Wow! This book hit the ground running and didn’t let up the whole time. Laura receives a call that her daughter has been kidnapped and she has to meet the deadline to arrive at her destination or else her daughter will be killed. As could be predicted, nothing goes according to plan from start to finish. This is a textbook popcorn thriller. 🍿 If you’re looking for a thriller that’s even remotely plausible, this is not your book. If you’re looking to be entertained with action and suspense, twists and turns, secrets and lies, this is definitely your book!
*Thanks to Bookoutre and NetGalley for this review copy.

This riveting, pulse pounding and hard to put down book had me turning the pages anxious to find out what would happen next. Whew! What a fantastic psychological thriller involving a mother whose daughter has been taken. As the tension mounts in the book, it becomes clear that Laura’s past and present are colliding in shocking and terrible way.

Laura receives a phone call informing her that her daughter, Nelle has been taken and the abductors are not referring to Laura as Laura but by another name. She is informed to do as they say, or harm will come to her daughter.

WOWZA! As the book progresses the tension mounts. I could feel Laura's anxiety oozing from the pages. She is desperate to save her daughter while at the same time, recalling the past.

WHAT A RIDE! This book kept me on my toes! I didn't want to put it down. I loved the tension that kept mounting throughout the book. As the book progressed, readers are given snippets of the past. Just when I thought I had things figured out, I was quickly reminded that I was wrong. Farrell keeps readers attention and curiosity throughout the book. I had several I-did-not-see-that-coming moments while reading this book.

If you love psychological thrillers which keep you on your toes and guessing, this book is for you!

Please excuse me while I go kick myself for not reading a Matthew Farrell book before this!
Seriously, how have I not read one of his books before? Although this was my first book by Farrell, it will not be my last!

Gripping, full of tension, twists and turns, The Perfect Mother was the perfect book for me!

When I pick up the call from an unknown number my worst fears are realized: someone has kidnapped my daughter Nelle. In an instant, the blissful life I’ve built is shattered.
Distraught, I plead with them to let me speak to my darling daughter, until the voice on the line says a name that makes my blood run cold: Betty Hamms.
Suddenly my past and present are colliding. My heart pounds harder in my chest, the memories flooding my head. How do they know about Betty? And what else do they know? 
I picture Nelle’s beautiful green eyes and freckled cheeks, knowing that I have a choice to make. Just how far am I willing to go to protect my beloved family and my secrets?
Racing to the address they gave me in a tiny lake town upstate, I’m terrified I will never see Nelle again. But I’ve been hiding behind my lies for twenty years. If the truth finally comes out, will my daughter ever forgive me? And is there any hope of her surviving?
Wow totally gripping really enjoyable read totally recommend
Thank You NetGalley and Bookouture
I just reviewed We Have Your Daughter by Matthew Farrell. #WeHaveYourDaughter #NetGalley
I just reviewed The Perfect Mother by Matthew Farrell. #WeHaveYourDaughter #NetGalley

Oh my word it’s been a while since I read a book filled with so much action and suspense. After I’d finished reading this one I actually felt like I needed to go lie down and gather my thoughts ! This book was absolutely brilliant and honestly had me on the edge of my seat at times. A fast paced and gripping thriller that I highly recommend.

Well, there you go. You kill for the ones you love. Always.
Family was a bond that could not be broken. Family was everything.
This book right here has caused me severe distress in all the right ways. I did not want to put this one down because it kept such a level of suspense going from beginning until the end. I honestly think this is the first time I've read a psychological thriller, I usually just read them and this one did not disappoint. Farrell is very descriptive with his words and is the master of just enough information. Each time you think you have it figured out, you are wrong.
The novel begins with our main character Laura waking up from a nap in her car (one which it turns out is fueled by Xanax, Zoloft and alcohol) to a phone ringing. The only problem? It's not her phone. She answers the FaceTime call and is met by the voice of her daughter, Nelle, saying "they took me." The kidnappers are convinced that Laura is someone named Betty and they want revenge for some secret transgression Betty committed. She has two instructions drive to the location provided and never turn off the phone.
The events that unfold in this page turning book explore the lengths one will go in order to protect family. Farrell tells the story from different points of view which only adds to the suspense of the novel and helps to make it feel well-rounded. My favorite part was the jump in timeline to events from the past, with little breadcrumbs connecting them. You really have to be paying attention to this book or you are bound to miss something. It does leave you thinking: how far would you go for those you love?

