David Bell once again crafts a twisty mystery that hooks you right from the beginning and leaves you guessing until the very last page. I loved the concept behind this book with the college professor caught up with plagiarism, sexual harassment, and good old murder.

Connor is an English professor who lost his wife and only child in a freak accident and the after effects have wreaked havoc on his professional career. His chances of publishing anything and getting tenure are getting worse but after one of his students Meredith mysteriously disappears, leaving behind the manuscript to her thesis, he decides to pass it off as his own work and have it published. Once the book it out and gaining popularity, Meredith magically reappears and demands money for her hard work. Then a women is found murdered in her car and the police realize that the book bares a very striking resemblance to the town, the people, and details about the murder that no one besides the killer should know. With Meredith demanding money Connor doesn't have, the police suspecting him for the murder, and his career on the line, Connor must figure out who's responsible for the killing and why they're determined to hurt him also.

This book was told from multiple narratives and flashed between the past for our characters to what was going on in the present tense. The tension stays high throughout this entire book as you're left wondering who's telling the truth and who's trying to cover up for themselves.

David Bell has always been an auto-buy author for me and is a true master of mystery and crazy twists.

*Many thanks to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the free copy for my review*

Seemed to be a bit of a flop. Could use some editing. Also this seemed predictable. I didn’t actually finish this book, was a DNF.

This is my third David Bell novel and it does not disappoint. We have Professor Connor Nye who is devoted to his job more so now after the loss of his wife and son. One of his students who is working with him on her senior thesis goes missing one day. So what does English Professor Connor do? To hold on to his job he publishes Madeline’s work as his own . All is fine until Madeline returns and wants what’s due her. To make things more interesting the police are investigating a crime committed just before Madeline disappeared that’s almost identical to the book.

I like these type of books where you know what’s going to happen and where it’s leading but yet you are so involved that you can’t put it down.

How have I not read a David Bell book before?! His latest has me in love.

KILL ALL YOUR DARLINGS is twisted, sad and oh so page turning. I love the premise, it did remind me of The Plot at first, but that is quickly blown straight out of the water. While The Plot is more of a mystery and from what I've heard a slowwwwww burn- KAYD is not!

This one is definitely a thriller. Twisted. Oh so twisty and secretive! I was expecting it to start off with back story, but right from the first chapter you're thrown into the conflict.

KAYD doesn't really have any likable characters to me. I mean they do have some redeeming moments, but overall not likable. Okay, I take that back- Grendel (the dog) was my favorite.

If I had to be picky, David Bell could definitely kill some darlings of his, but I'm guessing it was an editorial

Nice bit of fun here, turnabout is fair play and all.
Not a bad book over all. Good pacing, and decent character development.

After losing his son and wife in a horrible accident, English Professor Connor Nye is living life day by day, time is catching up with him and he’s approaching tenure and hasn’t published anything, his time is running out.
Madeline is one of Professor Nyes students and she’s a talented writer. So when she submits her thesis and then vanishes and is presumed dead, Professor Connor doesn’t see how it would hurt anyone if he publishes it, and puts his own name on it. Now the book is out and it’s a hit, soon Madeline returns at Connors door, and she demands money or she will reveal that she wrote it! Connor is panicked this will ruin him, until the police come knocking on his door. The detective has questions it appears Connors story is eerily similar to an actual murder that had gone unsolved, and parts of Connors/Madelines story has undisclosed information about the murder, that only the police and the actual murderer would know! Connor is shocked the police want to know how he got the information and if he has a connection to the victim. He can’t admit he stole the story, plus Madeline is still hiding in the shadows it appears she’s running from someone. The police are closing in on arresting him for a murder, if he doesn’t uncover the real story! Told in multiple timelines and POVS, I couldn’t put this book down! Five stars!

This was a great thriller! The twists and turns were exhilarating and while the end was a bit predictable, it was still fun!

I found myself getting scared when reading home alone and I think that means the author did his job well!

I really enjoyed @davidbellnovels #Killallyourdarlings! I have been meaning to read a book by David Bell since I heard of Layover!

💫Synopsis💫

🎓Connor is a college English professor who is still reeling from the death of his wife and young son and unable to write again as he did before their deaths. But he must if he is to secure tenure!

📚He finally does make it through the fog of grief and publishes a praiseworthy thriller about a murder of a woman in a college town.

👀Only problem – it’s not his book. It’s a book based on the thesis of one of his students.

👀And oh yeah – that student disappeared two years ago.

🔎Once the police get wind of the similarities between his book and a relatively recent cold case – and come after him as the main suspect … what’s he to do? And that student who disappeared? She shows up and wants to blackmail him or tell everyone that he stole her book.

🔍What is he to do? Admit the truth and lose all credibility. Keep quite and pay a blackmailer and be arrested for a something he did not do. And what abut the real author – what is her role in this? What really happened??

