HAPPY MONDAY! 🎃
BOOK: Daughter
AUTHOR: Kate McLaughlin
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RATING: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 🌟/5
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SYNOPSIS: Scarlett has lived her whole life under a helicopter mom in a quaint town...until the FBI shows up. Now Scarlett is faced with the reality that she is the daughter of a serial killer. 🔪 Her dad has so many victims that he’s willing to take to the grave. 🪦 If the FBI wants the names and burial sites, Scarlett is the answer.
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PROS: YALL this book kept me on my toes and I DEVOURED IT. The mixture of the plot lines and “news articles” set the tone for a true crime feel. This one definitely gave me Silence Of The Lamb vibes so if you love that book/movie duo, this is for you!
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CONS: There wasn’t anything that I didn’t like about the book! I loved it!

5 stars

Holy serial killer Ted Bundy! This book was so good. This is the 2nd book I’ve read by this author and the 2nd home run for her. She definitely knows how to write some messed up stories. I loved all the characters in this book, even Jeff Lake(as a villain of course, not a morbid groupie!). I would even be interested in a follow up story to see how it plays out with the films, the mom, the guy, and the crazies. Can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Imagine finding out your father is an infamous serial killer at the same time you’re told he wants to meet you…and you’re the only one he’ll give the names of his victims that have yet to be found. That’s the story you’ll find in this book. You’re intrigued, aren’t you?

I thought this book was going to be more of a thriller than a suspense novel, but that ended up being a good surprise. I liked the tension and suspense, but I also liked the turn this story took as Scarlet (the daughter) took on the difficult task of visiting her terrible father in an attempt to get justice for the families of his victims. I don’t really have more to say about this one other than that I liked the way everything came together in the end.

The Quick Cut: A teen girl's life is upended when she finds out her father is a notorious serial killer - who will only reveal where his victims are to her.

A Real Review:
Thank you to Wednesday Books for providing the ARC for an honest review.

Serial killers are a source of intrigue to many because of how differently they think and their rationale for their actions. Is who they are a reflection of their biology? Or is it due to their childhood trauma? These are the important questions for Scarlet when she finds out about her father.

The biggest problem in Scarlet's life is how protective her mother is. She's never had a boyfriend, never had a lot of freedom, and consistently gotten good grades. It was boring but frustrating... until a FBI agent shows up at her door and reveals the truth her mom hid: that Scarlet is the Gentleman killer's daughter, Britney. Her father refuses to reveal the location of his victims to anyone but his daughter in his final days. Will she do it to bring the victim's families peace? Or put herself first?

I have to admit that the idea for this book is brilliant. It hasn't really been done before and yet it's a question I admit I've asked myself as a true crime aficionado. How do the children of infamous criminals feel? It's a question very methodically answered in this thrilling tale. Trigger alert though: this story does NOT shy away from talk of murder and rape in a dark way.

Scarlet is an average teenager when her life is completely upended. Her mother hid the truth of her parentage and you watch Scarlet deal with her new reality - along with the horror of what her father's status causes her. She goes through so much to help her father's victims and it makes you root for her to end up on top.

Her father is a frighteningly smart killer too and this book features that. Often the bad guys get painted as dumb, but the way he manipulates everyone is more common - and horrifying. Seeing how he plays the situation to his own pleasure will make you squirm.

A thriller that puts you in the seat of the killer's child.

My rating: 5 out of 5

This book is amazing!! Scarlet is going through high school and normal seventeen year old angst when her world is flipped upside down and inside out. Finding out her father is serial killer Jeffrey Lake and that he has negotiated with the FBI to reveal names of his unknown victims if she comes to see him puts her in a spot she is not comfortable with. She is not who she thought she was, and is confused about that as well. From there this book just takes off at full speed. The characters and story come alive on the pages and you find yourself unable to put this book down.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you NetGalley, Kate McLaughlin and Wednesday Books for this edition and hearing my honest review. Looking forward to reading more with you
#partner

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Imagine learning your father is a serial killer. He wants to see his daughter before he dies and may give up more names of victims he murdered. This book kept me on edge from the start.

Daughter by Kate McLaughlin was an intriguing premise and the book did not disappoint. Scarlett's emotions feel very real and you can understand her struggle as she comes to terms with shocking revelations about her parentage.

