“The Perfect Father” is another stand out psychological thriller from Charlotte Duckworth. Containing her trademark blend of social critique and gobsmacking twists, this novel is extremely hard to put down!

Esther and Robin have been happily married for some time, so having a baby seems like the logical next step. There marriage isn’t typical - Esther is holds a senior position in a major charity and Robin is still chasing his big break on the comedy scene. They’ll make it work though and when daughter, Riley, comes into their life it makes sense for Robin to be a stay at home Dad. He’s the perfect father...or is he?

Duckworth returns with her third psychological thriller and I can honestly say that they keep getting better and better! What draws me to her novels is her outstanding critique of society and her exceptionally plotted and well paced narratives. “The Perfect Father” is the perfect blend of all of these. I was immediately drawn to the subject matter - looking at the reversal of traditional parenting and gender stereotypes. From the outset, I was drawn to Rob and his desire to be a full time dad. Having taken 8 weeks of shared parental leave last year and experiencing first hand the confusion (and ignorance) in people’s reactions to this, I found “The Perfect Father” to be an astute look at the ingrained social prejudices of men who choose to be full time fathers. There is a very strong theme of toxic masculinity that is explored adeptly (Rob’s relationship with his father, is a particular vivid example) and the impact that is felt from this ripples across the lives of all the characters. There is an element of domestic noir in the plot, which works really well with this exploration of masculinity and modern parenting. It is clear that Rob is a product of his lack of success in his career, his overly critical father and his polar opposite brother. However, his devotion to his daughter appears admirable and enviable - I found him very relatable on this front.

However, Duckworth is a master at letting readers think that a story is heading in one direction, only to suddenly veer you on to a completely different and altogether more shocking path! “The Perfect Father” is resplendent with jaw dropping revelations, shock twists and edge of your seat sequences. She very cleverly weaves a sense of dread and anticipation through the narrative, which explodes at various points in the plot into highly tense and gripping scenes. The narrative builds at a steady and engaging pace, as gradually the heart of Esther and Rob’s marriage is laid bare. However, once the revelations come to light the narrative becomes nail-bitingly tense and progresses at pace. Flipping between the present day and the characters’ lives from the past three months helps to layer this story and build up both readers’ investment in the characters and suspense around the narrative. I was gripped from page one and was desperate to read what was going to happen. I also loved the fact that for much of the narrative I was unclear on who the antagonist and hero was going to be. This again helped with the suspense and the overall sense of unease that permeates throughout the novel.

I highly recommend “The Perfect Father” - it tackles some very topical themes and takes them into a thrilling and disturbing realm!

Twists and turns are certainly the order of the day in this great thriller, who is who???? and what will happen next??
Guarantee this rollercoaster of a read will keep you stuck on the sofa until you reach the end.
#Netgalley #Amazon

It was a bit of a drag to get through this book quite frankly. Nothing captured or interested me from the start and the book was very slow. Mainly finished the book so I could leave a review and rate but I’m a little disappointed about this book. One woman’s trash, another woman’s treasure though!

After a difficult pregnancy, Esther is grateful that her husband Robin offers to put his career on hold so that she can return to the job she loves.  But Esther finds leaving her daughter Riley behind more challenging than she'd thought.  And soon the new imbalance in her relationship with Robin brings old tensions to the surface.  Then one day Esther arrives home from work to find Robin and Riley are missing.  As the police investigate their disappearance, it becomes clear that nothing about this modern-day family is what it seems.  I was quite intrigued with the blurb and expected to read a thriller, but this is more a family drama with some suspense.  Thank you to NetGalley,  Quercus/Hachette UK, and the author for a gifted copy.  This is my honest review.

This book is an insightful look into what could happen when a partner trusts too much. Which is a sad state of affairs, because aren't relationships built on trust?  

Robin is the typical comedian wannabe; he's charming to those around him, he copes with things by joking, and is happy to have his wife be the one sustaining their finances. It's not until his secrets start to unravel that we see what his wife Esther missed - that he has a past and some current goings on that  should have made her run in the other direction.

Except now she has Riley.  The baby she couldn't have, but who belongs to her husband.  All because he needed an outlet one night.  And she could lose it all.

Then Esther receives a one word text -  "sorry" - and then the author takes us on a crazy ride in alternating fast forwards to the present and snippets of the past that beg the question - can you ever really know someone?

This was suspenseful in the way that waiting for the other shoe to drop is....and drop it did!

Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for an advance reader's copy for review.

I am a huge fan of this authors work. She writes psychological thrillers with such flare that when you are reading them you can't help feel that nothing is ever as it seems.
You can almost feel the undercurrent throughout her stories.
We meet Robin and Esther in this one.
As a couple, they have decided that Robin will stay at home to look after their little girl while Esther goes out to work.
An arrangement that seems to suit them both..
One day Esther arrives home from work to discover that Robin and their little girl have gone, completely disappeared.
This story is told between two timelines, the now and the past telling how they met and the run up to the present day...
I quite enjoyed the way the author told us her story.
She gives such a great insight into the relationship between Robin & Esther and what it is built on.
I couldn't help feeling that one was always carrying the other in the relationship..
I didn't take to either character if I'm honest but that just increased the suspense for me trying to figure out what was happening and why.
Who could or should be trusted.
It made me question is there really such a thing as a perfect family...
A tense and quite a dramatic read for sure.
I found I couldn't quite leave it down at any point until I had it finished.
So very well worth your time. 
Charlotte Duckworth is an author to watch out for...

