Des is afraid.
Afraid of the world encroaching on his home.
Afraid of past mistakes catching up on him.
So afraid of losing control over his family that he is contemplating the unthinkable.
"By the end of next summer, before the kids go back to school, I will kill my family". What an opening line, I was delighted to receive this ARC copy and from the synopsis thought I would enjoy it. Regrettably, that was the best line in the story, and I grew quickly bored, I ended up scanning through most of the pages, which was enough to get the gist of the plot.
It is a very one-dimensional story based only on Des's perspective; It would have been more interesting if another point of view had been included.
Sadly, this book was not for me.
I want to thank NetGalley, Penguin Books (UK) and author Catherine Talbot for a pre-publication copy to review.

Des is in his 40s and is married to the love of his life, Jenny. They have three lovely kids together, and Des makes it a point to be deeply involved and in charge of the well-being of his family. He runs the household, does the chores, volunteers at his son's football team, works in a steady yet soul-sucking job and also does almost all the parenting. His wife uses all her time to focus on her art which brings in very little money. Things begin to spiral out of control for Des when he realizes that an external threat could make him lose everyone he loves.

My top three thoughts on 'A Good Father':
1. Right off the bat, I'll say that this isn't an easy to read book. It's mainly because the novel is told from only one perspective - a very skewed and disturbing one. The story is about obsession, jealousy, control, abuse, manipulation and power. It's also hard to like any of the characters. There's not enough told about them, and they continue to make decisions that add to the toxicity in their relationship.
2. There are two timelines in the book. One from 1995 - when Jenny and Des start their relationship, and the other timeline is 2017, which looks at them as parents living dull, lackluster lives. Despite these shifts in time, the story is told without any confusion. The way Des narrates the story, it's almost like seeing snapshots of his memories. So you catch glimpses of why things started going sour between the couple. Talbot has captured bitterness and resentment very well in her writing, and you get to see how Des unravels and goes out of control.
3. Talbot's choice to focus on only Des's perspective robbed us off trying to understand Jes - Her thoughts, rationale and choices. Why did she continue to stay with him? How did she feel after certain aggressive encounters? What were her true feelings about her family as she seemed mostly aloof and disconnected (according to Des)?

Overall a good story but it lacked a bit of oomph for me and slightly dull.

Sorry but this wasn't for me.

Des is a 40-something year old man with a wife, Jenny, and three kids. He volunteers at his sons’ under-eleven football team, he holds down a steady job and he seems to do the majority of the parenting and domestic chores whilst his wife brings in little money through her sculpting. A Good Father sees Des’ descent into jealously, rage and murder.

The book starts off strong with Des stating that before the end of the summer, he will have killed his family. This, of course, hooked me immediately and I wanted to know why, where, how this was all going to happen. Talbot does an excellent job of painting the character of Des. He is a horrible, jealous, manipulative man and I detested him so much. He made my skin crawl in the worst possible way. I also found the last chapter (not the epilogue), extremely emotional and thought it was well executed.

However, like other reviewers before me have said, the book lacked the pace expected from the very first line and, as a result, I was regularly checking my progress as I just wanted it to end. It was a little monotonous and boring in places and I probably would have DNFed if this was not an ARC. I understand what Talbot was trying to do, but I think perhaps if the book was shorter it would have had a little bit more impact. I think there was quite a bit of unnecessary parts of the book that just slowed it down.

So for me, a thriller without the thrill.

I thought this was going to be a story never to forget as the opening paragraph was great. But i found i didn't relate to the main character and didn't feel any connection at all so he irritated me - I guess I just expected more from him. Sorry not for me on this occasion.

This felt like a sublty dramatic story about a family, and the highs and the lows between husband and wife. I can see the jelousy of the father when his wife still hangs out with her ex, and it leads to his downfall.

Despite starting with a bang, I felt that it read a little more like a contemporary saga than a pure crime fiction, and I couldn't emphasise with any of the characters- Des most of all.

