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Daddy Won't Kill You: The Haunting in the Woods

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A rocking chair, relaxing, comfortable, soaked in the blood of its victims.

Steve and Lauren, are spiraling into divorce. In a last bid attempt to save their marriage they take their two children to a remote cabin for a peaceful holiday.
They are not alone... something old and evil is waiting and it is looking for blood.

What was that? A ghost? Could this place be haunted, or am I losing my mind?

Steve is seeing things. Awful things that no father should ever see. While Lauren becomes more distant and the children try and ride out the storm the holiday turns into a blood soaked nightmare. Something supernatural is lurking, hiding... it will not let them leave.

Steve fights to save his family. But every attempt is thwarted as evil takes them on a nightmare journey they may never survive.

Can Steve reclaim his pride to prevent his wife from killing his family?
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Praise so far for Daddy Won't Kill You:

While being reminiscent of The Shining, this still feels at home with the modern paranormal horrors.
Vivid and distinctive.

Occult horror at its best.

One of the stellar parts of the book is how perfectly this heartbreaking family situation has been portrayed. This is especially true in the kids. Their odd ability to be vulnerable one moment and compartmentalize their fear in order to share a giggle the next is brought to life nicely.

Grab a copy now and remember to read with the lights on.

406 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 7, 2018

558 people are currently reading
358 people want to read

About the author

Caroline Clark

9 books370 followers

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5 stars
132 (38%)
4 stars
84 (24%)
3 stars
89 (25%)
2 stars
26 (7%)
1 star
14 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
Profile Image for Dianne.
6,815 reviews632 followers
November 30, 2018
A family in trouble, a cabin filled with fond memories and discarded rocking chair, seemingly all innocent on their own, but together they will create a nightmare that will have readers sleeping with the lights on and doors locked, just in case…Welcome to the dark and horrific imagination of Caroline Clark in DADDY WON’T KILL YOU.

With their marriage on the rocks and tough financial times, Steve and Lauren, along with their young children are taking a swan song visit to the old cabin in the woods that must be sold. Things were quiet, if tense when Lauren sat in that old, battered and stained chair and began to rock. From that moment forward, evil will be unleashed on an unsuspecting family as they are about to enter into a world filled with blood, terror and one woman possessed by the demons of the chair. The only thing is certain is that DADDY WON’T KILL YOU, but what about Mommy?

Not for the faint of heart, or picky eaters or anyone with a weak stomach, this dark and foreboding tale is the perfect recipe for nightmares for nights to come!

Publisher: http://CazClark.com (May 7, 2018)
Publication Date: May 7, 2018
Genre: Horror
Print Length: 408 pages
Available from: Amazon
For Reviews, Giveaways, Fabulous Book News, follow: http://tometender.blogspot.com
Profile Image for Andrew “The Weirdling” Glos.
275 reviews76 followers
August 25, 2019
The first part is pretty hard to get through. Firstly, it’s slow moving. It takes a while for anything to happen. Secondly, you spent a lot of that time watching a really unhappy family go on vacation with one another but unable to break out of the routines that make each other miserable. It makes for unpleasant reading, even though it is pretty well written.

The family acquires an old rocking chair they find on a roadside while driving to their old vacation cabin. Turns out the chair is haunted and able to possess those who sit upon it. These leads to the terrors that ensue in the novel.

This was a far better effort than the last Caroline Clark novel I read. The characters are believable and their actions make sense. They are a little dense for not picking up what was going on, but that’s common in horror stories. I know I’m reading a scary book, but the characters never seem to be aware of it and dismiss it at every opportunity for more rational explanations.

