Review: Dead Daughters by Tim Meyer

Rating: 8.5/10

Synopsis

Drew Lowery is living the American Dream. He has the perfect family, a stable job, and a beautiful home in the suburbs of central New Jersey. Things can’t get much better. But what seems like the ideal life is suddenly upended when he receives a blank envelope in the mail.

Inside lies a picture of his daughter, a photograph of her violent murder. Only it can’t be her. He just tucked her in and kissed her goodnight ten minutes ago. But the mysterious Polaroid is only the beginning.

There’s the van following his daughter to school. The man she sees outside her window late at night. The fact someone entered her room while the Lowerys slept peacefully.

Local authorities are clueless. No leads, no clues, and ultimately–no answers. Drew launches his own investigation, falling into a hole of lies and deceit, a truth he never saw coming. Dead Daughters is the new twisted thriller from Tim Meyer, author of The Switch House and Kill Hill Carnage.

Review

Thanks to the author for an advance reading copy of Dead Daughters in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this eARC did not influence my thoughts or opinions on the novel.

Dead Daughters is a tension-fraught, white-knuckle thriller that’ll keep you guessing all the way to the end. It has been a while since I binge-read a book in less than 24 hours, but Meyer’s newest sunk its teeth into me early and often, only allowing me a few hours sleep and continued second glances at the people around me. This is the best of CJ Tudor and Kealan Patrick Burke, wrapped up in a nice, bloodstained bow.

This is my 2nd novel by the author, the first being Limbs: A Love Story, and I can officially say that I am a huge fan now. Meyer’s prose is easy to follow along like strings in a web, and allows you as the reader to fall right into the story without pause. That is the secondary reason as to why I was able to read it so quickly; the author doesn’t bog you down by attempting to be edgy with over the top imagery or finding synonyms that you find yourself looking up in the dictionary. It is an easy read with a perfect hook; a sharp, rusty, slight serrated hook. Wait, that might actually be crusted blood and not rust. WAIT… no. No. NO. DON’T DO IT.

I did find myself caring about Drew and his family, even though I am not at the point in my life where I 100% know how it feels to want to keep your child safe from EVERYTHING. Trust me, I can imagine, but I won’t know until this Summer when my daughter is born. The author introduces them as a family you could find yourself in or surrounded by, one that seems so… normal and stable. But ultimately, Drew stood out the most. He reminds me of Gabe in CJ Tudor’s The Other People (I only choose this one because it is the most recent thriller I’ve read), though more in the throes of happening in the present rather than the past.

It is really difficult to hit the high points of the novel without spoiling anything, so I’ll just say that you won’t see the twist coming. Or is it twists? Guess you’ll have to find out…

All in all, if you are looking for a new thriller to read or another author to add to your ever-growing reading stack, check out Dead Daughters. I can already say this will be one of my favorite thrillers of the year, up there with The Other People. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did!