This story will keep you guessing until the very end. A mother gets a call from the people who have her daughter. She’s ordered to drive hours away and not involve the police if she wants her daughter back. Despite the book title, this mother is not perfect. She wants to be but she is struggling. I was very interested by this book. I loved the cover. It’s a perfect dark thriller.

I am sorry to say I dnfed this book at 38%. Just not a book for me. Thank you to netgalley for letting me read this e arc in exchange for an honest opinion

3.5 Stars
This story starts out with a parent's worst nightmare. Laura receives a call that her daughter has been taken and she's given an address that she is to go to. What follows appears to be a nightmare until more of what is happening is revealed. And just when you think you have everything figured out, there is another twist. The first part of the story felt a little slow to me, but the last 20% had so many twists it was hard to keep up.

My first read from this author but certainly not the last! This is a high-octane thriller that grabs you right out of the gate and does not let go until the full story is finally told. What starts out as a kidnapping morphs into several side stories that kept my heart pounding all the way through!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

3/5

ARC BOOK REVIEW: The Perfect Mother by Matthew Farrell
PUB DATE: October 6, 2022

I want to first start by saying thank you to Matthew Farrell, Bookouture, and Netgalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

How would you react if you got a call saying a loved one of yours was kidnapped and you’re the cause of it? Laura’s worst fears came true when she learns her daughter has been kidnapped and the people who are keeping her captive are seeking revenge. The Perfect Mother is a thriller that involves, twists, secrets, regrets, and confrontation. The question is, will Laura make it in time to save her daughter?

Thrillers are an interesting genre because for me the more you read them the less you are likely to be surprised. When I requested this book on Netgalley, the title of it intrigued me the most. Previously the title of the book was We Have Your Daughter. After reading the first couple of chapters, though it was fast-paced, it didn’t give me the adrenaline factor that most thrillers do. What I read, in the beginning, was a mom who just complained and had very selfish thoughts; It just took me a while to get over that hump of Laura’s personality. Nonetheless, Matthew Farrell’s plot was very well crafted which kept me engaged for the majority of the book. The only other issue I had which is why it lost another star for me was that in my opinion, the ending was mediocre. I don't know what I was hoping for but after everything that had happened with Laura, I was expecting something more exciting… it just ended in an odd way… which I can’t describe without spoiling it for you.

Outstanding! I was captivated from the first chapter. There’s no lead in to the characters we start right off in the action. Someone had Nelle, Laura’s daughter, and sends her on a drive to get her. Laura had so many struggles on the road including her sobriety, her conscience and running from the police. Plenty of twists and turns readers will love putting the pieces together. I received an early copy from Netgalley and my review was written voluntarily.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily. Oh my gosh! This was a heart racing thriller! I was literally sitting on the edge of my chair reading every word. I read this book in one sitting because I could NOT put it down. When Laura answers a call from a strange cell phone she finds in her glove compartment, she does not realize her life is about to be turned upside down. The caller informs her that they have her daughter, and she has a certain amount of time to reach a particular address or her daughter will be killed. She cannot call anyone or signal anyone because the caller keeps her on Facetime the entire ride. The caller keeps calling her by another name, and she tells them they are mistaken. The past and the present collide in this twisty thriller that literally takes place in her automobile for about 80% of this book, but it is so intriguing you will fly through the pages because you have to know how this is going to end. There are several twists that leave you gasping because you will not see them coming. Most of the book is from the present, but it does revert back and forth to two different years in the past as the background of the story is built piece by piece. The maniac on the other end of the phone is scary and on the edge of sanity. This is the first book that I have read by Matthew Farrell, but it will not be my last. I would give this book more than five stars if I could! Wow! Now I can catch my breath!

My first Matthew Farrell book, and I loved it!
This book starts with a cracking opening scene and doesn't let go of the reader's attention.
It was gripping, suspenseful and truly unputdownable. The definition of thrilling thrillers!
I liked the characters and believed their desperation through the drama. It was so stressful!
Off the back of this book, I need to go and read Farrell's other books that are waiting on my TBR!

I received a free epub copy from NetGalley.

This was a nail biting book which always had another twist waiting when I thought I had things figured out. The amount of secrets kept from other people was a lot. Laura was a very deep character with a lot of secrets and baggage that it amazes me she was still functioning.

The story drew me in quickly and kept me interested for the entire book. This is definitely a book that can keep you up till the entire book is read!