💫My take💫

🎉I enjoyed this book! I loved the mystery within the mystery and trying to think who really did do it! I loved the different POVs which kept me wondering whodunit. I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to give it away – but this was a fun read with a good twist. Underlying it all is the very serious topic of the “old-boy” network that still, unfortunately exists today, and not just on college campuses.

I thank @berittalksbooks, @thephdivabooks , @dg_reads for including me in this great buddy read! Thank you @berkleypub and @netgalley for the e-ARC! I loved it! It had everything I love in a thriller/mystery – an unsolved disappearance, college setting, several suspects, two time periods and more…highly recommend this book!

This one just wasn't for me, but I'm not mad about it. It was a roll of the dice for me, frankly. Something about the writing style just didn't vibe with me

Loved this book so much it's one of my top 5 new releases for the month of July! https://www.instagram.com/tv/CR4KXIiplHR

I am thoroughly enjoying this book. The short chapters and the way they go back and forth between past and present add so much to the tension and atmosphere of confusion about what's going on now and what really happened then. The pacing is spot on and I love the way little bits of the truth are slowing coming to light. This is my first David Bell book and I can't wait to read his other books too!

It is no secret that I love love David Bell novels. So I was over the moon with this approval (keep em coming please!). I think what I love the most about Bell is the short chapters ending usually with a cliffhanger. It is So. Hard. To. Stop. My heart aches for Madeline as I really wanted redemption for her. Needless to say I wasn’t expecting at all that plot twist. It is also always a huge plus when I can’t guess the culprit or I was at least wrong about it. A solid thriller, as usually David Bell always delivers.

This was only ok for me. I felt like I’ve read a similar story before. There wasn’t much that surprised me. Overall, it was underwhelming and not my favorite by David Bell.

I usually love everything David Bell writes. This one was a little tough for me. I did not hate it. I just did not enjoy it as much as his others that I typically rave about.

Ask any writer what their biggest fear is, and they might say it’s no one reading their work. (Well, that, or forgetting to hit “save”, then experiencing a catastrophic power outage or random computer shutdown. That’s definitely another big one.)

If you asked what plagues them most often, though, chances are, it’s gonna be writer’s block. The muse disappearing. Being stuck. No matter what they call it, every writer goes through it… and it totally sucks.

Most of us try to find inspiration, somewhere, somehow. Or we put the writing aside, to let our thoughts (hopefully) percolate. Maybe we start working on something else, entirely.

Or, one can go a very, very different route… as does the protagonist in David Bell’s gripping thriller, Kill All Your Darlings.
_______________

Connor Nye is an English professor on the fast track at a small college, when tragedy strikes: his wife and son are killed, leaving him alone and adrift.

He manages to keep it together enough to hold onto his job, but the rest of Connor’s life has pretty much gone to shit. He drinks himself into oblivion every night, partying with his closest friends (or with some of his students)… but somehow makes it to class again, each day.

His hold is increasingly tenuous, though; as a teacher on the tenure route, the rule is “publish or perish”… and Connor hasn’t been able to produce anything worth reading in a very long time. (Writer’s block? He has it, in a big way.)

But just as the walls are closing in, a miracle (of sorts) happens: a student—who’d recently left her manuscript, a thriller, for him to critique (and which, coincidentally, turns out to be one of the best things he’s ever read)—goes missing. The sort of missing that, after months of police searches and investigating, turns into a ruling of “presumed dead”.

Then a lightbulb goes off in Connor’s head—a possible way out of his dire straits—and, making yet another in a string of really bad life decisions, he makes a plan to do the unthinkable: to submit his student’s work… as his own.

Practically overnight, everything changes. A publisher snaps up the manuscript, and the resulting book becomes a huge success. Connor gets an agent, lands a lucrative book deal, and goes on tour. The chair of the English department is thrilled (even if not all of his coworkers share in the joy), and Connor’s position at the university is cemented.

Until one night, during a reading at an area bookshop a couple of years later, Connor gazes out into the audience, connecting with the adoring crowd… and looks right into the eyes of the young woman whose words he’s reciting. A very much not-dead, not-missing woman. A woman who looks anything but pleased by his performance.

When she turns up on his doorstep later that evening, demanding he pay her the royalties he’s made—and threatening to out him, if he doesn’t—Connor is terrified. For one thing, there is no money; it’s already been spent. Worse, everything he’s achieved—the fame, the recognition, his secure job—would be undone, in a heartbeat.

But that’s merely the tip of the iceberg… because around the same time, the police also begin questioning him, as a suspect, after someone notices key points in “his” book are exactly the same as some never-released-to-the-public details from a local unsolved murder case… and if there’s one thing the police aren’t big on, it’s “coincidence”.

