Member Reviews
I love David Bell's books. I know when I pick one up to read that I am assured of a great read. That assurance certainly was true, yet again, with this book.
The plot twists involved while Bill Price is searching for his daughter, Summer, are jaw dropping. The suspect list is long and seeing Bill literally beat his way to finding his daughter is heart breaking. Especially so soon after losing his wife.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and my inability to put it down proved that fact. A read that will have you turning the pages without noticing the time, that I loved!
Thanks to Berkley Publishing Group and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.
I really liked the description of this book and wanted to like it. The problem was the author seemed to get caught up in a whole lot of character reminiscing so that when he finally employed the "twists" it felt hurried and wasn't really a surprise. I pointed out the main baddie immediately after they were introduced but their revealed motive was very disappointing and anti-climatic.
Oh, where to start?! First, this is the best novel I’ve read so far this year! Bring Her Home is a read that grabs you from the very beginning and doesn't let go until the very last page. It's the tale of Summer who disappears along with her friend Haley only to be discovered later in a park. One girl is found dead and the other badly beaten beyond recognition and time is ticking to find out exactly what happened and who did this to them.
Without giving too much away, Bill, Summer’s father is determined to find out the truth about his daughter’s disappearance and he stops at nothing to find justice. He jumps on every clue and just about accuses anyone with any connection to Summer. I understood his concern and wanting to get justice but sometimes I was just wanted him to chill out. He was accusing everyone but the one person he never suspects who was literally in front of his face.
This story is more about just Summer's disappearance. There is also the issue of Bill's wife who has been dead for a few years and how both Summer and Bill are dealing with that. Bill feels that she was having an affair but was she? Her death was an accident but was it really? And is there a connection between the two? Not to mention Bill and Summer's relationship or lack there of. All of these things play into each other and things become clear towards the end.
I’m a fan of thrillers/mysteries/suspense and boy does this one give us all three. I wasn’t even at the half way point when I was thrown for two loops and had to stay up, I couldn’t stop reading. I felt this novel has everything that you could want in a suspense read. Lots of twist and turns, tons of suspects and you never knew how things were going to play out until the very end. The storyline is perfect with amazing characters, this one definitely delivery beyond my expectations. I’m new to David Bell’s books but after this one, I’m definitely checking out all of his past reads.
A teenager not being home at curfew time, a phone call no parent wants to get, and a lot of questions.
Summer and Haley were the best of friends since first grade, and now that they are teenagers they share secrets and go everywhere together.
Going everywhere together one fateful night turned into a nightmare for Bill, Summer's father, and Haley's mother.
The police were investigating everyone who had known the girls and everything that had happened to Bill and Summer before and after the death of Summer's mother a year ago. I suspected a few characters as I continued reading and one in particular.
The police never had a handle on things because something new would turn up to turn the investigation back to square one. Some of the findings were unbelievable.
BRING HER HOME led us through the horror of a child gone missing and dying as well as learning the steps taken in a police investigation with this type of crime.
The characters and their emotions were credible, but trusting a few of them was difficult. Bill was very emotional to the point of doing crazy things, but who wouldn't when your daughter was missing. The teenagers did some things that were quite unimaginable. The neighbor, Adam, was too nice to be believable.
The secrecy of teenagers was one of the major themes and was very well done by Mr. Bell.
My only criticism is that BRING HER HOME was a bit long and dragged out.
All in all, though, the book kept me guessing, and the end was good. 4/5
This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher and NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Totally devoured this book in one sitting. I was so engrossed and reading this as fast as I could. I had an early suspicion about who did the crime and couldn't wait for the big reveal.
A father is searching for his missing daughter - Summer and her best friend Haley. The book opens with Bill rushing to the hospital when two girls are found, one dead and one barely alive. As he sits at his barley alive daughter's bedside he is consumed with guilt and wondering what caused this. He begins to question his relationship with her and his parenting. Then far worse, he begins to question if this is even his daughter in the bed. I really can't say too much about the plot as I don't want to give anything away. There were many surprises and twists and turns. David Bell is a masterful story teller. A definite must read.
I liked this book a lot in the beginning but it quickly grew tired and annoying.
