I have read a lot of the reviews for this book on Goodreads and some of them irritated me to no end. People were upset that Kerri mentioned her faith throughout the book, they were upset that Kerri wasn't upset enough at her father, the judged her for her reactions. They accused her of not supplying enough information about her father (the book is about being a serial killer's daughter, not providing new insight into the father's crimes...although she DOES include countless letters between her dad and her throughout the book). All I could think as I read these things were how can anyone possible judge this woman? Her father's a serial killer. Not her. People accused her of having a victim mentality. Uh, YEAH! SHE SHOULD! SHE IS A VICTIM. An innocent bystander to her father's heinous crimes. Anyway, I just want to say if you base your book selections on Goodreads reviews, please consider ignoring them on this one and reading it yourself to form your own opinion. I think it is brave of Mrs. Rawson to even make herself known and to tell her story because I am sure she knew she would be ridiculued in these ways. The first half of the book was pretty mundane, but I am fairly certain that was the point. Kerri Rawson was highlighting the fact that for her family, not knowing what her dad was up to in his secret double life, were a normal, average family (as far as they knew). Nothing seemed out of place. The second half of the book focuses on Dennis Rader's arrest and subsequent confessions, and that's when the letters are shared, and Mrs. Rawson shares how she felt and what her family went through as they were blindsided by this side of a man they have known and loved their whole lives. It was an interesting read. I recommend it to anyone who likes to read about true crime or memoirs, but I urge you to do so with empathy and compassion for this woman who didn't ask for any of this.

One can feel nothing but compassion as the first page of this book is turned. We all know what Kerri Rawson's father did. Her father is BTK, the serial killer named Dennis Rader, who, unlike his murder victims, is still living, getting his meals, bedding, reading material, visits, letters, heat and air conditioning. Yes, we can't feel anything but compassion for his daughter, who writes this book. Of course it wasn't her fault.
Rawson goes to great length describing what a great dad he was and talks at length about all the things the family did together, all the trips, adventures, camping. She wants us to know he wasn't all BAD. We can acknowledge that.
What is harder to accept is the feeling that starts to crawl up your spine, that Rawson won't really let herself spend ten seconds placing herself in any of the victims' shoes. Say, for the last 30 seconds before death.
The book is a narrative of her experience, of her victimization by her father and so it's necessarily full of explanations of her feelings, her trauma, her depression, her anger. What it doesn't have is a heck of a lot of insight.
Anybody who is interested in BTK will want to read this book. I commend her for getting it together enough to put her experience into words. What is missing is any real understanding beyond the headlines. And what we don't need is many many pages describing her stressful feelings. We can well imagine that.

Aside from being very poorly written, Kerri Rawson's memoir comes off as whiny and needy. It cannot be easy finding out that your father is a serial killer (her dad is Dennis Rawson, aka BTK). Nobody is saying it is. But Rawson makes it seem like she's the #1 victim in the situation, not the 10 people her father tortured and murdered. I was particularly irritated the first time she mentioned the murders, because they each got about a sentence. She spent more time talking about how she and her brother ate Cheez-Its in the backseat of the car on a family vacation.

I also found it hard to reconcile how she put her father up on a pedestal and adored him so much as a child when she gives literally dozens of examples of his explosive rage, his verbal abuse toward her and her mother, and even his multiple attempts to strangle her brother. He's not the saintly man she paints him out to be.

The other thing that drove me crazy was the religious aspect of the book. It wasn't just mentioned several times - there were two verses in particular that were repeated probably a hundred times throughout the book. It got old and far, far too repetitive.

1.5 stars

Interesting look on what it was like to grow up with one of the world's most notorious serial killers. I would recommend this book to anyone that loves true crime shows/books. Def a must read.

I give 5 stars for the the author to write this book. It was not a story I expected, and that being said, I'm not sure what I expected. It gave me little insight into the BTK criminal. At times, it seemed Kerri was the victim, and while, yes, she is also a victim, I found little sympathy for what she went through compared with what her father's victims went through. If you are looking for an Ann Rule type of book (really flows, clues add up, ah ha moments) - you won't get any of those moments here.
Perhaps it could have been written in a different tone? Very brave of Kerri to put this book out there, and I appreciate the effort.

I was about to give up on this book due to the first half of it, plain and boring, but right when I was about to do it, the author finally spoke about her father's history and what happened after he was arrested. I know it is important to have a background to fully understand the process of a daughter learning her father is a serial killer, but the style she used during that first half didn't work for me. However, there are important lessons and morals in this tale of abuse and murder, a powerful story of survival and acceptance.

My Thoughts:
First:
Thomas Nelson is the publisher. This is Kerri Rawson’s first book. I’m sure Thomas Nelson had an editor work with Rawson, but the book is her lone words.
This point is important, because often with a first book by a new author, a more experienced author will work alongside to help tell the story. When the inexperienced author writes their biography the reading can come across choppy or remote. Add to this mixture, through most of the book Kerri Rawson is in shock. She bounces between, “Oh my God!” and “he is my dad…this can’t be true.” At times, I felt yanked along like a pet out for a dangerous walk. On the other hand, Rawson’s story is organic and raw.
Second:
This year I’ve read true crime books for the first time. It has been important for me to read a book written from the perspective of the criminal’s family. It’s rare to find a book or article written from this perspective. I now realize, a serial killer’s family does not want to be found and interviewed. A Serial Killer’s Daughter gave me an idea of what they go through: news media who peak through windows, telephone constantly ringing, family members homes are watched, interviews by law enforcement, and warrants for search and seizure. A serial killer’s family become victims too. It is a death to the life they “thought” they had. It is a death to privacy. And, it is a death to the relationship they had with the family member who is the criminal, perpetrator, and murderer.
Third:
Through the entire story I looked for how Kerri felt. Further, how does she feel about how she feels? The book is more about what is happening and less about how she feels. These emotions were hard to find. Later in the book she explains her, “life feels like a lie.” She expresses words like, “numb,” “shaking,” and a “stinging” feeling “in brain.”
Fourth:
I believe the book centering on Kerri and how it relates to her dad as a serial killer should be in the book. It’s unnecessary to give an entire descriptive bio of Kerri’s life. For example, Kerri describes in detail about how she fixed her hair and what clothes she wore.
Last:
It is so interesting how Kerri has brought along her father (so to speak) in telling her story. For example, she explains how her father did things, how he taught her to deal with strangers, etc. Can someone explain this one?
Kerri felt they had a close relationship before his arrest. It must be painfully difficult, awkward, and confusing to try and understand and define life as Dennis Rader’s daughter.
Source: I received a complimentary ebook copy through NetGalley/Thomas Nelson, but was not required to leave a positive review.