OMG one of the better reads I’ve read in a long time. I couldn’t put it down finished it in 2 days. The author was very good in capturing the mind of a tortured evil soul

This is the first book by Charlotte Duckworth that I’ve read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have seen some mixed reviews, but mine is definitely a positive. Multiple character perspectives - tick. Timeline changes - tick. Twists and suspense - absolutely. Superb characterisation; I didn’t actually like Esther much and Robin, well... he intrigued me (anyone who knows me will know what type of character he must have been) but regardless, both were compelling characters, which demonstrates Charlotte’s skill as an author. I was hooked from the first chapter and the pace was just right. With a young toddler myself, I found aspects quite relatable and I found the end rather evocative. I will happily add Charlotte to my list of Psychological Thriller authors. Highly recommend.

I was lucky enough to receive this book as an ARC, I chose the book ftom the blurb but had not heard of author before. What can I say..... Wow fantastically written, well thought out characters. Easily relatable. I normally guess where books are going but not this one, knew something wasn't right with 1 central character but did not imagine would be to the degree it was. Strong story, believable and very well written. Will definately recommend and look forward to reading more from z Charlotte Duckworth

A psychological thriller that leaves you questioning everything and everyone.
 She wants a baby so badly. Now that she's pregnant she can hardly move. The vomiting is continuously sending her to bed. Ten weeks later she miscarries. She is devastated. What's worse is her husband sleeping with someone else while she is miscarrying their child. Then her husband comes up with a solution. The woman doesn't want his child. She is going to abort it. But, she will carry it to term if he pays her. Then she will turn the child over to him. When he shares this with his wife she is equally devastated and willing to take the baby on as both hers and her husband's. She is the sole breadwinner so her husband says he will be the stay at home dad. Things aren't as they seem to be when she approaches the birth mother. Then she discovers what is really going on. Now her child's life may be in danger.
A story full of twists and turns and a great climactic ending.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for my copy. 

This got many good reviews, but unfortunately for me this book was just all over the place.  Told between Robin and his wife Esther, it jumped back and forth from past to present and I had a hard time keeping the story line together. I would pick the book back up and have to reread what I read before to follow what was going on.  It went from present, to the past, to another past and back to present past... very confusing.  

Sorry, this was a pass for me.

After a difficult pregnancy, Esther is grateful that her forward-thinking husband Robin offers to put his career on hold so that she can return to the job she loves.
My main problem with The Perfect Father is that I disliked both main characters. They were selfish, egotistical, and to a point not quite believable. It's hard to love a book when you can't connect with any of the characters.

A bit of a complicated book, by the end I kind of understood it. It's a family drama a bit hard to follow. Esther receives a text from her husband saying "Sorry" and when she gets home the door is open and they are missing. She receives a phone call that Robin was in an accident and is on life support but there's no sign of Riley. Where is her daughter??? 

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the advance ecopy.

This was was sent to me as an ARC NetGalley - however, all opinions are of my own.
"Sorry” was the opening sentence. Sorry.. for what?! Straight away this book grips you and you’re holding onto that one word. Ester, the wife, had no idea what her husband meant when he sent that message. She had to go into detective mode and eventually started to unconverted things about his past that didn’t add up. Throughout, Ester is constantly trying to find answers with at each turn she ends up finding out something else. She’s more worried because her husband has their child and she really wants her back safe.
Eventually, the husband clocks on that Ester has found out things about him that he had hidden and then it became a race against time - cat and mouse. The only thing I didn’t like about the book was how selfish both of the main characters were - there personality seeped out into the book and at some stages you really wanted to throw them a punch.. or two!

The positive feedback on this book was that it was easy to read, kept me engaged and had lots of sub plots.  Unfortunately it has some down sides too. The story line was a little off for me... what family has all these secrets in the closets.  What was the purpose of half of them and they whole thing was a little bizarre. It was a fun read but I couldn't take it too serious at all.

A little predictable, but overall a fun read that kept me interested. This was my first book by Charlotte Duckworth and I immediately checked out another of her books, Unfollow Me. Will be looking for more from her in the future.

The first sentence of this book is just
"Sorry."
and that's kinda fitting because I'm sorry I have to write this review.
I'd have preferred to DNF it and say "not for me, no rating" but I was kindly given a copy from NetGalley so I felt compelled to finish it.

I found the characters ridiculous. Robin and Esther spend the entire book learning the nasty things about each other - she's snobby and judgemental, he has the mentality of an incel - that they really would have discovered before getting married and making a baby.

Also, how some of the topics were handled rubbed me the wrong way.
2.5⭐

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺.

A dysfunctional family who seemed to convince themselves for far too long they were living the perfect life, but as always, nothing is as it seems! 👀

I do enjoy books in which the story is told to us in multiple characters perspectives, in this case Rob and Esther, and also along different time lines in order to build up the back story. 

For the majority of the book I found both of the main characters, Rob and Esther, actually grated on me but towards the end Esther had definitely grown on me. I'm going to say my favourite character was actually Kim (controversial?! 😁) albeit she made some bad decisions earlier on in the book. In fact, I had tears in my eyes by the final chapter - wasn't expecting that! 

If you're looking for a fast paced, can't stop reading kind of excitement I'm going to say this one isn't for you, however if you're looking for a nice, easy to read slow burner that's still enjoyable, give it a go! 

This is the first book I have read by Charlotte Duckworth and I look forward to reading more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review 📖

Sorry. That's all his text said so Esther flies home to Robin but finds nothing not Robin or their daughter.
A little backstory Robin put his whole career on hold to be 'The Perfect Father" whilst Either returns back to work after she has the baby. Esther and Robin both tell this story from their points of view but in all honestly neither character was relatable much less likable they both seemed to want things to go one way and that's just not how it works. The plot was good, intriguing in some parts but also entirely predictable in others.
Thank to netgalley and the publisher for this arc!

Wow. This book blew my mind and I will recommend this to all my fellow reading fans. An original thriller that is sure to leave u breathless !!