Let me start with this… Bring Her Home is hands-down the best novel I have read this year. I love suspense thrillers but good Lord, this one delivered one surprise and one twist right after the other. I sat down to read this about 3 1/2 hours ago and have barely moved since.
Author David Bell has an uncanny ability to make the reader doubt themselves repeatedly, in a good way, of course. Each time I had it all figured out in my head, I was blindsided by a new revelation completely blowing my theory out of the water. Then, every time I would decide someone else had nothing to do with it, their names would pop up again with more incriminating circumstances.
This novel is challenging to review without giving spoilers, so I can’t say much more about the plot than I already have, but let me stress that this is a complete, unexpected roller coaster ride from beginning to end. And if you are a parent of a teenager, prepare to cringe at times at the thought of these things happening to your child or the thought of your child being involved in the circumstances in any way. When you’re done reading this, I promise you will want to go sit down with your kids and ask them a million questions about their lives, lol!
As stated before, this is my favorite book of the year. If you are a fan of mystery/suspense/thrillers, this is not a book to miss. Kudos to David Bell for such an amazing novel!
*Many thanks to David Bell, Berkley, & NetGalley for providing this novel in exchange for an honest review!
Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Berkley Publishing for providing me with a complimentary e-book copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
This is my first David Bell book and I was initially attracted to its vibrant cover and then enticed by its summary. Missing girls, secrets and potentially mistaken identities? Sounds good, right?
Bring Her Home is a well paced domestic thriller with short chapters that keep the story flowing. There are a few (obvious) red herrings and I picked out the culprit early on but there were a couple of twists that surprised me. Unfortunately, I found the plot lacked the intensity that I expect from a suspense read and it wasn't until later in the book that I felt wrapped up in the plot.
This book has a great premise but it's biggest issue was its main character, Bill. Readers spend a lot of time in Bill's head and it's not a nice place to be. He's an angry man who struggles daily to keep his volatile temper in check. Granted, he has had to deal with much loss and normally I'd be all over supporting a character like that. But any sympathy I had for him was quickly lost when he'd repeatedly and regularly lose his cool and lash out with little to no provocation. He seems to care about his daughter but his hotheadedness and his awkward, repetitive inner dialogue seemed to take centre stage to his paternal feelings. That got on my nerves and gave the book more of a movie-of-the-week, overly dramatized feel.
Overall, this was a decent read. It has its suspenseful moments, some twists and a great premise but fell a little short in its character development and dialogue. If you're looking for a lighter, summery, sittin'-by-the-pool kind of suspense read then you may want to pick this one up.
Bring Her Home is the seventh novel written by David Bell. The story centers on Bill and his daughter Summer, who has been missing for two days. Bill’s wife passed away unexpectedly, throwing father and daughter into a new dynamic with one another while both are suffering silently for their loss. Bill expresses his grief thru anger; uncontrollable unjustified bursts of tantrums. Summer is expressing her sorrow by acting out, running with the wrong crowd, drinking, and putting herself in dangerous situations.
Two girls who both fit the description of Summer are found badly beaten in the park. One is barely alive, the other is dead. So begins a whirlwind of who-dun-its, he said-she said, bad boys, promiscuous girls, and a not too sharp detective and homicide division working with an equally inept coroner and morgue.
I actually enjoyed reading this book for the simple pleasure of enjoyment without a lot of mental strain required. It’s a nice quick enjoyable read and would have only been better if I was at the beach. There were moments I did the “Anderson Cooper Eyeroll”, and other moments I couldn’t put the book down, wondering what could possibly go wrong next.
I would recommend this book, and probably any of David Bell's books, as a good enjoyable read that can take you out of the day-to-day doldrums we face. This book captivated me enough to want to try a couple more of his books this summer.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for making it available.)
Let me start by saying that I'm a fan of David Bell's. For that reason, I was excited when I saw this available on Netgalley and even more excited when I got approved. Then I read it. This, unfortunately, didn't live up to my expectations. That doesn't mean I won't be excited in the future from reading anymore of Bell's books. He's good......usually.