I did enjoy reading about how jealousy can lead to what I feel like are irrational thoughts.

Rating: 3.5/5

Absolutely loved it!! Well written. Kept me page turning. Gripped from the start. I would recommend it to others to read.

The first line absolutely drew me in, but after that it was a really slow read and one that I struggled with. It felt a bit one sided, just getting Des and his side of the story, I was desperate to hear Jenny's side. I wanted her to run a mile with his obsessive behaviour, but then I felt I didn't know her well enough to gauge what she would do.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book this is my honest opinion,

This started with a great first sentence which had me excited for the rest of the book and then it just failed big time. I really struggled with this book and considered DNF but powered through thinking maybe in the second half it would pick up. It didn't.
Whilst I did like the fact it was told from the mans perspective I really think it would have improved the story if you got to see another view point. It also didn't help that there is not one likeable character in the whole thing.
I can see what the author was trying to achieve but it just didn't connect.
Flat, repetitive and boring.
Unfortunately not one for me.

A disturbing, uncomfortable read of a jealous control freak of a man, who makes his wife's and children's lives so difficult. The story is told from the narrative of the husband, Des; justifying his controlling of his family and how he eventually plans to end everything for them.
I found this a very difficult read; particularly since the character of his wife Jenny was largely lost: no doubt due to his mental and physical abuse.
It would have been even more powerful had Jenny had some narrative. But one of those books that will haunt you for a while.
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

What a debut, this is a stop you in your tracks, put down that to do list and read me book.
We have Des and Jenny and the story is told through Des. They became a couple in 1995 and all seems well Love blossoms and by 2017 we see big changes in the relationship.
Des has a job as a sales man and hates it, but it pays the bills and keeps their three children Joey, Mickey and Maeve fed and watered! Des is a god Father and enjoys spending quality time with his children.
This story shows its true colours about manipulation, and control which becomes abusive and Des is constantly using his authority to control control control.
I think I would have liked to have heard Jenny's narrative, and find out why she stayed with him in the beginning when there were clearly alarm bells ringing.
From the opening line, and oh what a line "By the end of next summer, before the kids go back to school, I will kill my family"
The story builds and builds, until it reaches an explosive ending.Reading this is a little like one of those movies your screaming at, and you just cant stop watching from behind closed fingers.

A well wrote thriller that I can see appealing to lots of readers in this genre. Thank you for the copy.

If you are wanting to read a book that grips you from the very first line then this is the book for you.
“By the end of next summer, before the kids go back to school, I will kill my family.”
The story is told through Des' point of view, in almost like a diary entry - it ranges from the nineties to the present day in 2017. He talks about how he meets his wife to be Jenny in 1995, how its pretty much love at first sight and how he supports and encourages her through her artistic dreams. It then flickers back and forth to when they are married with three children and how things have changed for them.
Des is a good father who loves spending quality time with his children. From the outside they look like a loving family however the warning signs as there early on their relationship. Its clear to see the love Des has for his family which turns in to control, obsession and jealousy.
As you can imagine, opening up with a line like that, the book had me gripped right away. I love how you got to know the characters past gradually whilst still getting the present day grittiness. The story was very believable in the way it is built up over the years of their relationship, showing how jealousy and controlling relationships are a gradual thing. I couldn't help but to read on even though I knew the ending from the very first sentence, I just needed to know everything I could. Very well written and my first but definitely not my last read by this author.

3/5 🌟

The opening scene hit me hard. I lost my smile shortly after and my mood went down the entire time. I think countless times whether to DNF it or continued because it's getting painstakingly every time. But then I ask myself, “what if it was my story, doesn't it deserve a chance to be heard of? ”


There is a moment when I said, “Ohh, come on. I don't have time to listen to a man's tricks on how to woo women🙄.”
And then after it was almost over, “Oh my dear, oh my dear 😱. I got a hunch that everything will turn awful; like waking up from a nightmare, and suddenly you touch your forehead feeling a sudden burst of sweat all over the place because what you felt was so intense, and you begin to question yourself, “ what did I just read??”, “why???” and, “no, no, no! ”. I guess it right but it was so hard to accept what a person capable of doing when bound with jealousy.