Clark is good at making ghosts simultaneously terrifying and pathetic. While this caused issues in Haunting of Shadow Hill House, I think it worked for this tale. This book isn’t earth shatteringly good. You’re life will be complete if you skip it. However, if you’re looking for an enjoyable and not too demanding read, this book is decent popcorn.
Profile Image for Lisa Millett.
298 reviews10 followers
May 8, 2018
This is an outstanding ghost story. Steve and Lauren are having trouble in their marriage so they decide to go away for the weekend. They decide on going to her family cabin in the woods before they are forced to sell it. Along the way Steve sees an old rocking chair for sale and he buys it for Lauren. when they arrive at the cabin Steve carries the kids in to bed while Lauren rocks in her new chair. When Lauren doesn't come inside Steve goes looking for her and he finds a ghoulish site. He sees a bloody sight that causes him to run towards the chair. He blinks and it is gone. He then sees Lauren rocking but something about her isn't right. Before he knows it she begins to act like herself again. The next day Steve takes the kids outside while Lauren rocks in her new chair. She then cooks a pie for dinner but she puts a dead bird in it with maggots and bugs causing Steve to think she is crazy. Strange things like this continue to occur and things really spiral out of control. Steve finds a newspaper article about an old woman who died in the rocking chair. Apparently she was a convicted murderer. Suddenly Steve believes that Lauren is possessed by this evil woman and he needs to get her and the kids away from the chair and cabin. Will they be able to escape from the evil ghost or will they succumb to her ghastly haunting? This book was fast paced and hard to put down. I highly recommend this book to all readers who love a good, scary ghost story. Just one piece of advice, don't read this book in the dark alone!
Profile Image for Saundra Wright.
2,883 reviews13 followers
May 12, 2018
The scariest book I have read in years! The poetic tention of Peter Straub, the depth of scene of Stephen King, the sophistry and twisted plot of Jeffrey Deaver, Caroline Clark has mastered all aspects of her trade!

Steve Scott has been unemployed for months after a heart attack. His financial statis has plummeted. His before stay-at-home wife, Lauren, now works, too many hours. and they are forced with selling the cabin gifted to them by Lauren's parents. Their marriage is endangered. They take their two young children and go to the isolated mountain cabin for a week, hoping not only to close the cabin but to repait their broken family..
On the way, Steve spots a rocking chair for sale and thinks to make the first conciliatory gesture and buys it for Lauren. As soon as Lauren rocks in the chair the family's life becomes frighteningly haiunted!

The graphic realism of the writing puts you inside the action. More than a bit gruesome at times, totally terrifying! I jumped when my cat brushed againts me while I was reading! This book is a definite must buy.
Profile Image for Energy Rae.
1,760 reviews55 followers
May 22, 2018
Daddy Won't Kill You was a fun, quick read. With their marriage on the rocks, Steve and Lauren are taking the kids out to their cabin one last time before they have to sell it. Seeing a rocking chair for sale on the side of the road for $5, Steve decides it will be a nice gift for Lauren.
But the rocking chair doesn't come alone, and Lauren starts to dwindle farther and farther from reality. This book had me screaming at Steve so much! I felt transported back to classic horror movies when he kept seeing things but just brushes them off as being tired.
Lauren, under the spell of the past, is so crafty. The steps she took to trap her family without realizing it was numerous. The number of outlets they were taking that failed was classic horror. This really was a fun and intense read.
Profile Image for Donald  Haack.
53 reviews
August 1, 2019
I can't believe I wasted my time reading this drivel. Possibly one of the most boring and ridiculous story I've ever read. I will certainly not read anything more by this author. Good thing it was free because I'd feel ripped off if I had even paid a penny for it, it's bad enough I will never get back the time I spent skimming through tis poor excuse for a horror story.
Profile Image for Rebecca.
674 reviews29 followers
July 21, 2019
An interesting read and overall well-written book, and I appreciate the fact that the book appears to be setting up the plot one way and then does a pivot. The fact that you alternate between viewpoints means that you are virtually always stuck with a narrator who is unreliable in one way or another, and so a good chunk of the book leaves you unsure about what is “really” happening. Toward the last third events clear up enough that you know what’s going on even when you switch POVs. The narrowing of perspectives adds to the claustrophobic atmosphere, and is a well done, subtle plot device.

There were some parts of the mythology that I felt weren’t fully explained. Although at the end there is some discussion about what happened and why, I felt like there were still some significant holes. That could have been on purpose, because the characters probably would have taken the most basic explanation and not attempted to dig further, so they could move on. The author might not have felt that a full backstory was important enough to put in, since the focus of the book was on the current events and their immediate aftermath.

There were other, more important issues that looked like plot holes to me, although I will be the first to admit that I could have been reading too quickly and just missed an explanation. First instance, Either way, never mentioned again. And And, perhaps most importantly to me, I don’t see how everyone walked away from that with no problem.

All of that being said, it was still an overall good book with some interesting twists on a traditional ghost story, and it’s worth a read.
Profile Image for Maxine Murphy.
39 reviews
June 24, 2019
OPINION OF BOOK: Daddy Won’t Kill You is well written and a compelling read. I didn’t want to put it down. As a parent I wanted to hate Lauren at first when I thought she was just an evil witch who was going to hurt her children. Then as the story unfolded, I wasn’t sure how Steve was going to save his entire family. Well worth the time to read. Not the typical ghost story. Looking forward to reading more by Caroline Clark.