This book, however, didn't work for me. First off, I completely hated the main character: the Dad. I thought he was an asshole! Nothing he did made me like him even a little bit. Everything he did was fueled by anger and not because of his daughter being missing. He was just an angry person to begin with. I understand that everyone handles grief differently but there were flashbacks to his childhood and it seems he was always an ass. So nothing he could do would make me like him. I think because of not liking him, I couldn't seem to really care about what happened. But then the mystery just didn't work for me either. I didn't get a sense of thrill from this book. I kind of saw what was going to happen and I honestly wasn't at all surprised at the end. Then the ending wasn't that great either. But like I said, I enjoy David Bell's books.....so one didn't work for me. Not a big deal. I will read more by him; this didn't deter me from that. But that Dad........I really couldn't stand him!!!!
**Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I had planned to read just a few chapters and found myself unable to stop. A single father raising his beautiful headstrong daughter rushes to the hospital after having received word that she's been found after having disappeared for days. She's been beaten and is barely recognizable but her best friend is barely recognizable from her deadly beating.
The police investigation leads the father to discover the crazy risks that his fifteen year old daughter has been taking. He can't stay angry with her, he just wants her to wake up healthy.
As the story progresses, there are even more uncomfortable discoveries. He has to face the final days of his wife's life and that what he'd expected and understood might have been completely wrong.
Well crafted and a thoroughly engrossing read!
Bill's daughter Summer and her best friend Haley disappear and are found days later badly beaten in a park. Haley is DOA. Questions of how did they get there, what happened, and who's responsible sprint out the gate from there.
At first I was a bit annoyed by Bill. His actions were so emotionally driven and hindered the case so badly in certain situations that it threw off my suspension of disbelief. About a quarter of the way through I actually thought I might not be able to finish this one (and that's coming from someone that's read all of Mr. Bell's work). I understand that he's a parent of a severely injured child that wanted answers but his bullish ways overshadowed that. That being said, the character started to become calmer, more believable, the further I progressed and the story was able to shine through.
I always give an author props for great plot twists and Mr. Bell deserves kudos here. About halfway I just plowed straight through until the end because I was so intrigued by the mystery.
Thank you NetGalley, Burkley Publishing, and David Bell for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Talk about some curve-balls! Thank you, David Bell, for making me second guess myself fifteen times and be completely surprised at the end of every 4 chapters.
I mean that though, this book is so well written, and so freaking good. I couldn't put it down, and I mean that. I flew through this book because there was so much weirdness going on, and I couldn't make sense of any of it, or place the cause of any weirdness and I had to figure out what the hell was going on.
This is not a confusing book, by any means. This book is a prime example of the perfect mystery/thriller. To me, at least, it would be hard for me to find another book to compare this to. I love when an author can throw me so off course and surprise me time and time again, all in the same book.
I had my suspicions, but I couldn't fully convince myself that's who was involved. You'll look closely and wonder about 4 or 5 characters while reading this.
I can't say enough good things about this book. David Bell blew this one out of the park for me. I hope everyone enjoys this as much as I did. 5 stars for this wonderful story.
Again, a huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy, and an even bigger 'thank you' to David Bell for his creativity and accuracy. I LOVED THIS.
The story starts with the father, Bill Price, entering the emergency room of the hospital, in search of his daughter, Summer who has been found brutally beaten, head to toe, to an inch of her life in the park, along with her best friend Haley, who is dead. Bill is in a state of shock, he had been searching for her, for 2 days and seeing his daughter in that state, nearly breaks him apart. But he stays strong for her, along with his sister Paige, tries to find out the truth.
Before he is able to stabilize with the reality of his situation, Summer having brain damage or requiring long term rehabilitation, he is hit by a shocking news which shakes the ground that he is standing on. And it doesn't stop there, he is hit again with a gruesome reality, and that forces him to investigate the trauma caused to him and his family. All the lies, all the truths, all that he holds dear is laid to bare, till he can do nothing but fight back.
David Bell is a genius of a writer. When I opened the book, the first thing I noticed was there are 96 chapters, I had to become mentally ready for the long read, but lo and behold, the chapters just flew on. I finished this book in a few hours, could not put it down, I had to know all the secrets of the Price family and the hidden truths.
The author has put such twists in place, that when the first one occurred, I felt that I understood where the story was leading to, but when the second one occurred, I could not believe it. This was not where I was going with the story in my mind. David Bell just blew my brains away with the second one.... WOW...
