This is the synopsis for A Serial Killer's Daughter - - In 2005, Kerri Rawson opened the door of her apartment to greet an FBI agent who shared the shocking news that her father had been arrested for murdering ten people, including two children.

That's also when she first learned that her father was the notorious serial killer known as BTK, a name he'd given himself that described the horrific way he committed his crimes: bind, torture, kill. As news of his capture spread, the city of Wichita celebrated the end of a thirty-one-year nightmare. For Kerri Rawson, another was just beginning.

In the weeks and years that followed, Kerri was plunged into a black hole of horror and disbelief. The same man who had been a loving father, a devoted husband, church president, Boy Scout leader, and a public servant had been using their family as a cover for his heinous crimes since before she was born. Everything she had believed about her life had been a lie.

The story is told in such a way that I kept saying over and over again the word "WoW" because it was so hard to believe that someone that appeared to be all of those good things was really a horrible and evil person.

3+ light-giving stars
“’The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’”

What happens when your world is shattered by the news your dad was arrested as a serial killer? …the guy you went hiking and camping with, a normal seeming neighborhood dad. Kerri Rawson does and excellent job of sharing her answer to the horrible circumstances she found herself in.

The book is honest with devastating emotions and mental health issues. Many authors would have added graphic details to the story. The initials BTK stand for bind, torture, kill. I appreciated that Kerri Rawson took a high road approach and focused on healing from the trauma of her dad’s arrest.

I think it’s important to know that the story focuses on love, hope, and overcoming. Rawson’s Christian testimony and inclusion of Bible verses are a way for the devastating choices her dad made (and is in solitary confinement for the rest of his life) to let in bits of light in after the horrifying crimes and the devastation wreaked on eight families.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher, in return for an honest review. This review is based entirely on my own thoughts and feelings.

Overall Rating: 3*
Writing : 4*
Information : 3*
Uniqueness : 3*
Concept : 3*

Ive decided I need to stick to accounts about the killers and criminals themselves, memoirs by loved ones just doesn't cut it for me.
I was bored throughout most of this, interested only in the trials and evidence parts. There was 3 chapters just on a hiking trip she took with her dad, not specifically what I was after with this book.
That being said it was written well and you felt for the whole family. I especially liked the insight into the letters written between the dad from prison and Kerri herself.

I commend Kerri Rawson for having the strength to write this and carry on after finding out who her father was. With that being said this is a memoir about her memories and love for her father, not so much about her feelings or healing process. This was very slow and could have benefited from heavier editing.

This one has haunted me for months. The author is open and honest and as the reader I was genuinely gut punched by the story. Such a tough one. I appreciated how real and raw this book was.

A Serial Killer’s Daughter the book from Kerri Rawson regarding her father Dennis Rader, better known as the BTK killer, gives you a first hand account of what it is like to grow up having a monster as a Father. Surprisingly, for Kerri it did not look as different as you would have thought. What felt like an otherwise normal childhood, Kerri is faced with the reality of what her father truly is, a serial killer.

I first found out about the BTK Killer through the popular Netflix Series, Mindhunter, and have since followed up with many of the books, podcasts, and lives of those depicted in the series. This first hand account leaves you wondering if you really every know who somebody is, even if that person is your father.

I would definitely recommend A Serial Killer's Daughter to Mindhunter fans who are equally as interested in learning more about the personal lives of the serial killers depicted on the show. This book certainly sheds a different light on the life of Dennis Rader the family man.

I want to recognize Karri Rawson and her work advocating for for other victims of abuse, crime and trauma and her willingness to share her story.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to review this book.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Thanks to #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. A heartbreakingly raw and honest memoir by Kerri. We learn of just how idyllic and normal her childhood was. Her father like any father could have bad mood days where you give them some space but overall she was very close with him and they shared a lot of living times and memories together. I cannot imagine the degree to which she felt hurt and bewildered to later in life learn (by way of the FBI knocking on her door) that her dad was in fact also the BTK Killer. It's such an interesting read to go through how she and her family struggled to reconcile this serial killer and her loving dad as one and the same person. I always wonder if the families of serial killers ever suspect something is not quite right with their family member or if they even go so far as to suspect they may be a killer. Reading this book from Kerri's perspective it's plain to see she and her family had no idea of her dad's other life. How she has managed to get on with her life and not let herself also be a victim of her dad's crimes is a credit to her inner strength. #netgalley #tea_sipping_bookworm #goodreads #aserialkillersdaughter #kerrirawson #bookstagram #bookqueen #amazonkindle #litsy #scribd #borrowbox #thestorygraph

I was a bit disappointed with this one. I know he is her dad and she will empathize with him. I felt she was more concerned with how he felt and how her family was embarrassed by what he did. She doesn't seem to have the same empathy for his victims and their families. They paid the ultimate price for his life. I also didn't realize how much of this book would be about religion. If you're thinking about reading this, know that it could have been a sermon. People that are religious may find this book more interesting than I did.

Having seen previously good reviews for this one, I had high hopes. However, I did not find this overly engaging and despite having huge respect for what the author has tried to achieve and the difficulties she has faced, I'm not sure this came across quite as well as it could have done.

