The Perfect Daughter by Kerry Wilkinson
Genre: Psychological thriller, Domestic thriller, Suspense
Read: 8th September 2021
Published: 16th September 2021
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Rain pounds the windscreen in the pitch-black evening. She knows this winding country road like the back of her hand, dodges the potholes with ease. But then she hears a crunch. A thud. She slams on the brakes.
Since Katie’s dad left it’s just been the two of us, but we’re a team – singing in the kitchen at cheesy pop songs, tackling her homework. My teenage daughter is everything to me.
But one night, as we’re curled up in front of the TV, the messages start. I keep my phone away from Katie so she can’t see the terrifying words: I know what you did. Now you’re going to do something for me…
I have no choice but to obey. Because if I go to the police, come clean about what I did to protect my girl, all the questions and prying eyes would soon discover Katie’s secret too. And that would tear her life apart.
So I drive where they tell me, do what they say, send the photo evidence they want. I feel sick when they ask me to cause someone harm, and it’s clear they know everything about our lives. I thought I was keeping a secret to keep my girl safe. But have I actually put her in even more danger?
An absolutely addictive thriller about how far a mother would go for her child, with a twist that will leave you gasping. Fans of Shari Lapena, Lisa Jewell and The Girl on the Train won’t be able to put this down.
MY REVIEW:
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Kerry Wilkinson's tension-filled thriller THE PERFECT DAUGHTER.
As a long time fan of Kerry Wilkinson's standalone thrillers, I was excited to dive into THE PERFECT DAUGHTER and I must say, the title puzzles me as it will other readers. And while Jennifer's daughter is anything but perfect, it would have been better off titled "I Know What You Did" as that is far more fitting with the whole story without giving anything away. But that aside, Kerry's ability to bring humour and wit into a psychological thriller that's filled with tension throughout, is something that keeps me coming back for more.
This description when Jennifer is at the supermarket over recycled shopping bags had me chuckling: "It doesn't help that today's plastic bags are thinner than Polly from three doors down after she had the gastric band fitted." But the witty descriptions don't stop there...the book, like his many others, are riddled with them.
The story begins not with a THEN scenario prologue as many others do, but rather the day before the incident. Jennifer is at the supermarket doing a shop, mentally chastising herself for forgetting the bags for life she always forgets and having to purchase more to bag her groceries with, when she sees 16 year old Josh Tanner using every inch of his 6' 4" size to tower and intimidate a much smaller and inevitably younger child. She calls him out on it and he just glares at her. That's when she sees his mother Sharon with her two year old toddler Frank sidle up to her own car with her groceries and upon noticing Jennifer looking at her, she glares back and yells what the hell is she looking at. Jennifer tells her what she saw and his mother turns to Josh who was now approaching the car "Is that right?" to which she just receives a shrug in answer. Not content with that, Sharon then tells Jennifer to keep her nose out of other people's business and drives off, leaving Jennifer wondering what the hell just happened.
But the real story doesn't begin there...it's the following night in the pouring rain on her way to pick up her daughter Katie from football practice that it happens. A text, a second text, then another causing Jennifer to take her eyes off the road for a mere two seconds and then THUMP! she hit something. Slamming on her brakes, she looks out into the dead of night through the pouring rain and sees nothing. She gets out thinking she hit a bin that was placed too close to the road and it's not until she is about to get back in the car that she sees a darkened form on the verge. She recognises her instantly as Sharon Tanner. She speaks to her and receives no response. What should she do? She should call an ambulance...but then she would be charged with dangerous driving...and what if Sharon's dead? She could end up in prison and what would happen to Katie? These thoughts and more flood her mind as she climbs back into her car and drives off to pick up Katie.
The next morning, the news had the village all agog. Did you hear about the hit and run last night on Green Road? Sharon Tanner and her little boy were hit! Jennifer is shocked. She never saw a child. Or even a buggy! What if she's killed them both? She should hand herself in...but isn't it too late? She left the scene of an accident. She'd be in even worse trouble. And so Jennifer's choice is made.
But then she receives the text...
"I know what you did. Now you’re going to do something for me...."
Someone saw her? But the road was dead. Nothing and no one was out there. Sharon and her son shouldn't have been either...but they were. And now things go from bad to worse as Jennifer finds herself at the mercy of a blackmailer. It begins with a small request followed by another before threats are made towards her daughter and then the blackmailer's final request. Which goes against everything she believes in. But then she also hit a woman and her child and left them to die on the side of the road... Jennifer knows whoever is blackmailing and threatening her has her over a barrel. She has no choice but to do their bidding.
As the mysterious texts continue, Jennifer wonders if she made the right decision. Certainly it's too late to own up now but as her life begins to erode piece by piece, she wonders is there anything she can salvage from the dire situation in which she finds herself before it's too late?
THE PERFECT DAUGHTER is a fast paced addictive thriller that I read in a day as I pondered Jennifer's bad decisions and her predicament. The well-written plot is certainly compelling and tension-filled from start to finish though it does lag a little in the middle with Jennifer consumed with mainly thoughts about her and how her decisions affect her. She wasn't someone I was endeared to but I could understand her predicament should I ever find myself in the same situation...although I would like to think that I would do the right thing regardless of the outcome. Because it would be far worse in the long run if I didn't...as Jennifer is surely bound to find out.
The story also serves as a perfect reminder as to the dangers of using your mobile phone when driving. It's an offence to do so and yet so many people still do it. Why? And Jennifer certainly was old enough to know better. Like me, she grew up in an era before they were a customary accessory so why even glance at her phone whilst driving in the dark with no street lights in the pouring rain? Your concentration is even more paramount in such circumstances and such a drop in that concentration - even for one second, or two in Jennifer's case - can be deadly...for you and anyone else.
Kerry's skillful writing will have you turning yourself inside out trying to pick up the clues that may be drip-fed along the way and identify Jennifer's mystery texter. There are a couple of massive clues that, while I noticed them, I didn't pick up on at the time...very unlike me. But when the final reveal came, I found I wasn't at all surprised as the culprit was on my list of possible suspects anyway. And the ending was something very different from what I expected.
While THE PERFECT DAUGHTER isn't my favourite of Kerry's thrillers, it is still a tense read that is as enjoyable as it is disturbing. When it comes down to it, Jennifer's life hinges on two seconds. What can happen in two seconds and how much can change in two seconds. With all the red herrings peppered throughout when all is revealed, you don't see it coming.
Overall, a tension-filled suspense-driven thriller unfolding through the guilt-ridden narrative of Jennifer caught up in a moral dilemma. There are some great twists making THE PERFECT DAUGHTER an intriguing read and a real page-turner.
I would like to thank #KerryWilkinson, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #ThePerfectDaughter in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Kerry Wilkinson has had No.1 crime bestsellers in the UK, Australia, Canada, South Africa and Singapore. He has also written two top-20 thrillers in the United States. His book, Ten Birthdays, won the RNA award for Young Adult Novel of the Year in 2018 and Close To You won the International Thriller Award for best ebook in 2020.
As well as his million-selling Jessica Daniel series, Kerry has written the Silver Blackthorn trilogy - a fantasy-adventure serial for young adults - a second crime series featuring private investigator Andrew Hunter, plus numerous standalone novels. He has been published around the world in more than a dozen languages.
Originally from the county of Somerset, Kerry spent way too long living in the north of England, picking up words like 'barm' and 'ginnel'.
When he's short of ideas, he rides his bike, hikes up something, or bakes cakes. When he's not, he writes it all down.
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