Life's about changing nothing ever stays the same: DAUGHTER.

Daughter by Kate McLaughlin


Scarlet leads a pretty average teenage life, except for her very overprotective mother. Her mom has always watched Scarlet's every move and kept her from engaging in a lot of activities. When FBI Agent Logan shows up on their doorstep, it all starts to make sense. He reveals her mother was once married to notorious serial killer Jeffrey Robert Lake, known for killing and burying many women at his family's lake house. And Scarlet? She's his daughter. Now Lake is dying, and he will only reveal the names and locations of more victims to one person--his daughter. Scarlet is suddenly faced with a horrible decision, as well as the burden of learning about her troubled past.

"Her father's crimes will haunt her for the rest of her life. God help her. I don't reckon she'll ever get a moment's peace."

This is a captivating story that I breezed through in one day. If you like shows like Criminal Minds, this is the perfect book for you. Does it simplify a lot of things? No doubt. Is it completely entertaining? Yes.

Just imagining what it would be like to learn Scarlet's news is pretty insane, and McLaughlin, as always, does a wonderful job of capturing Scarlet's teen voice. She's an engaging narrator and it's quite easy to get sucked into her world. The book also features articles and new pieces about Scarlet's father (and mother) back in the day, so we learn about Lake's evil side and all his horrific crimes and are led to wonder--what sort of role did Scarlet's mother play in his crimes?

There are certainly some simplified pieces to this story. Scarlet and her mom deal with the same FBI Agent as she did nearly twenty years ago, even stay with his family at their home, and, of course, Scarlet develops a crush on his son. One has to question the wisdom of sending a teen in to meet with an infamous serial killer... but, hey, it's mesmerizing in the story. The book also does a great job of illustrating how society focuses on killers and not the real victims.

Overall, this is a quick read, even though it covers a lot of serious topics. Its narrator is excellent, and I would have loved this book as a teen. (I quite enjoyed it now!)

I received a copy of this book St. Martin's Press / Wednesday Books and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review.

Blog ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Smashbomb ~ Instagram

View all my reviews