Even if I didn't fully in love with this book I can't deny how important the issue the author trying to raise. Like it or not, I can't always run away from bitterness in life. It's awful how we rarely acknowledge what others might feel from our behavior towards them.


Also how many people are not happy in their marriage because they expected more. Of course, there is no harm in wanting that. But the things that clearly wrong are that you keep on receiving without actually given in. You want space but not prepared to give space. Both partners need to play their part as being a parent. You can't just shove all those duties away without taking the role of husband and wife, and still act like the people who haven't married yet! Are you kidding me?! Get real, people! That's what makes everything crumbling.


As I told you this book is complicated, told in a similar way like a diary by the husband. You need to see it from the eyes of man. What if our roles switch? Hopefully, we can think much wiser.

Thank you so much @netgalley for approving my request to review this ebook.

The book starts off gripping.......

Showing you the family at present , whilst flashing back on various relationships , showing you how he got here to this state. The topics are explored well.

It ended up being a bit of a slow burner. But I think pace, reflects how I think the husband is feeling. It is as if nothing is moving forward to him , stuck in his own thoughts , as he is waiting for the perfect timing to do the deed.

Not as much as a page turner what I thought it would be!

This book drew me in from the synopsis, and I was hooked on the first page. However, as I read on I found myself less and less interested. I didn't like the characters, and it all seemed a bit far fetched to me.

I wanted to like this one but I just didn't enjoy it as much as I would have hoped.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this E-book to review via Netgalley.

I really, really wanted to enjoy reading this book but it wasn't to be. The opening line 'By the end of next summer, before the kids go back to school, I will kill my family' was the most exciting thing about the book, it went downhill from there. The tone used was monotonous and I was bored beyond belief just wanting to finish it and be done with it. The main character Des whose view the book was written from was hateful and I was fed up of reading about him being sick all the time. The plot itself was a good idea and I like that it was written from the person who was the abuser rather than the person on the receiving end, but the way the book was written didn't work.

A Good Father is a dark, twisty, disturbing book. I would recommend this book without a doubt! A real page turner.

A Good Father" is very well-written and hard to put down, with solid characters and imagery. There isn't much of a plot - there doesn't need to be. It is a disturbing and truly sad read. Avoid if you're looking for a "feel good" book: My mind is still churned up over this one.

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

I knew from the first sentence that I would enjoy this book and was eager to see what wild ride Des would take us on. I haven't read a book from the perspective of a male in a long time, Des is extremely problematic from the very start - jealous, bored, abusive but on the surface a great family man. Honestly, I despised his wife, Jenny even more. I like reading books where I have no empathy for the main characters, as I form no strong opinions on what I want to happen to them so I enjoyed the story playing out.

The book flicks between 2017 and 1995 when the two first met. I enjoyed the flicking between, building a picture of why they behave the way they do. It was interesting to see domestic violence displayed in A Good Father, as it was subtle - not the in your face domestic violence and aggression you get in a lot of other books. I think that tells a much more relatable tale.

My only criticism is that there is a LOT of vomit in this book. Some of it made sense to the story and some I felt was just put in for a bit of detail, or to gross us out? I did feel like it was too much and often did not add anything to the story.

Overall, a good read. It doesn't have the bang of many thrillers and there is no "mystery" to solve, but I really enjoyed the ride from initial sentence to the ending. I feel I could write pages on how much I disliked the characters and to me that's a sign of a great book.

WOW! Such an amazing great book!

When I read that first sentence “By the end of next summer, before the kids go back to school, I will kill my family.” I was like "WHAT" Ok now I'm glued!
This was right down my lane of books I just soak up, and love!

A Good Father is a dark, twisty, disturbing book.

I would recommend this book absolutely!

Thank You NetGalley And Publisher for this ARC!