Bill Price as the father is believable, losing his wife a year and half back, had devastated the family, and Summer and he, had barely managed to carry on. Summer as the insolent, moody teenager and Paige as the aunt play their parts well. Full credit to David Bell for that.
What makes this book memorable for me is the secrets and the twists. David Bell weaves the twists in the story at the perfect corner, that when they are revealed, I wanted to scream and shout with the father. I felt his pain, his shock. Everything that he thought to be true turned out to be a lie. He was betrayed by all. It felt like a heavy stormy wind blowing the breath out of his lungs and thereby my lungs and along with that, annihilating both of us. With one twist of fate, the father lost everything, and I gained an unputdowanable book.
There are, as usual a few niggles
I found the ending slightly weak, the reasons given were a bit feeble and I felt certain parts of the mystery were not explained fully. The stormy rollercoaster ride was not maintained till the end. It plateaus a bit till the ending.
But, all in all, I would recommend this book to everyone and I think i have found a new author and his books to be kept in my repertoire.
I think I might have read too many mysteries and thrillers to be surprised by this book and its plot twists.
Bring Her Home takes place in the aftermath. A year-and-a-half after Julia Price's death, her husband Bill finds himself facing another tragedy: the disappearance of his daughter Summer. Summer was with Haley when they both disappeared, and a few days later, both of them crop up again, one dead and one severely injured. Investigators make a few assumptions about the victims and well, you already know that in these stories assumptions are never good. It turns out that Bill knew his daughter less than he thought he did, and as questions arise about Summer and everyone around him, it looks as though the answers will be found only if Bill is brave enough to confront both family tragedies.
Bill was not a likable character for me, by any means. But I'm sure his flaws are what gave the book its voice, realistically speaking. He did feel more balanced than other protagonists I've read, and though his paranoia was warranted, I became quickly frustrated when he continually jumped to conclusions. Still, there is something about having limited knowledge, provided by unreliable narrators, that make a story interesting.
For me, the plot itself was average. There are a few twists given away in the official blurb itself, which is a bit of a shame because I would've liked it more if I hadn't seen it coming. The build-up was sufficient, and the reveal was well thought-out, but it was a bit predictable, as I had read my fair share of mysteries.
The writing style was definitely fluid, though, and it did make the book an interesting read. I liked the individuality in the voices each character contained, and I thought this especially added to the dialogue. Overall, I thought this was a pretty good thriller (with a beautiful cover, by the way), but it wasn't mind-blowing for me.
Unimpressive. For someone with Bell's background, I would have expected a better story. There are no surprises; it's like reading a Choose Your Own Adventure book with all the choices circles for you. You know the other options, but see they're not taking it. Bell's descriptive style is always a half step too far, and the characters lack depth--and change far too little for the type of scenario they are in. I wanted to shake Bill more often than I wanted to cheer for him. That being said, it was a quick, decently written book. Not one that I'd pick up again, nor does it make me want to read any more of Bell's books, but I'm not demanding my time back either. 2.5 stars.
I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion. This book was so amazing. All the twists and turns from the very beginning--I could not put it down. Bill is an amazing dad that will stop at nothing to find his daughter and bring her home safe! I highly recommend it to everyone!
This is the first book I've read by David Bell, and I must say that he just kept the twists coming. It felt like one after another, just as you think you know what's going it all turns sideways. I love those kind of books! I thought the characters were great - I really liked the dad, Bill, although he did go off in emotional rages every once in awhile that made you want to yell at him, but thankfully he had his sister Paige and they local detective to help put him in his place.
I can't say much about this book or I'll give away too much of the plot and the twists, but it was a page-turner and a very enjoyable read.
Bring Her Home by David Bell quickly reels you in with an attention-grabbing beginning. Bill Price's daughter, Summer, has gone missing a year after his wife died from an accident in their home. Bill is told that Summer has been found but she is in very poor condition. As he holds vigil at her hospital bed Bill's life quickly unravels. He must fight for his daughter and to uncover the truth behind what has really happened to her. Along the way he begins to understand that his life may not be what he had thought it was. Read and enjoy!