I have watched many documentaries on BTK and was hoping for another view. I found this to be an ok read. You get an insight on his family life, but not a whole lot into the real peson.
Thanks for the opportunity to review!

I was really excited to read this book, knowing little about the BTK crimes as a UK resident I want to know more about them (especially after the mention of him in Mindhunter). This book really wasn't what I was expecting at all which is my fault - the subtitle of the book does highlight its a memoir of the daughters life.

There are a lot of church references which I started to skim over as they are neither relevant to me, nor interest me. Then a lot of stories about the family, which I almost think sound like they are excusing his behaviour - it was a hard time for the family with the death of so-and-so, this just so happens to fall in line with the date victim number 4 was killed etc.

Sadly I have to give this book a miss - admittedly not finishing it, which is rare for me. If you are looking for more information on the crimes this is not the book for you.

How heartbroken Kerri Rawson must have been to learn that all she’d ever known was false, that her whole life had been one huge lie. She told this story by laying bare her emotions and displaying her process of grieving and heartbreak. Her faith was a driving force in her struggle to come to terms with the heinous crimes committed by her father BTK and understandably so. I enjoyed her account of her childhood however there were some parts which I though contributed little to the text. The book detailed well the trauma her family went through upon learning of his past, that their childhoods were not what they had thought, that her father had been murdering since before she was born. It would be such a dreadful thing to learn about someone you once held dear, who was a respected member of society, church, your neighbourhood, your home. She told her story well and despite the context I did enjoy it.

This book was hard to get through. I gave up half way through. I expected some insight, maybe some reporting on the crimes themselves. What the book gives you is Kerri's story of her normal childhood and how normal her dad was - in her eyes. It is slow to read and somewhat pointless. I would not recommend this book.

Having lived in Wichita during the time of BTK and seeing first hand the terror of the entire community when the killer could not be caught, I was very interested in the aftermath of his capture. Kerri Rawson's identity as an everyday, girl next door, was changed forever when she became BTK's daughter. The fact that none of his family had suspected him only made it worse. Her story of how she coped with the publicity and eventually moved beyond his trial and conviction make a very compelling story of survival against the odds. Her father killed her family as surely as he killed his many victims. They just had to move past while trying to reconcile the man they knew with the man who could commit such crimes.

This book was very interesting.
It was very enlighting.
But most of all it was scary that people like this man lived and walked this earth.

I was hoping for more information on the BTK Killer, however I did like the story. I have always wondered how family copes with such a devastating blow.

Thanks NetGalley!

Omg what an amazing book. I absolutely loved it from beginning to end. If you haven’t read it yet I highly suggest you do. You will not be disappointed

Full disclosure: I received a free e-galley from the publisher. My opinions are my own.

This was a difficult review to write. I lived in the Wichita area when BTK re-surfaced by sending messages and packages. I lived down the street from the former Chief of Police. I also knew the UPS driver who found the package with Vicki Wegerle's driver's license. Before Dennis Rader was caught, our area was heavily patrolled. My children, who were in middle school at the time, left a message on my phone every week day after they arrived home and also after they looked under the beds and in the closets. (We did not have texting at the time.)

Kerri Rawson, the daughter of Dennis Rader, is very honest in her account of growing up in a typical family and the after effects of her father's crimes coming to light. Her words are powerful. Thank goodness she is alive to tell them.

Recommended for public libraries and academic libraries with criminology collections, keeping in mind that Nelson Books is a faith-based publisher.

Kerri gives us an inside look at what it is like to live with such a devastating blow being dealt to your family. I found it so incredibly interesting to learn what it was like growing up with her father, and how she has coped with this new life she has been forced to live.

Thank you to Netgalley and Nelson Books for this ARC!

This book was really interesting. When I see someone convicted of a serious crime, I always think of what their family must be enduring. Having to live with the judgement, pain, and guilt over what your loved one did would be excruciating.
I found Kerri Dawson's story fascinating and I am really glad I read it. I feel like I got a deeper understanding into what the families must endure.

I received a free copy of A Serial Killer's Daughter in exchange for an honest review from Net Galley. While this wasn't a really bad book, it was not at all what I expected. I was expecting more of a book on the BTK killer and his family life, not a history of his daughter's childhood and later learning her father's true identity. While my heart does go out to his family and I understand that it is hard and heavy blow to them, this was not what I was interested in reading. I love to read true crime, and expected more of that type of a story.

Thank for the chance to read and review this ARC. It wasn't what I expected but it was an interesting read. As a true crime genre fan I was under the impression that I would learn more about BTK and his crimes, but this was moreso his daughter gaining comfort through her religion after her world was turned upside down. She was very brave to share this testimony. Would recommend if you aren't solely looking to learn about BTK.