The more Connor struggles to understand how any of this could’ve happened, the more fraught his situation becomes; does he admit to blatant plagiarism and outright theft (no doubt losing his job, and the perks of prestige)… or does he try to ride it out, believing that he had nothing to do with any murder (despite how it very much looks, in print)?
_______________

Kill All Your Darlings has an über-current, ripped-from-the-headlines feel, with themes of “he said, she said” and “me too” running throughout.

Surprisingly, though, Connor manages to be a (mostly) sympathetic character (and thank goodness for that, or this wouldn’t have been nearly such a compelling read)—despite committing one of the greatest sins any creative can: the wholesale theft of intellectual property. His despair and angst are palpable, and you can (at least on some level) understand why/how he was able to talk himself into doing what he did.

The tension escalates gradually… but once built up, charges full-speed ahead, never letting up. There are no dull moments, here; this thriller lives up to its name.

Kill All Your Darlings is a really well-told tale—one I raced through (as quickly as possible, anyway, for a 400-plus-page book)—and the ending, when I got there, felt like the perfect one.

You really can’t ask for more than that, can you?
~GlamKitty

David Bell has done it again! Kill All Your Darlings is an excellent thriller that pulls readers in and wows with strong twists. The story follows English professor Connor Nye as he publishes his first novel about the murder of a young woman. Turns out the novel was actually written by a student who went missing and blackmails him when she returns. Also, the novel puts Connor in the sights of the police as the murder is eerily similar to an unsolved murder. Can Connor clear his name for a murder he actually knows nothing about? The plot is filled with twists and will certainly have readers on the edge of their seats. Highly recommended!!

📓𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁
Connor is an English professor at a Kentucky University who is still mourning the tragic death of his wife and son a few years ago. Facing an upcoming tenure review, he is struggling to write something publish-worthy. With time running out, he makes a desperate decision and publishes a novel based on a thesis written by a missing and presumed dead student as his own work. The book is a best-seller, and Connor is enjoying his success when missing the student, Madeline, mysteriously shows up demanding Connor pay her for her work or be exposed as a fraud.

To make matters worse, Connor comes under police scrutiny when details of a violent crime never made public are eerily similar to a crime detailed in his book. To prove his innocence, while keeping Madeline at bay, he decides to investigate the crime on his own and hopefully find a way to protect his secret.

📓𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁
This is the first book by David Bell I have read and, the first chapter pulled me right in. The story is told from multiple points of view and dual timeframes alternating between the year before Madeline disappeared and the present day.

Connor was not always an easy character to like but I still felt for him at times. There was a steady flow of twists and turns to keep me interested until the end. Some aspects of the ending were a little questionable to me, but ultimately, I was satisfied with the mystery's resolution.

This book is a great addition to your pool/airplane reading list, and I'll definitely read books by this author in the future.

4 stars....

My first David Bell novel & I enjoyed it!

First of all, this cover is absolutely stunnnnnnning - even more so in person. The bluish -violet-pinkish cotton candy sunset is perfect!

Anyways, I really enjoyed the atmospheric academia setting, as well as the twists. My only complaint was that it was a little long and drawn out, at almost 400 pages.

I will be reading more from this author!

Kill All Your Darlings by David Bell delves into the world of academia. The life of a professor consists of publish or perish, while also trying to teach classes, mentor students, and navigate department politics.

But, English professor Connor Nye is one of the lucky ones. As his tenure decision approaches, he publishes his first novel. The only problem is that he didn’t write it. It belongs to one of his students who disappeared several years before. Now, the student has reappeared and she wants Connor to give her the money from the book royalties or she’ll reveal that he plagiarized her work. And that’s not Connor’s only problem. The book is about the murder of a young woman and the details are very similar to a real-life murder. The police want to know why.

Kill All Your Darlings is a good read with strong characters. The plot moves between several time periods and also has several points of view. The pace is good and it’s not hard to root for Connor as he tries to do the right thing – even making sure his dog, Grendel, is well-cared for. There are enough twists to keep it interesting and when I thought I had it all figured out, the story swerved into new territory.

I enjoyed this latest book by David Bell. It’s a good thriller that will definitely entertain most readers.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

This is my second David Bell novel, and it fell in line with what I expected!

Connor's wife and son were killed in an accident. He lived through life in a fog, until Madeline, a promising student of his, "dies" suddenly and leaves her manuscript. Connor makes a poor decision and takes it as his own. Well....now she wants her money- shocker.

As the police get closer to arresting him, the plagiarism coming out, and the intensity rising (yikes, this is tense!) it keeps you wanting to know more about what is going to happen and will Connor survive.

I have to admit the teacher in me wanted Connor to admit his plagiarism guilt.

I appreciated Bell touched on sexual harassment on a college campus- such is this world and worth shedding light on. I can see how this could be a content warning for some though!

The big reveal at the end of typical David Bell, so if you enjoyed his previous novels, then you can jump into this one as it follows suit.

Thank you to the publisher for my gifted copy in exchange for my review- I enjoyed reading this one!