Book Review: My Perfect Daughter, by Sarah A. Denzil
A serial killer's daughter has some issues.
Sarah Cronin, 2022, 314 pages
Most mothers hope their little girl turns out like their dad, but not Zoe. She hopes the apple falls far from the tree.
Zoe didn't meet her daughter the way most mothers do. She finds five-year-old Maddie alone and dirty on a countryside road. Frightened for Maddie's safety, she picks her up and takes her back to her father, not knowing what she's about to step into. Because Maddie wasn't just lost; she was there to lure her serial killer dad's new victim.
After escaping from the clutches of Maddie's dangerous father, she bonds with the little girl. Only Maddie knows what it was like to be at that house. And when no family members come forward to claim Maddie, Zoe decides to adopt her. They move away to a safe house on the Cornish coast and become a family of their own. Zoe gets married and has another child, a baby brother for Maddie.
But Maddie is still traumatised by what she experienced. Diagnosed with callous and unemotional traits, Zoe has a tough job to ensure Maddie has the love and support she needs. Zoe truly loves her daughter-she wouldn't change a thing about her. But there is a part of her that always stays alert. A part of her is afraid of Maddie.
And now, 11 years later, Maddie's school bully is found dead, and another girl is missing.
Zoe can't help but wonder...like father, like daughter?
I like mysteries and thrillers about bent sociopaths, but some of them follow conventions nearly as tightly as romances.
My Perfect Daughter is about the daughter of a serial killer who may or may not be following in Daddy's footsteps.
The basic premise is straightforward: years ago, Zoe was abducted by a serial killer named Peter McKenna who used his little daughter, Maddie, as bait to abduct unsuspecting women whom he then took back to his barn to rape, torture, and kill. But Maddie helped Zoe escape. Zoe killed Peter McKenna, and afterwards, bonded by their trauma, she adopts Maddie (whose mother is assumed to be one of Peter's first victims).
So you can already see the first, maybe second and third twist coming, right? And that's why I liked this book but it didn't blow me away, because it was obvious pretty quickly what the twists would be even before we get into the main plot.
Years later, Zoe has married a nice guy and they've had a child of their own, and teenage Maddie is doing okay for a budding sociopath. Zoe realizes Maddie has a bent sense of right and wrong but tries to avoid the repugnant conclusion until two of Maddie's classmates turn up dead.
So now all the twists are in place, and we know we will spend the rest of the book wondering if Maddie is a killer, and who else is going to turn up and be a killer, and also that there will be a big twist at the very end to cast doubt on everything.
Knowing all this was coming, I think the author executed the story pretty well. The problem is that the characters who turn out to be not what they seem, the characters who appear with hidden mysterious backstories, all fall conveniently into place to provide the twists. Nothing is straightforward because there is always someone being twisty. Yes, of course the primary question in the book is Did Maddie Do It? Is she a killer like her father?
Sociopaths are interesting as characters, and it's tough to pull off a sympathetic sociopath. I mostly believed in Maddie as a character. I just didn't quite buy all the twists. But that's like saying you like a romance protagonist but thought the set-up was too contrived. Of course it's contrived, it's a romance. Of course there are twists right and left to keep the reader guessing, it's a thriller. This book felt like a fine potboiler but nothing to really distinguish it from any other book about a maybe-sociopath maybe-killing people.
My complete list of book reviews.
Sarah Cronin, 2022, 314 pages
Most mothers hope their little girl turns out like their dad, but not Zoe. She hopes the apple falls far from the tree.
Zoe didn't meet her daughter the way most mothers do. She finds five-year-old Maddie alone and dirty on a countryside road. Frightened for Maddie's safety, she picks her up and takes her back to her father, not knowing what she's about to step into. Because Maddie wasn't just lost; she was there to lure her serial killer dad's new victim.
After escaping from the clutches of Maddie's dangerous father, she bonds with the little girl. Only Maddie knows what it was like to be at that house. And when no family members come forward to claim Maddie, Zoe decides to adopt her. They move away to a safe house on the Cornish coast and become a family of their own. Zoe gets married and has another child, a baby brother for Maddie.
But Maddie is still traumatised by what she experienced. Diagnosed with callous and unemotional traits, Zoe has a tough job to ensure Maddie has the love and support she needs. Zoe truly loves her daughter-she wouldn't change a thing about her. But there is a part of her that always stays alert. A part of her is afraid of Maddie.
And now, 11 years later, Maddie's school bully is found dead, and another girl is missing.
Zoe can't help but wonder...like father, like daughter?
I like mysteries and thrillers about bent sociopaths, but some of them follow conventions nearly as tightly as romances.
My Perfect Daughter is about the daughter of a serial killer who may or may not be following in Daddy's footsteps.
The basic premise is straightforward: years ago, Zoe was abducted by a serial killer named Peter McKenna who used his little daughter, Maddie, as bait to abduct unsuspecting women whom he then took back to his barn to rape, torture, and kill. But Maddie helped Zoe escape. Zoe killed Peter McKenna, and afterwards, bonded by their trauma, she adopts Maddie (whose mother is assumed to be one of Peter's first victims).
So you can already see the first, maybe second and third twist coming, right? And that's why I liked this book but it didn't blow me away, because it was obvious pretty quickly what the twists would be even before we get into the main plot.
Years later, Zoe has married a nice guy and they've had a child of their own, and teenage Maddie is doing okay for a budding sociopath. Zoe realizes Maddie has a bent sense of right and wrong but tries to avoid the repugnant conclusion until two of Maddie's classmates turn up dead.
So now all the twists are in place, and we know we will spend the rest of the book wondering if Maddie is a killer, and who else is going to turn up and be a killer, and also that there will be a big twist at the very end to cast doubt on everything.
Knowing all this was coming, I think the author executed the story pretty well. The problem is that the characters who turn out to be not what they seem, the characters who appear with hidden mysterious backstories, all fall conveniently into place to provide the twists. Nothing is straightforward because there is always someone being twisty. Yes, of course the primary question in the book is Did Maddie Do It? Is she a killer like her father?
Sociopaths are interesting as characters, and it's tough to pull off a sympathetic sociopath. I mostly believed in Maddie as a character. I just didn't quite buy all the twists. But that's like saying you like a romance protagonist but thought the set-up was too contrived. Of course it's contrived, it's a romance. Of course there are twists right and left to keep the reader guessing, it's a thriller. This book felt like a fine potboiler but nothing to really distinguish it from any other book about a maybe-sociopath maybe-killing people.
My complete list of book reviews.