DO I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK: Absolutely Yes

SPOILER SECTION (WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT): Steve and Lauren take their children Chase and Lucy to their remote cabin. Steve is a year into recovery from a heart attack, which means Lauren moved from a part-time to a full-time position at work. Because of the financial and emotional stress their family has been under they are taking one last vacation to the family cabin before selling it. On the way there Steve stops to buy a rocking chair on the side of the road. When Lauren starts sitting in the chair strange things start happening. She losses chunks of time and is not acting like herself. Steve worries Lauren is having a stress related nervous breakdown. After Lauren tries to smother Lucy when they are rocking in the rocking chair, his worries center more around the safety of his children. Trying to take his family to safety, he discovers Lauren has been one step ahead of him and thwarted each of his potential escape routes. They discover the soul of a serial murderess resides within the rocking chair. She has been possessing Lauren and using the souls of the twenty-two people she killed when she was alive. The rocking chair in flames, they escape with a police officer, Steve has a second heart attack.
25 reviews
August 15, 2018
This book is definitely not for the faint hearted, read it if you dare!!

Definitely the scariest, spookiest, most heart stopping book by Caroline Clark that I have read to date? Pretty slow to start with but picked up the pace as you carried on reading. A regular family, married couple who have their problems which are mainly financial and their two young children, boy and a girl who embark on what is possibly their last holiday at her late parents cabin before it has to be sold to help with the financial problems they face due to the husband's previous heart problems and the wife's constant working to make up for her husband not being able to work during his recovery? The wife doesn't really want to sell the cabin, but is also not willing to cut her working hours to spend more time with the children & doesn't want her husband to go back to working too much as he's been told no more stress if he wants to avoid more heart problems? On the way to the cabin they come across a rocking chair, just sat outside a house which is obviously empty, with a sign attached saying it's for sale only £5? They post the cash through the letterbox as there is no address or phone number on the note? Tie the old rocking chair to the roof of the car, then carry on their way. This is where the fun begins ............
167 reviews4 followers
August 31, 2018
Enjoy your new rocking chair.

Steve and Lauren's marriage was not on solid ground. He was unable to work because of heart trouble. Lauren was working two jobs to support the family and she was tired. Steve told her they needed to take a week at the family cabin with the two children, Lucy and Chase. They missed her and she missed them. On the way Steve saw a rocking chair for sale and purchased it for Lauren. Steve told her all she had to do is do rock in her chair and cook, which was her passion.
Things were fine until she cooked them a special meat pie. Lauren started acting so scary that even her children were afraid of her. How were they to get help for her...there was no signal at the cabin, the car and boat wires were cut, what could Steve do?
The author, Carolyn Clark, has written a story you might not want to read while sitting in a rocking chair. Enjoy the story some place else.
Profile Image for Lolapaige.
189 reviews
August 9, 2018
Meh

I gave this book three stars because the plot was good. Unfortunately that's about all I liked. The book read like a child was telling the story. It was a bit jumpy in places and sometimes overly descriptive. It ran on far longer than it needed to and I found myself checking to see how far I had until the end about half way through. The ending was a little disappointing as well. This is the first book I have read by this author so I probably will read at least one more to see if maybe another would be more enjoyable.
Profile Image for Krystal.
213 reviews
May 9, 2018
Excellent read for a scare. This story will definitely give you chills. A little stress & an old rocking chair make great nightmares for the Scott family. It was so good I didn’t want to put it down. It was so descriptive that some scenes literally made me gag, however I just had to find out what happened next. Throughly enjoyed the scare.

I voluntarily agreed to review this book, and was given an Advanced Reader Copy to do so.
Profile Image for Barbara Haller.
313 reviews1 follower
June 3, 2018
A soso read. Started out okay, even intriguing. But fell off the rails for me with visions and the newspaper pages. Also the fact that the Dad has such a bad heart, he can’t work at all but once he has a possessed wife he can withstand several 5 mike hikes (hauling his youngest), a wade In Ice cold water while holding his youngest over his head, several severe scares and multiple ax attacks. He doesn’t have another heart attack until it was all over.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
921 reviews11 followers
August 22, 2018
Creepy, spooky, GREAT!