A mother, well liked in the community, excellent employee, volunteers at church ends her day with a phone call delivering the worst news, Her daughter has been taken and she has to drive to a location to recuse her. At first she believes it’s a joke. But as the call continues, she realizes it’s true. She can’t tell anyone. She questions why this is happening and the caller calls her by another name. She desperately tries to inform them that they have the wrong person. However it doesn’t matter because they have her daughter and she has to get to her. During the long drive she encounters several obstacles but she manages to overcome them. She believes her past is catching up with her. She drinks and takes pills daily and manages to hide from her family, She is worried her hidden habits will be revealed along with secrets from 20 years ago, will destroy her present life.

This book was excellent from beginning to end. I read it in a day. I couldn’t put it down. It was such an intense book. It had me on the edge of my seat. I highly recommend this book to readers.

I've really enjoyed all the books in Farrell's Adler and Dwyer series, so was very excited when I saw he had a new standalone. Farrell does a fantastic job presenting broken people in a way that lets you generate empathy without devolving into maudlin "woe is me" tales or overly chipper and cheerful stories of redemption. In short, he presents people, flawed and all, in a way that is realistic and engaging.

Or at least, he does in the other books. In this one, it seems like he felt compelled to pile on horrible after horrible, in a way that I found prevented me from relating to the characters rather than generating the empathy necessary to be drawn into the drama / melodrama that comprises this story. The concept was an intriguing one, but on the whole I didn't find myself connecting to the story the way I wanted to at all.

I'm in the vast minority here, so it's possible that I was just looking for a different kind of book from this author - apparently going in cold has most readers delighted with the outcome. It's also possible I'm just done with domestic thrillers. The idea that everyone is hiding secrets and lies and is actually worse than you imagine them to be is starting to wear on me and is no longer entertaining but rather depressing me. As a result I couldn't enjoy the ride on this one...

Words no mother ever wants to hear: “Mom, they took me.” Laura Anderson’s fifteen-year-old daughter Nelle has been taken and if she wants her back she will have to confront her past. A past she thought would stay buried forever. Or, the kidnappers have started a never-ending nightmare based on mistaken identity. Which is it?

One thing is absolutely certain. The kidnappers are deadly serious. They instill more than enough fear into Laura to follow through their well-thought out kidnapping plan. It is an amazing plan that has been set in motion and Laura must do whatever she can to get her daughter back.

However, this story goes back twenty years, and then continues in dual timeline fashion. With the past converging with Laura's presence, she has a three-hour time limit and a drive from hell to get to where her daughter is being held.

This exciting book by Matthew Farrell has some surprising twists and turns. Laura fights tooth and nail to do anything she can to save Nelle, as any mother would. The tension and the drama never let up for one second in this thrilling read.

Many thanks Bookouture to and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Really enjoyed this new domestic thriller by Matthew Farrell. This one was packed with both action and tension. I felt worn out at the end! This was down and gritty. Loved the characters. This one had be hooked the entire time.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

This book is a hell of a thrill ride, so jump on board if you want to be pinned to the book until the very last page. It's one of those suspense novels that couldn't be anything else. No literary meanderings here, just the thrill of the chase.

You're thrust right into the plot from the very first page onwards. No waiting around. Laura hears a ringing in her car, only to find a strange phone in the glove box and an unfamiliar voice on the other end. They've got her daughter, whoever they are, and Laura has to drive to them right now or they'll kill her. Oh, and she has to admit to being Betty and doing whatever very bad things Betty once did... Laura resists every step of the way, but ultimately she will do whatever it takes to rescue her daughter. Whoever gets hurts on the way, whatever memories and secrets she will need to dredge up...

This book knows what its remit is and delivers. I had to keep reading to the end once I picked it up, and yes there are plenty of twists and turns along the way. Recommended for thriller/suspense fans.

I’d like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Perfect Mother’ (previously ‘We Have Your Daughter’) written by Matthew Farrell, in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

While sitting in her car Laura Anderson answers a phone call from a man who says he has her daughter Nelle and that she has just hours to get to her mother’s house. He says her real name is Betty Hamms and that Nelle will be harmed if she doesn’t obey his instructions. Laura has no choice, she gets in her car and starts driving.

‘The Perfect Mother’ is an unbelievably exciting thriller of a family and the lies they tell that’s grabbed me from page one and kept me reading. It has a complex and perfectly written plot that’s packed full of action, drama, suspense and intrigue, and there are so many twists and turns that just as I think it must be coming to an end another unbelievable twist pops up that shocks and astounds me. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this addictive thriller, the first I’ve read by this author, and can definitely recommend it.