THE PERFECT HOME

When the married hosts of a home-renovation show struggle with infertility, it threatens to destroy their lives both on and off camera.

From the outside, Dawn and Wyatt Decker—hosts of The Perfect Home, the “crown jewel in the Home & Lawn TV lineup”—have a life that seems as flawless as the “after” footage of the houses they remodel. However, their picture-perfect appearance hides their growing insecurities around their marriage and struggles with infertility: Wyatt feels like the “meatless burger” version of a real man, while Dawn—who never really wanted fame anyway—worries that she’s not quite the match for her dashing husband. Amid their struggle to have a child, Dawn finds a mysterious package that arrives for Wyatt from Germany; containing experimental fertility drugs, it promises to make their dreams come true while also harboring a sinister threat. This discovery is not the last. Author Kenitz peels away the layers of the Deckers’ seemingly perfect life, revealing a series of dark realities that fuel betrayal, desperation, and possibly murder—challenging the loyalties of the people closest to Dawn and Wyatt while also resurfacing unlikely allies from the distant past. Like many thrillers in the wake of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, the novel alternates between Dawn and Wyatt’s perspectives, probing the power dynamics of gender and family and the illusions of the American dream. Dawn’s interior life and motivations are more developed than Wyatt’s, leaving the narrative tension lacking in places; astute readers will be able to guess the ending midway through the book. While the pages fly by, the novel lacks the psychological depth and narrative ingenuity that would lift it from good to great.

An imperfect yet entertaining debut from a promising writer.