If you're interested in scary, creepy, spooky, a bit violent paranormal then this is a writer in which to get acquainted! This is the first book that I have read by her, but I will definitely be reading her others! The ending had me hanging onto every word hoping for the best! Stay up, turn off the lights, and read this chilling account of a family's worst nightmare!
84 reviews3 followers
July 10, 2019
An OK book

The book was ok, but not great. A possessed rocking chair makes a woman become a reincarnated serial killer and her many victims. To me, it got tiresome when she started becoming all these different people with each forward/backward rock of the chair. I also found it kind of corny with the father repeatedly saying how proud he was of his young son. This is not exactly a scary story, and I do not recommend it.
Profile Image for Hope Gerhardstein.
504 reviews
January 26, 2019
This book reminded me of Steven King’s “The Shining”. If you like his books, you will love this one. My fear for what would happen to the children kept me reading this book late into the night. Caroline Clark starts the book by giving us details of another true story haunted chair. Scary! Steve’s love for his children keeps him going when all seems lost.
Profile Image for Kellee.
516 reviews86 followers
March 3, 2019
This was a good read. There were times when I would skip a few pages because the details were so gruesome in some parts of the book that I couldn't stomach reading that part word for word...which is a good thing because there's aren't a lot of things that freak me out. I felt like I was there witnessing it.
Profile Image for Tammy Conatser.
897 reviews4 followers
October 4, 2019
Interesting idea, repetitive

I think the concept was good and original, didn't like Lauren much from the start with how rude she is over her husband having a heart attack, and it was interesting and a bit creepy (mostly the nursury rhymes) but it was very repetitive and I got bored
Profile Image for Tina.
1,298 reviews9 followers
March 13, 2023
🤔

So quite early on the Dad knows what's causing the issue with the mum. It's no big secret which kind of spoils the rest of the book. All I could think of is destroy the object? Problem solved? Yeah so some good 🤷‍♀️ dare I say action scenes? But all in the dad realising the issue at early in the book but not dealing with it just seemed idiotic 🫣.
Profile Image for Tina  Helzer.
323 reviews2 followers
May 12, 2018
I have to say that this book was very intriguing and kept me up half the night reading it till the end to see how it will all go. There were lots of plot twist and turns and just things I never saw coming. I really enjoyed this book. It kept me glued to the book from start to finish.
Profile Image for Cathy .
291 reviews12 followers
May 14, 2018
Great scary story! Was looking for a good scary book and this was exactly what I wanted,needed and received! Thank you Caroline Clark for writing such an interesting story. This was my 1st but will definitely not be my last from this author!
29 reviews45 followers
May 14, 2018
A great story of a haunted rocker! Kept me on edge waiting to see what happens next!
Makes you think twice about purchasing used furniture lol
If you enjoy stories of evil ghosts and possessions, then I recommend reading this one.
4 reviews
June 7, 2018
This was one of the scariest, suspense-filled books I have read in a long time. I kept thinking this would be a great movie as it played out in my head. If you like suspenseful books, don't miss this one!!
12.6k reviews189 followers
June 23, 2018
Wow what a book to keep you up at night. Steve and Lauren are heading towards divorce, but try for one last reconciliation. They rent a remote cabin, but there’s something there. What are they supposed to do. Loved it.
59 reviews
July 10, 2018
Loved it!!!!!!

I could not put the book down! I loved this family and felt sorry for all of their troubles! I would highly recommend this book to family and friends alike! Keep up the good work!
Profile Image for Libby Barland.
40 reviews2 followers
November 26, 2018
Daddy

I found this book intriguing and enjoyable. I wanted to read it in one night so I know that this is a book I would recommend.
In the strange tale the mother is the one that turns into a macabre figure.
Profile Image for Diana.
52 reviews4 followers
December 10, 2018
Great story line with some interesting action throughout but the ending sort of wrapped up too quickly for all the turmoil that went on through the course of the book.
***SPOILER ALERT***


It does leave it open to a second book. And I will read it if that happens!
1,701 reviews10 followers
December 27, 2018
It all started with a rocking chair, then the evilness really began! A family that just needed one last vacation before they sold their retreat, but you won't believe what they get! Horrifying, the woods will never be the same!
220 reviews
December 31, 2018
This book was a little scary. Imagine going on a vacation to your family cabin for the last time, with 2 kids and a troubled marriage, finding a chair on the way that takes over your life. Kept me on the edge of my seat. Loved it!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews

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