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.

“By the end of next summer, before the kids go back to school, I will kill my family".

Well, with an opening like that, it's kind of hard not to be drawn in to this novel, or turned off depending on your point of view, for this novel won't be for everyone.

Des, is a father of 3, he is a 'good father'. But he is as controlling as you suspect that he might be from the novel's opening, he is aggressive, constantly jealous, envious and fearful. He is an awful character.

But then that is entirely the point.

I think this novel is written not to understand or like Des, but to showcase that his sort of character does exist in the world however uncomfortable that may make the reader feel.

Firstly thank you for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book. The opening had me gripped and I hoped the rest of the book would continue in the same way, sadly this was not the case. The story is told entirely from Des’ point of view across multiple time periods which helps to develop the story. However I did not enjoy the writing style or Des’ character. I can appreciate that the erratic style helps to portray adds’ state of mind and it does make the story feel more authentic but I just did not enjoy it. Although the writing style was erratic I did feel that the story was slow paced for the majority of the book and I found it hard to remain engaged with the story. I would have possibly enjoyed this book more had it been written from multiple points of view ie. Jenny, Jerome or the children.

This one was a hard no from me and it was hard to get into the book.

Many thanks to the publishers for my review copy.

Sorry to say I didn’t really enjoy this book. Hard to get into, kind of kept reading to get it done but didn’t enjoy it.
The first few lines got you in, but then you just kept chasing the story and it just ended.
Odd book.

I had to DNF this as I could not get into the story The characters were all unlikeable and there was seemingly not much plot which was a shame considering the opening line was 'I murdered my entire family' ( or something to that effect.)

I have started this weird, twisted story. Do I like the way it opened? No. But have I shut the book, no. Such a paradox. I know that just to get the weirdness out of my head I will read it.

Edit:
Ok finished the book.. and I hated it .. weird, and sick and twisted

The book was very well written, and the author used a dual timeline, which keeps the reader glued to the see how the couple's relationship changed. The ending isn't expected, and makes for a all over entertaining read. Recommended.

Sorry illness delayed me reviewing this title but I really enjoyed this book. I would definitely recommend and love to read more from this author

A disturbing dark psychological thriller. I felt it started slow but still had that read on read on thing all books need. Don’t give up because it will pull you in and keep you up wanting to read on. A strong 4/5.

Another Thriller that was unfortunately not what I had expected. Having said that, it was written well so I flew through it.

The book was written in a ‘stream of consciousness’ style, which I wasn’t a fan of. And the plot itself wasn’t so much of a mystery, but rather a descent into madness.

Des wasn’t a likeable character, and he wasn’t supposed to be. But I found it hard to relate/symphatise with him because there was no single thing about him that I could appreciate (unlike Joe in ‘You’ for example who could be totally charming when he turned it on). Des was awkward, possessive, abusive, and creepy from the beginning. It probably said more about Jen’s character than Des’ that she kept getting attracted to men of questionable characters.

I did have a few favourite quotes though. One of them that I thought was particularly true was:
“There’s so much here that I don’t know about her. I realise now that I thought that I knew everything. But that, I figure, is the arrogance of marriage.”

At the end of the day, it was a short-ish book and I didn’t hate the experience of reading it. And I quite liked the Author’s writing style so I’d be checking more books from her.

When the first line of a book tells you that the character is going to kill their family, you are sucked in straight away!

Des is the main character in this book, he is married to Jenny and we hear about their story between when they met and now, when we hear that Des plans on killing his wife and children. While he is in fact "a good father" his obsession with controlling his wife becomes more and more difficult to read about, and the story builds and builds.

It will keep you hooked!

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin for the ARC

<i> “By the end of next summer, before the kids go back to school, I will kill my family.”</i>

It's hard not to be drawn in with that kind of opening line.

This book is told purely from the point of view of Des. He is a father of 3 who does the soccer runs and cooks for the family and is seen as a good father. But he is controlling in a very passive aggressive way, constantly jealous, envious and fearful.

This is a pretty tough read, and a great attempt from the author to answer the questions that we all ask when we hear terrible stories on the news of a parent killing their whole family.

Although I appreciate the writing style and accept there is a terrible subject matter, I'm not sure reading this was overall a positive experience. Perhaps best for those who love a look inside the mind of a psychopath and aren't concerned with how it all ends.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I didn’t enjoy this book at all, I found it very depressing. Sorry it was definitely not for me.

Many thanks to netgalley and Catherine Talbot for the advanced copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

What a compelling read right from the beginning! I loved the nonlinear timeline. I loved the first person. My eyes were wide as I read because I just had to see what happened next! Absolutely loved Catherine Talbot’s writing and I can’t wait to read more!!! 5 big stars from me!!!

I love books like this, great read well written, addictive and gripping, had me from the start, fully recommend

Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC - I feel that the start to this book was quite promising, however for me it didn’t live up its expectations. It was ok, a fairly easy read, although quite depressing. It wasn’t for me but I am sure it will be popular for someone else.