Enjoyable thriller. Not my usual go-to, but this kept me engaged. It was nice to read more from the victims side of things rather than the serial killer.. One thing I was taken back by was a choice our MC makes in regards to the victims. It didn't feel right.

I mainly picked this up because of that terrific cover, but did not have high expectations. It could have easily been cheesy and overwrought, which is the way I saw it going. Turns out, I was wrong. There is a charming authenticity to these characters, making this a pretty darn refreshing read.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in e change for an honest review. This is the story of Scarlet who can’t figure out why her mom’s so overprotective until she realizes her father is a well-known serial killer who’s living his final days in jail. He’s dying from cancer and wants to see his daughter in exchange for giving names and locations of his victims. I was engrossed in this story and would definitely read more by this author in the future.

This book was TOO good! I loved how it shifted the focus away from the serial killer and more towards the victims of the serial killer. Scarlet was a wonderful character; anxious, flawed, and angry until her life changed irrevocably. She turned the narrative around to improve herself and focus on the victims. She was not damaged by her psychopathic father. She refused to be. That tenacity resonated deeply with me. This was a great story and I loved it! Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my free arc in exchange for my honest opinion! It was so interesting!

Although I enjoyed this read, I feel like there could have been a lot more to it.

Jeffrey is creepy, there's no doubt about it, and maybe more so because he isn't remotely sorry. He did what he did and he's cool with it. However, we only see him as an almost dead guy in a bed in a prison, so he's not very scary. Plus, I felt that the story gave more weight to Kate's budding romance with her bodyguard's son than her interactions with her father.

None of this means I didn't enjoy it, because I did, very much. Kate has a talent for this kind of read, where it's as much about what and how our main character is feeling as it is about the plot. There are some very complex emotions on display here, and Kate shows them beautifully without resorting to 'she felt x'. It's all very natural and honest. (Also I loved the Criminal Minds shout out! I had great fun imagining what Hotch or Reid would be saying as the story went on.)

This is a really good book that I enjoyed very much, and I'll be watching for more from Kate.

Daughter by Kate McLaughlin is a fast-paced, compelling read told from the perspective of a serial killer's teenaged daughter.

Scarlet lives a fairly average 17 year old life, though she is sheltered by her single mother to an almost excessive degree. When the FBI turn up one day out of the blue, it is revealed to Scarlet for the first time the reason for her mother's protectiveness and borderline paranoia. Her father is serial killer Jeffrey Lake, and while he is dying in custody, he wants to meet the daughter he hasn't seen since she was a baby. The lure for Scarlet? He will provide the names of his victims who have not yet been identified. What follows will torment Scarlet psychologically, and have her wondering if she can ever return to a life of obscurity after being thrown into the centre of a media firestorm.

This is a solid read that, while categorized as young adult, will certainly appeal to a much broader audience. I would be interested in reading more from this author in the future.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC.

This one started off kind of slow, but it ended up being a solid thriller. It was interesting to read about the perspective of a family member of a serial killer. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for review.

This book gave me “The Silence of the Lambs” vibes when I started reading it. The author does a decent job setting up the plot, where we see Scarlet finds out that her father is an infamous serial killer.

What I enjoyed about the story is how the author depicted Scarlet and her mother. The two of them, especially, Scarlet go through so much in the story, and I enjoyed reading their reactions and how they handled the scenario. The author dwells wonderfully into their personalities, where you see how Jeff’s mind works. I felt like I was beside Scarlet as she tries to understand how her father’s mind works. You also get to see the different reactions that Scarlet’s close friends have when they learn of the news and how Scarlet has to adjust to being in the limelight with the media and press. On a side note, I also enjoyed Scarlet’s connection with Darcy and her friendship with Taylor. The story had the potential to be one of my favorites.

However, my only concern with the story is how the story changed its tone towards the end. Initially, I thought this book would be a gripping mystery thriller where Scarlet would get clues from her father. However, the book went in another direction where it turns into a dramatic story about Scarlet. The author leans towards Scarlet, and it’s just her journey on how she matures as a person and finds out about herself. I wish the author had packed in more ‘wow’ factors into the story.

Apart from that, this book was entertaining and creative. Overall, I enjoyed reading “Daughter” and found it unique for a young adult mystery thriller.

