Kat (Katlovesbooks) Dietrich's Reviews > The Doomsday Mother: Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell, and the End of an American Family

The Doomsday Mother by John Glatt is a true crime novel which followed Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell, and Lori's missing children.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher St. Martin’s Press, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:   (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Lori Cox was born in 1973 in California, one of six kids.  Although raised Mormon, the family was not really devout, and the parents often took off for Hawaii for weeks at a time, leaving the kids to fend for themselves.  Lori, however, eventually became a strong believer in the Mormon faith, although perhaps it was more her own version of it.  She grew up craving attention, and getting it, becoming somewhat narcissistic after losing childhood weight.  She married Nelson when she was just 19, and divorced a year later. At 22, she married Wiliam LaGolia, had her first child Colby, and divorced shortly after. At 29, she married Joe Ryan, and later that year gave birth to Tylee.   At 32, she was again divorced.  At 33, she married Charles Vallow.  They adopted Joshua (JJ), who was the child of Charles drug-addict sister.

Lori's Mormon beliefs started to take on some sinister undertones.  They got worse when she met Chad Daybell, a Mormon doomsday prepper, whose ideas were also off the Mormon charts. Lori swapped everything she had for Chad, a religious zealot who preached end of days doctrine to all who would listen.   The pair planned on leading the chosen ones on a path to survive the end of the world.  He and Lori believed they were gods, and Chad received messages from his spirit guides on the other side which enabled him to identify and rid the world of evil zombies.

Apparently their current spouses were not "chosen", and neither were Lori's children.  Both Charles (Lori's husband) and Tammy (Chad's wife) ended up dead, as did others that stood in the way of Lori and Chad Daybell.

When it finally came to light that JJ and Tylee were missing, Lori and Chad were in Hawaii, celebrating their marriage (two weeks after the death of Chad's wife).  7 year old JJ, who was autistic, and Tylee, who was now around 17, had not been seen for 5 months,  and they made headlines across the continent, yet Lori and Chad did not return, and offered the police no assistance.

The bodies of the children were eventually found on Chad's property, and Lori and Chad arrested.


My Opinions:
First, I knew nothing about these people, and had no recollection of the case (maybe it's because I'm in Canada).  The children's bodies were just found in 2021, so this is a really current story.

My biggest complaint....I wish the book had not been written until a final verdict had been rendered, because at this point, both Chad and Lori are in jail, but their trials are not scheduled until 2023.  When I read a true story, I expect it to be relatively "over", but there is no closure to this story yet.  It's one thing to read a book of fiction and have to draw your own conclusion at the end (which I don't really like either), but having to "guess" what is going to happen next in a true-crime novel is not acceptable.  Does this mean that Glatt is going to have a "book 2"????  Not impressed.

Anyway, moving on, the writing was good, if a little repetitive, and perhaps a little long.

Heads up....Many of the characters were repulsive.  Chad, Lori and Alex were beyond reprehensible, and some of their "friends" who lied for them were not much better. I felt so sorry for JJ's grandparents.

The book seemed, at times, to lay all the blame on "Chad", as he was the cult leader, and swayed everyone his way, including Lori.  I disagree.  Lori's beliefs and actions were bizarre even before Chad entered the picture.  It looks like they are trying to say she is mentally unstable.  However, Lori came up with some interesting lies all on her own, that showed she knew exactly what she was doing.

Anyway, although I really think the book should not have been published until the full story is told, it was still an okay read.  I will probably follow the news on this one, but I would not read a second book on this topic, as I already feel a little cheated.



For a more complete review of this book and others (including the reason I chose to read/review this book, as well as author information), please visit my blog: http://katlovesbooksblog.wordpress.com/