This is the story of the BTK killer from a different perspective...his daughter’s.

Kerri Rawson gives and in depth look at what it was like growing up with a father that turned out to be a serial killer and no one knew it.

She tells stories of experiences they had as a family, what it was like once her father was arrested and how her faith helped her through it all.

I think she did a great job telling the story of her family and her father without focusing on the horrible things her father did but rather on her faith carrying her.

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion.

Finally finished this book. It was okay - the beginning was interesting with the shorter stories of her growing up with the family and things they went through, also letters exchanged between her and her father while he was in jail. However, the in between parts were 'meh'.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Well, interesting, and ik it has story of faith in the title but wow, is this book imo annoyingly religious, which i normally dont say bc its like a memoir not fiction but wow yea didnt care for that bs

I found this one very interesting to read, but also a bit upsetting. True crime is one of my favourite genres and I really enjoyed this one. It’s not the faint-hearted so be warned. But for all true crime lovers, this is a great book!

Highly recommend this book. It's a great read, full of facts you may never have known about the killer. These murders have always interested me. I'm not one to really follow these types of cases, but something about the BTK killer really stuck with me and elicited fear from me. It's an interested perspective following the daughter of the killer and it shows the heartache a family goes through when something so earth shattering comes from their family unit. I hope this brings awareness to the bullying and hate family members receive, even when they are innocent.

My grandma loves true crime books and TV shows, so I've recommended this to her and her friends.

Interesting in a strange kind of a way. I felt bad for her, and the way she was raised, and was interested to hear how she put her past behind her.

I remember when BTK aka Dennis Rader was caught so I was interested to read his daughter, Kerri Rawson’s book about him. She learns the truth about her father when an FBI agent knocks on the door to her and her husband’s apartment to tell her that he has been arrested. Her world is shattered. Her loving father and devoted husband to her mother cannot possibly be guilty of multiple murders.
Kerri goes into detail about her childhood and relatives, about how she loved her father and how normal everything was. Although she does admit after one accident at home how her father tried to strangle her brother - she says he had threatened them before but had never physically hurt them. I’m not sure how “normal” a childhood can be when something like this happens.
The book continues about their life and casually inserts when a murder would have coincided with a family event, which is quite honestly not what I expected. Kerri suffered terribly after her father was arrested. She loves the man she knows to be her father but couldn’t reconcile that man to the monster he was. I did find Dennis Rader’s letters to Kerri just horrific. From complaining about his relatives who wouldn’t write to him - calling them “not very Christian” - to telling her how much money he thinks he’ll need to get along i.e. books, magazines, hobby supplies, etc etc total $25 per week. He even bragged about sitting at Table A which was the higher pecking order and that the guards liked him and didn’t require him to wear belly chains, except to court. A true narcissist.
Kerry sought the help of a trauma therapy specialist and that, with the help of her faith, has helped her through these times. I think her husband who has been by her side this whole time has also been a huge source of strength.
She does talk about her father’s victims. About the shame and guilt she felt from her father’s actions, the time she spent grieving for them, but ultimately these were her father’s deeds. She was not responsible for anything he did.
This is not your typical serial killer biography. There really isn’t much detail about the BTK but it’s Kerri Rowson’s story
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

"Was it okay to admit I missed a serial killer? That I loved one? I didn't miss a serial killer, didn't love one – I missed my dad. I loved my dad."

"Dad had stolen some of Nancy's [his victim's] jewelry, and years after his arrest, he said: 'I thought, no, I'm not going to give it to my wife, that's too cruel. I thought about giving it to my daughter once. And I maybe did give it to my daughter."

This isn't a typical true crime book in that it doesn't describe the crimes or the victims – understandably. What's interesting about it is the exploration of Kerri Rawson's doublethink: how she can love and miss her dad, but also hate and feel anger towards him for what he's done. It made me sad that she couldn't seem to see that he was a terrible father even before his crimes came to light: he was moody, emotionally manipulative, violent and self-absorbed. Even when she's describing what I think are meant to be happy childhood memories (to show how they're tainted by the later revelation of his crimes), I still felt like he came across as a terrible person and a terrible father.

But honestly, the most interesting thing about this book is how very, very NOT interesting the author is. She is the most basic person I think I've ever read about. She listens to Coldplay. She reads Harry Potter. She's super into the bible. She is boring, boring, boring. And it's really interesting that such a seemingly dull person could have this wild, strange, awful history.

DNF

I tried reading this book and unfortunately I could tell that this book was most likely not going to be for me. In the small portion I did read the author talked a lot about religion and Christianity, not so much about her father. I ingest a lot of true crime content whether it is books, videos and documentaries ; as well as being Jewish. What I wanted out this book was , more about the life of the killer before he was caught. But I couldn't get past all the religious talk.

Thank you Netgally and the author for the free review copy. All thoughts are completely my own.

I want to start by saying how brave Kerri was to share this. With that being said this was not what I thought it would be. I was expecting more crime related, life with her father beforehand and after he was arrested. This book is very religious. Which is fine, but it just wasn't for me.

Very boring and too much religion to be considered a true crime type memoir. I gave up reading it very quick right at the beginning.