Your good friend Ashley (Ash) is fascinated with serial killers. You have seen the movie about Jeffrey Lake, the Gentleman Killer, one of the most prolific serial killers, and have formed opinions about him and his wife, who claims to have been oblivious about his actions. He has fourteen confirmed victims, but there is suspicion that he is responsible for the disappearances and deaths of other young women. Your life is turned upside down at age sixteen, when the FBI shows up at your home and reveals you are baby Britney, the daughter of Jeff Lake. He is dying of cancer, likely with not long to live, and he wants to meet you before he dies, promising to reveal the names of other victims. That is the life changing dilemma facing Scarlet Murphy (aka Britney Lake) in "Daughter".

Her mother, Gina (formerly Allison Michaels), hoped this day would never coming — having relocated from North Carolina to Connecticut and changed both her name and her daughter's name. Scarlet both does and does not want to meet her father, but feels obligated to do so for the sake of the victims, and to better understand him, her mother, and herself. The story focuses on Scarlet's interactions with her father in prison, where he plays his mind games and makes her play along in order to get the names. The story also focuses on new friends (the family of FBI agent Andrew Logan, who was involved in capturing Lake and who befriend and assisted Allison), meeting the family she never knew she had, and dealing with the ramifications of the media discovering and publicizing the reappearance of her and her mother. Even though fifteen years have passed since Lake was arrested, people are still fascinated by and fixated on him -- some believe he is innocent, some are serial killer groupies, and some want to see him dead.

The author has created some great characters. Jeffrey is thoroughly despicable, but his charm and manipulative skills draw you in. You don't want to like him but yet you want to find out what he will say or do next. Even after his death, he still has one more scheme in place intended to permanently damage his daughter and ensure his legacy.

Scarlet has a fierceness and inner strength that develops and shows through as she is forced to confront situations that no one should have to experience. The author does a good job of portraying the ramifications for family members of those who commit horrific crimes -- the perpetrator may be locked up, but his/her spouse, parents, children, etc. have to live what he/she did and the hatred and vitriol of the victims, their families, and others. I appreciated that the author emphasized that the victims of serial killers tend to be overlooked/forgotten and that she has Scarlet set out to find ways to bring attention back to the victims, to keep their memories alive.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

A novel with a premise like this could be tawdry in the wrong hands but Kate McLaughlin created this story with skill and sensitivity. The character of Scarlet, the teen who discovers her father is a serial killer, is deftly written. I love how she starts as a typical annoying teen who balks at her mother's over-protectiveness but when she finds out who she really is, both she and her mother grow closer emotionally but also grow as humans. There was no glamorizing or whitewashing of her father's character and I love how McLaughlin put the emphasis on the many many victims -- not just the women who were killed but on extended family of the victims and of the killer himself. This novel felt very real to me and it was surprisingly uplifting. Kudos to the author for bringing nuance and compassion to a story that in lesser hands could have been all about the low hanging fruit.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of DAUGHTER by Kate McLaughlin in exchange for my honest review.***

2.5 STARS

Scarlett discovers she’s the daughter of a notorious serial killer when on his deathbed, he agrees to give the names and locations of other victims if she visits him.

I wanted to love DAUGHTER as much as I liked Kate McLaughlin’s THIS IS WHAT UNBREAKABLE LOOKS LIKE. DAUGHTER starts off slowly with party scenes not central to plot or character. Once Scarlett learns her identity and that of her mother, the pace picked up a bit and I finished the story in one sitting.

Scarlett should be a more compelling character, but I never *felt* her pain, anger or fear. The minor characters had more personality and nuance. I did root for her. Her father was felt more like a character than an actual serial killer.

Scarlett’s narration grabbed me more than the articles and letters, which felt more like info dump than useful additions to the story. McLaughlin didn’t do a lot of research about death row, prison security or prisons in general. Her father wouldn’t have his own room in an infirmary and Scarlett would have never been left alone with him etc.

DAUGHTER had more potential than the story, which made the book disappointing, though I still enjoyed it.

A great story about a girl who finds out that she is the daughter of a serial killer that she had actually learned about in school (similar to Ted Bundy) when she is asked by the FBI to come to the prison to meet with the father she didn't know she had. SUCH a great story. One that will keep you reading until the very end.

Wow! Just wow! This was absolutely amazing! I wasn’t sure what to think at first but I could NOT put this book down. Imagine living your whole life as a lie and finding out your father is an infamous serial killer. I absolutely loved this book and hope to see more from this author. Everyone read this book that loves suspense and edge of your seat. Amazing job!