual timeline.
This is a well written book with great storytelling.
This is a well written debut psychological thriller

A good father - Catherine Talbot

This was absolutely crap! It was badly written and did not hold my attention at all, sorry. I would not recommend

This was one of those books which has an interesting premise but doesn't quite manage to pull it off.

The opening line is a real killer (ha! Pun intended), but the rest of the book doesn't live up to it, which is a real disappointment. Des, the titular character, is as unpleasant as you would expect from someone who openly declares his intention to murder his family, which makes it difficult to connect with him - or understand why his wife stays with him. The book's also quite slow moving, which also makes it hard to stick with it.

It's okay, but it could have been great.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.