I'm a bit conflicted on this book. It really starts out with a bang. The book starts out by bringing us back 12 years to a night that Finn will never forget. The first chapter reels us in by telling us about the night that Layla went missing. Was she kidnapped? Is she dead? Did her boyfriend Finn have anything to do with it? This is explained to the reader by the statement Finn gave police, but then he says "It was the truth. But not the whole truth." Immediately, you want to start the next chapter to find out what the heck happened that night and where is Layla.

The book is broken down into three parts. In Part One, each chapter has a subtitle - Now or Then. One chapter is in the here and now, the other takes us back to a time that gives us background on Finn & Layla's lives before that fateful night. Part Two has each chapter subtitled with Finn or Layla, again alternating like Part One. This time, it's written from each of their POV. BUT, is this really Layla? Or is it someone pretending to be Layla? Part Three is just subtitled Finn on each chapter.

For me, Part One was the best. It had me on the edge of my seat, wanting to know more about what happened that night 12 years ago. Finn is engaged to Layla's sister Ellen and everything seems pretty perfect. But strange things start to happen that make Finn think Layla might be alive. But how? And where? What would this mean for Finn & Ellen?

Part Two seemed to drag on for me. I felt like the pace slowed down and kind of lost the momentum of the first part, even though the first part left you hanging, needing to start the second part. Part Two also started to really get you questioning what was really going on. Is this really Layla? Is is someone playing a cruel joke? Where does Ellen fit in all this?

Part Three is the shortest of the parts and it centered around Finn's POV. Finally we find out what happened all those years ago and all the questions from the story are answered. I won't go into how we find out, but I will say that I felt it was an abrupt stop to the buildup and although it was nice to finally get the whole story, the way we find out was not, in my opinion, the best way that the author could have filled us in. For me, it was as if the author needed a way to quickly explain a lot of what had happened in a short amount of time (or number of pages) and so they did it the fastest way they could, but I don't' think it was the best way.

Overall, it was an interesting read. I have mixed feelings about the book but there were enough parts that I liked that would make me want to give B.A Paris another chance.

A Special Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

I'm a sucker for psychological thrillers and since I enjoyed this author's two previous books, I looked forward to her newest book. As this story opens, Finn and Layla, a young British couple on vacation in France, are on the road when Finn needs to use the restroom. He stops at a remote service area while Layla waits in the car. When he returns, Layla is no where to be found. Although Finn is suspected in her disappearance he is never charged.

Fast forward twelve years and Finn is now engaged to Ellen, Layla's sister. There has been a reported sighting of Layla, but she hasn't turned up nor, has her body been found. Emails from unknown individuals who seem to know things that have been kept secret start arriving, shortly after Russian dolls begin appearing. The dolls have a significant link to both Layla and Ellen. Is Layla alive or is someone playing cruel trucks, and why?

Told from the before and after POVs, I must say part 1 really kept me riveted, but, by parts 2 and 3 the story seemed to slow and get very repetitive. It seemed like every chapter began to mention "Russian dolls" and "Peggy the Dog". The ending left me somewhat disappointed and, overall, for me this story just lacked the suspense and surprises found in the author's earlier books.

3.5/5 stars

As an American beset by the current state of our country's politics, I love to read murder mysteries and thrillers, especially from Great Britain. Bring Me Back does not disappoint. For almost the first 30 or 40 pages, I read confusedly but happy trying to figure out how to read the alternating accounts and chronological storylines that startled me at times with their abrupt shifts, looking for significant details, character observations, and blind spots from the narrator. The book is a standard narrative, not that unusual for a thriller, but an exercise in reading itself, and a study in mood and tone from the narrator. I enjoyed it thoroughly. If you like reading thrillers based in London and active reading experiences, check out Bring Me Back.

I like BA Paris. I don't love her books, but I generally have enjoyed the others I've read in a slow burning way. Likewise, this book followed suit with her easy prose and relatable characters. However, the whole premise of this story was built around an impossible scenario for me to swallow.

We have two sisters, Layla and Ellen, and the main narrator Finn. Finn falls deeply in love with Layla at first sight, but when a year and a half into their relationship Layla shares a secret that would devestate Finn, he erupts. Did he kill her? We're led to think not. Now twelve years later, Layla is haunting him with secret messages, and he doesn't know if it's truly her or someone playing a cruel game...especially now that Ellen and Finn are engaged.

As Ellen is dragged into this game, we don't know what to think...or do we? After all, it's pretty convincing that Layla is behind the messages and wants to get back with Finn. But the ending...oh, BA Paris...I just couldn't buy it, couldn't imagine that anyone would actually make such a huge mistake, no matter how much you tried to explain the gaping hole away.

I don't want to spoil the ending for anyone, but for me it ruined the book with its sheer lack of creativity and it's utter implausibility. It won't stop me from picking up other books by Paris, but unfortunately, it ruined this one for me. A generous 3 stars for a decent read...up until the end.

Rating 3.5 Stars
Scared that the despair I felt would take me back to where I'd been before, I tried to rein it in.

A triangle of suspense. I know the comparisons of books can be a bad call, however, depending how it strikes you, this one has a twist that is unique but totally reminded me of Gone Girl.

The narration is back forth retelling the past and the present in the main character's voice Finn who lost his wife Layla. No one knows where she is or what happened to her. Ellen, Layla's sister now is engaged to Finn after ten years. Ten years of waiting, ten years of wondering of what happened. When an appearance of Russian Dolls come at random times and sightings of Layla, Finn believes someone is behind a sick joke.

Finn becomes torn between the sisters and what has happened to cause Layla to disappear. Fighting his conscience, and choosing to live in the past or hope for the future, Finn must find out who is behind the Russian dolls. The implications are a matter of life and death.

