A Serial Killer's Daughter- My Story of Faith, Love, and Overcoming by Kerri Rawson
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Web ID: 16836071Riveting story
I’ve seen interviews where Kerri Rawson was speaking about her father. When I saw this book available to review, I was interested in hear more of her story. Dennis Rader was not a model father. He definitely had anger issues, but nothing that seemed to indicate he was a serial killer. This book goes over her life from the beginning. Her life is split into “before” and “after” finding out her dad was the BTK killer. While she mentions the victims, this book does not go into detail of the killings. She puts it in context to what was going on in her life at the times the killings took place to try to reconcile how her life could be what it was when her father was doing these horrible things to people. She has some of the letters between the two of them once her father was in jail. She details her struggles with remembering the dad she loves with him being a killer. It affected all aspects of her life and her faith. It’s clear to see how what he did would devastate the victims’ families but I hadn’t really thought about the effect on his own family. It was chilling how he felt slighted when members of the family chose to totally disconnect from him and felt that was un-Christen of them, knowing the horrible atrocities he had committed. The one part of this book that felt off to me was when Kerri was upset with the prosecutors proceeding with a full disclosure of her father‘s crimes. They checked with the victims’ families to make sure they were with doing this, but they didn’t check with Rader’s family. Dennis Rader’s family members were victims and suffered as a result of his crimes, but it isn’t the same as for the seven families that lost loved ones. It was an interesting story that I read in one day. Thank you to the author, Nelson Books, and NetGalley for the review copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Wow
In this powerful and deeply personal memoir, Kerri Rawson shares the unimaginable story of discovering that her beloved father, Dennis Rader, was the infamous BTK (Bind, Torture, Kill) serial killer. Raised in what seemed like a normal, loving household, Kerri’s world was shattered in 2005 when the FBI knocked on her door and revealed her father’s horrifying secret. What follows is not just a recounting of crimes, but a courageous journey through shock, betrayal, grief, and ultimately, healing. Kerri writes with raw honesty and emotional depth as she grapples with reconciling the father she loved with the monster the world came to fear. Her story is one of resilience, faith, and the strength of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable truth. Rather than focusing on the crimes themselves, the memoir centers on the emotional aftermath and the process of rebuilding a life and identity in the shadow of a devastating legacy.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Disappointing
BTK-daughter) There is not much about the personality of the serial killer or how he hid this from his family. im only 100 pages in and struggling to finish reading this book.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Extremely Mindblowing
I had the audiobook of this exact book and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Imagine yourself growing up being the daughter to one of North America’s most highly profiled SK’s and having to live through the agony of knowing he’s in your radar this entire time…. Just wow. My god. Kerri speaks of her trauma and her willingness to educate others so eloquently and with such accuracy it’s almost haunting. Everything she said in this book, was sending tingling sensations up and down my spine, repeatedly. Excellent writing, beautiful book and I recommend it highly to any true crime sleuths.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
3+ light-giving stars
“’The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’” What happens when your world is shattered by the news your dad was arrested as a serial killer? …the guy you went hiking and camping with, a normal seeming neighborhood dad. Kerri Rawson does and excellent job of sharing her answer to the horrible circumstances she found herself in. The book is honest with devastating emotions and mental health issues. Many authors would have added graphic details to the story. The initials BTK stand for bind, torture, kill. I appreciated that Kerri Rawson took a high road approach and focused on healing from the trauma of her dad’s arrest. I think it’s important to know that the story focuses on love, hope, and overcoming. Rawson’s Christian testimony and inclusion of Bible verses are a way for the devastating choices her dad made (and is in solitary confinement for the rest of his life) to let in bits of light in after the horrifying crimes and the devastation wreaked on eight families. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Terrible and boring
Read the book in 4 sessions spanning 2 days and im regretting it all. I thought the unspeakable atrocities her father committed were savage unbearable to read and disgusting to comprehend an individual such as this existed It's as if the daughter said to the father, " Hold my beer and read this book I write. " She took 4 whole years to learn how to write apparently and should have taken much longer. This book in existence is a waste entirely. I have no idea how a publisher read these scrawlings and thought it was good. No idea. She labels herself quite often as a "survivor." Did she suffer through reading the book aswell? I ask myself. Her childhood had nil troubles. No more than myself or anyone else. She parlays murders to her family events as if the significance is there. It's not there is none. This killer did not mix home life with his fantasies and it shows she had quite a normal life until her regrettable papsmear at university which changed everyone's life in her family. The fact a family member of a serial killer is financially profiting off her fathers name is sickening. She acts like some glorified victim, an aged speaker with countless experience of tragedy. Reality is, she's the victim of a cut and scrape procedure that now uses her father's name to profit her existence. After you see past that she bores you to death while she talks about God. you realise as I did the epiphany: Just in general its a complete waste of a time to read this book.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Not at all as it is described.
Got 50 pages in and decided to stop reading. this is suppose to be a memoir by the BTK killers daughter about coming to terms with his crimes and the aftermath but all I got was a choppy time line, Poorly written back little to no explanation of who people are and the angst of a teenage girl questioning wether she believes in god or not. All the murders were glazed over. This is very much a Christian awakening memoir and not at all true crime. Unfortunately I couldn’t return it because I stamped it with my library stamp already. Will be waiting to stamp until I read things in the future. Worst $20 I’ve spent.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Highly recommend, must read!!!!
I highly recommend this book for anybody who loves reading about and is into studying serial killers, true crime, the criminal mind, etc. I must tell you if you do purchase this the first 3 parts take place in her childhood growing and it’s really sad and powerful, now starting in part 4 is where he is arrested and the aftermath of the case. It’s a really powerful read and you’ll even be surprised at a lot of parts in her childhood and her as an adult. Now i wanna read more true crime books like this written by serial killers children!! Again highly recommend to anyone!!!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com