The Perfect Daughter

by Cole Baxter

She was almost too good to be true...

After recovering from a suicide attempt, Christa Kent comes home from the hospital to learn that her failed-writer husband Ben has been contacted by a young woman who claims to be his daughter by his first wife. Desperate to repair her marriage and get back to something resembling normal life, Christa agrees to let the girl visit to make her husband happy.

Jewel Gray is everything Christa doesn’t think she gorgeous, charming and youthful. Ben accepts her warmly and invites her into their household.

What follows is a horrific ordeal, the likes of which Christa never imagined. Her self-confidence and emotional well-being are tested as strange things start happening: missing money, missing keepsakes, damaged paintings, and her husband’s increasingly bizarre and abusive behavior.

Christa is on the brink of checking back into the mental hospital when a chance encounter leads to a startling revelation…

One that changes everything.

The Perfect Daughter – the gripping psychological thriller perfect for fans of Freida McFadden, Daniel Hurst, and K L Slater.

Genres: Thriller

369 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 20, 2024

About the author

Cole Baxter loves writing psychological suspense thrillers. It's all about that last reveal that he loves shocking readers with.
He grew up in New York, where there crime was all around. He decided to turn that into something positive with his fiction.
His stories will have you reading through the night--they are very addictive!

Sign up for Cole's VIP Reader Club and find out about his latest releases, giveaways, and more. Copy and paste this link to sign up: http://eepurl.com/dqL8yT

Reviews

[diane painter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like the main character got off track with over analyzing in her head when things were happening and the story should be moving forward. Also there was no ahah moment. No killer twist as stated. You could clearly see the plot and who did what only the main character couldn’t see any of it. Main character was over the top naive.

[sheila lewis · Rating 1 out of 5]

rubbish

I don’t even know how I managed to read as much as I did of this book. I certainly did not finish it. How can one woman be so stupid, even her own daughter had more sense than her

[Anna Peterson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shaking my head

I didn’t finish this book. Boring! Boring! I literally yelled at Christa, the main female character. How on Earth can a woman be so naive and pitiful. I started to feel like she got what she deserved from her pathetic, conniving and cheating husband. I could go on and on but enough said. A waste of time!

[Patricia Baxes · Rating 4 out of 5]

You’d think I’d realize by now after reading so many thrillers by Cole Baxter…DON’T start them in the middle of the night! Once again, I managed to chew off all my fingernails…😐 “The Perfect Daughter” is such a fiendishly good book—just brace yourself for what happens.

The storyline is crazy good; the characters are beyond good; the plot twists and turns—Ohmigod; and the unbelievable push towards the conclusion literally takes your breath away. It’s just such a crazy read with diabolical steps and missteps. This book absolutely belongs on your TBR list. Grab your copy today! (I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book and was once again blown away by the masterful writing of Cole Baxter.) ❤️

[wendy lafferty · Rating 2 out of 5]

What should have been an enjoyable book was a chore to read. The 12 year old read more like a teenager, the main character was difficult to like and delusional. Pretty sure any woman hearing squeaking and moaning coming from behind a closed door knows exactly what’s going on and it’s not someone having a nightmare. I found myself fast forwarding through multiple pages. I’m just glad it was free

[Sharon Garfield · Rating 1 out of 5]

ridiculous

Normally I don’t write reviews. And since i try to finish a book once I begin reading, I continued on with this totally asinine story. The best way to describe the entire book is ridiculous. Hard to believe the main character was so dim witted. Totally unbelievable premise.

[Alanna Bass · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible main character that was dumb as a door nail. If I took a shot for every exclamation point in this book, I’d be dead. Would give zero stars if I could.

[Ines Parrish · Rating 2 out of 5]

too hyperbolic

This book was just crazy. The main character Christa is an artist with the soul of a 12 year old. Constantly referring to how she just wanted a happy family. But she was married to a diabolical iceberg. So frustrating. Clearly the main character was an emotionally abused woman but she kept whining about wanting a happy family. I just didn’t get it.
And the excessive use of exclamation points was more hyperbolic nonsense. Where are the editors?

[Kenneth Lingenfelter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christa is the only one with income in the family. Her husband Ben is a writer but has not sold anything in a long time. Ben shows an email to Christa about a daughter he did not know he had. Jewel comes to live with them and something is not right. A page turning novel.

[Sammye · Rating 5 out of 5]

This psychological thriller is full of twists, turns, drama and suspense. I could never guess which way the plot would take me. It’s a fabulous story that held my interest all the way through. A great page turner.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok read

This was an ok read but not written very well. First, I think it dragged on too long. There were grammatical and punctuation errors throughout. Holes in the story line, unrealistic character actions and the title makes no sense.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arc review For a honest review in my own words. Wow fantastic page turner, this story takes you through the life of a family that finds them going through and unbelievable situation.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took me too l9ngto read since parts were boring and unnecessary in my opinion. Could not really get into it as most of his books I enjoyed

[Donna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh Cole, what a disaster of a book by you...! The story line started out good but it became annoyingly repetious & drawn out...! I would expect something like this from Theo, not you...!!!

[Mark A.]

Good read

[CINDY · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book

Was ok not very exciting. A good lazy read. The title didn’t really fit the subject of the book. It a read again.

[Lisa Kintzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic! I could not put it down, I had to find out what happens next!

[Ann Zipperer]

Don't bother reading.

A total waste of time, the characters were weak and unbelievable. I ended up just skipping through til the end.

[Sabrina Berney · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hard read

I'm convinced this book skipped the proofreading phase. Between all the grammatical errors and repetition it was incredibly hard to get through

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Perfect Daughter

This book held my interest but main character was wimpy, gutless, poor excuse for a person. I don’t know if I can recommend this book.

[meredith Mangerson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointed
Boring
Not well written

Kept waiting….

[Marlene Leach · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guessed the "twist" the first time mention of the murders came up on TV, and the MC was WAY too annoying for me to sympathize with.

[Colette LeMieux · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very good

[Nancy Smith]

Too repetitive. It’s not believable that anyone would allow someone to stay in their home acting that way. She can’t be that naive.

[Karen Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rated this a 3 due to the Audible performance

[Rachel Scrivens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow to start but glad I persevered. Obvious plot twist but still a reasonable read