A page turner of solving the mystery of what happened to Layla and believing who Finn really is. What kind of man is he? Does he have any secrets? And how does he really feel about his missing wife and future wife. It all comes to an complex thrilling ending.

A Special Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

Wow. My mind is reeling from the ending of this novel. B.A. Paris does an excellent job of keeping readers guessing as they try to determine what happened to Layla. I found the characters well-developed, and the way Paris wove their stories together was fantastic. Overall, loved this book so much that I just ordered the other two by this author.

I wanted to love this because I enjoy mysteries so much, but I felt like my reviewer friends were right on this one - the plot was obvious if you often read mysteries, and I do. Will definitely give more of Paris's work a try, but not my favorite. Good for a beginner in mystery, though!

I will admit, I was drawn to this book solely based on the main character's name. While I enjoyed the book, it wasn't an edge of your seat read that had me scrambling to read it every chance I got. It had a bit of a lifetime movie feel to it.

Bring Me Back tells the story of Finn, who’s girlfriend, Layla, went missing from a highway service station years ago. Now, Finn is engaged to Layla’s sister, Ellen, but shortly after their engagement announcement mysterious things start happening. Things that make it seem as though Layla may be alive, and may be coming back for Finn…

Somehow, between writing two papers, working on readings for school, going for a 1.5 hour hike and a million other things I had to do, I managed to devour this entire book in a day! It was quick paced and suspenseful, and exactly what I needed after my last read. I don’t read a whole lot of thrillers anymore, so the ending surprised me and I really enjoyed the final twist!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I Loved the Breakdown by B.A. Paris, so I was beyond excited to read Bring Me Back from her. The beginning started out great and sucked me in, but unfortunately went downhill from there for me. I tried to read this book on five different occasions but just couldn’t get into and didn't make it past 40 percent, then gave up. I found it mundane, and was so frustrated by the characters (I mean their choices made me crazy). I even purchased the audible version hoping that maybe then it would go faster while driving… nope. I could see where the story was going it pissed me off so I called it quits.
I really wanted to love this book, but sadly didn’t like it at all. I’m not giving up on B.A. Paris though, I know she's a good writer, and you can’t have every single book be a winner.
*A very special thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review*

(Posting 9/15/2018)

2.5/5

In a word...
Disappointed.

Parts one and two were equally blah. There wasn't anything that had me wanting to read the next page and often I couldn't be bothered to.

Part three is different. It's a bit wonky and could use some polishing, but I actually kept myself awake to finish it - which is something I was, literally, unable to do for the first two portions.
While the twist was not quite believable, the ending was appropriate and satisfying, unfortunately the rest of the book was too much of a slog to make up for it.

I received a copy of this book from netgalley for a fair and honest review.

Haven't I read this book before? Very predictable and already done. Not a bad read but not anything new or different. I did like the author's style and am eager to read other books that Paris has written.

This book was too predictable to me. In fact I did not even finish it. I was not very impressed. I really wanted to like the book because it had a great premise, I just felt like I knew what was coming way too quickly.

I wasn't completely invested from the beginning, but I was curious and that kept me going. The ending though just completely ruined it. The characters felt flat and were never fully developed but I could even throw that aside it there had been a stellar twist, but this just didn't have it for me. Pretty disappointed, to be honest, because I had high hopes.

B. A. Paris has become quite the force in writing domestic psychological suspsense!! This book was riveting from the get-go, Bring Me Back is dark and twisty and riveting!! I was on the edge of my seat from beginning to end, heart-pounding and pulse racing!!

I havent read Paris’ first book, which I believe is the most popular, but I have read the last 2 and I havent been terribly impressed. I’m assuming the first book must have been quite good given all the hype whenever a new offering comes out, but sadly I didn’t enjoy this much and liked it less than the Breakdown so I fear this might be my last of Paris’ collection, though I may breakdown and give the first one a chance.

Overall, the book was entertaining and held my interest, but wasn't overly memorable. Just a good summer beach read. I couldn't help but think about Hitchcock's classic "Vertigo" while reading this book.

I have heard quite a bit about B.A. Paris which made me very excited to pick up her newest release. In this story, we follow Finn while he deals with a range of things - his previous girlfriend, Layla's, missing status, his newfound love with Layla's sister and after missing for ten years, the clues that he gets suggesting that Layla has come back.

The story begins with Finn's perspective, but there is another one that we hear along the way. I don't want to mention who because it may be spoilery. I found the narratives to be straight-forward and never confusing. I enjoyed seeing both perspectives but I felt that Finn's was a bit boggled down with his hypothesizing. About half of his perspective was him working through different scenarios and constantly going back and forth about things going on. It made sense in the story, it didn't feel out of place, but I feel like I would have personally preferred more plot rather than hypothesizing.

This book did keep me wondering what was coming next and though I had sort-of predicted the end, there were elements I didn't see coming. These elements really added to the story for me, it made things make sense, which is something that I always appreciate in books, especially mystery/thrillers.
The plot was unique and I wish that there would have been more at the end. I get why it ended there, and it was an ending that felt right for the story, but I, selfishly, wanted to learn some more details.

I'm glad to have finally dived into one of B.A. Paris' books. I'm looking forward to reading more of her work. If you enjoy mystery/thrillers and you're looking for something quick, this might be right up your alley.

I flew through this book within one long rainy afternoon. It made me think and question enough to lure me in, however, for me, the storyline fell flat. I had expected more action and less love triangle. From the description I thought I was going to travel down a road of deception, when in reality I was handed a story of games. It flowed well and kept my interest because I had to know what happened to Layla and whether or not she was truly alive. The suspense was there, I just think it fell flat in the events that brought it all together and how it ties up in the end.

Really enjoyed this book and was certainly pulled in by the writer as plot developed. Very well written.