1/7/25; 320 pages
Scribner
The Perfect Home by Daniel Kenitz is a highly recommended domestic suspense novel following Wyatt and Dawn Decker who are the stars of a home renovation TV reality show, The Perfect Home, on the HLTV network. Wyatt loves the attention; Dawn doesn't.
When the two learn they are facing infertility issues due to Wyatt, he decides to take a fertility drug that is illegal. The drug works and Dawn gives birth to twins. The side effects of taking the drug, however, induce a drastic, frightening change in Wyatt's personality. Dawn finds something Wyatt has written that leaves her fearing for the safety of the twins, let alone herself. She takes the twins and goes on the run. Wyatt reaches out to the press, framing Dawn as unstable and a threat to the twins. Unexpectedly, Dawn finds an ally and now must find a way to tell her story and prove Wyatt's instability.
Chapters alternate between the point-of-view of Dawn and Wyatt. Dawn is the more completely realized character and everyone will immediately know her point-of-view is the trustworthy one. There were several times I did feel like yelling at her to use her head. Basically, all of the characters are caricatures of a type of person. You won't become fully invested in them. Dawn's looks are consistently describe as less than perfect, while Wyatt is describe as a handsome, perfect manly specimen.
Initially, the infertility in the plot was a turn off for me but once
I kept
reading the novel certainly became much more entertaining and grabbed my
attention.
It is written in an easy-to-read style that allows the pages to fly by,
however, you will have to set disbelief aside and make it through the
initial opening chapters. There isn't the tension found in a thriller
until the end and the story felt like it has been done before.
This is an entertaining debut novel. 3.5 rounded up. Thanks to Scribner for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.