Fixer Upper meets Gone Girl in this suspenseful and witty domestic thriller set in the world of home renovation TV—featuring a woman who becomes public enemy #1 after a horrifying discovery prompts her to flee her celebrity husband with their twin babies.

THE PERFECT HOME
by Daniel Kenitz
Scribner, January 2025
(via Lowenstein Associates)

Dawn Decker is an American everywoman and the salt to her husband Wyatt’s sweet, media-friendly charm on their Tennessee-based home renovation reality TV show, The Perfect Home. While Dawn bristles at the trappings of their D-list celebrity status, Wyatt hungers for greater fame. The couple also faces infertility issues stemming from Wyatt’s low sperm count. He secretly orders experimental fertility drugs, and they conceive, but his personality takes a dark turn—he becomes moody, withdrawn, and even cruel.

When Dawn discovers his horrifying plot to manufacture a tragedy in order to skyrocket their celebrity status, she takes their infant twins and goes on the run. Wyatt appears on national television to turn the public against her, painting Dawnas an unstable kidnapper suffering from postpartum psychosis. His charm is so compelling that even Dawn’s closest friends doubt her. She will have to dig deep into the past—both hers and Wyatt’s—to find allies, protect her children, and beat this beloved all-American celebrity at his own game.

Told in dual perspectives from both husband and wife, this smart, captivating, and twisty thriller is a fun, addictive read from the very first page.

“You could easily devour The Perfect Home in one sitting if it wasn’t so nerve-jangling that you have to put it down to regain your composure. This book had me shocked, despondent and furious in turns, and I loved it.. Kenitz turns the perfect home into a nightmare with proficiency and horrifying pizzazz.” —Associated Press

“A unique and enthralling thriller from a great new voice in the genre. Kenitz takes a wrecking ball to the fable of the perfect home while at the same time skewering the culture of fame. Both dark and fun with twists you won’t see coming. A killer debut.” —Alex Finlay, bestselling author of If Something Happens to Me

Daniel Kenitz is the author of several short stories, including the Pushcart Prize–nominated “A Hand to the Plow” (2022, Red Rock Review), “Tickleneck” (2022, Spotlong Review) and “Seen” (2020, EveryDay Fiction). A freelance writer, he lives in southeastern Wisconsin within jogging distance of dairy cows. THE PERFECT HOME is his first novel.