Kill all Your Darlings is one of the best mystery/thrillers I have read this year! It is engaging, twisty, emotional, tense, character driven, and surprising. I found that the pages turned fast, even during moments when the pacing was slowed down for effect. The characters are well thought out and we are allowed to get to know them throughout the book, which I much prefer to an info dump. The plot was carefully executed in the same way; every time you think you have the mystery figured out, something else gets thrown in and messes your ideas all up! And I loved every moment!
There was no need to rush through events or skim over anything, because the author added very little that wasn't relevant to moving the story forward. I was entertained from page one and am adding David Bell to my auto-buy list!
I highly recommend this book to all mystery/thriller/suspense readers! If I can offer one piece of advice before you start this book, it would be to not read the blurb on the back of the book, just start reading so you aren't given any spoilers!

English Professor Conner Nye just published his first novel. And after years of grief due to the loss of his young wife and son to a tragic kayaking accident, his life finally is starting to brighten.

Until the day after publication when Madeline, the English student missing and assumed dead for two years, the actual author of the novel, appears inside his house threatening exposure if he doesn’t pay her off.

And then the very next morning, the police detective investigating her disappearance appears at his house as well, claiming the details of the novel match with an unsolved murder from two years ago.

Kill All Your Darlings is quite the suspenseful ride, written between several characters’ viewpoints including Conner and Madeline, and interspersed between current day and two years ago. As with every great thriller, the killer isn’t revealed until the final pages of the book, leaving me gasping and shocked. This page turner is easily one of the best thrillers I’ve read this year.

What a roller coaster ride! Twists and turns, the slow acceleration until you reach the peak and then the thrilling dive. When the ride is over you still feel a bit shaky.

Connor Nye, a popular university English Professor desperate to make tenure, passes off his student’s writing as his own. His wife and son died in a tragic accident, and he has been unable to focus on writing something for publication. So, he turns his student’s thesis into a thriller novel that becomes an instant hit. He knows that if the truth comes out it will destroy his career. But he should be safe. After all, his student has been missing for two years and presumed dead – but is she? Furthermore, the police show up at his door because his published novel contains details of a real unsolved murder that happened in their town - details that only the police and the murderer knew.

I really liked both Madeline and Connor. They were characters I could relate to.

It kept me guessing. I thought I had it figured out, but I was wrong. I did not want to put this book down once I had started it. I recommend this book to those who enjoy a great thriller with interesting characters.

I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘬, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘺!

This book was surprising, clever and unputdownable, I was engaged since the first chapters. I loved the pace, the messed-up characters, the multiple POVs and timelines, short chapters and an adorable dog. It was fantastic!

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 NetGalley 𝘢𝘯𝘥 Berkley Publishing Group𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘈𝘙𝘊.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵!

Read if you like: fast-paced thrillers, books within books, multiple timelines and povs.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

Special thanks to Berkeley Publishing And NetGalley with the thrilling ARC of this book!

I needed a book to pass the time and I picked the right one. Devilish and clever, a professor wants to write a book but he just doesn't have what it takes to be a writer. Poor guy lost his family and now he can't come up with the book he always wanted to write. Until one of his gifted students goes missing! So, he borrows her writing, and nobody will know the better. Until she reappears! And all he'll breaks loose because in the writings he stole for his book, there are details to real life murders, details only the killer would know, and then someone else goes missing and all eyes are on him.

What should he do, admit he stole a student's work, suck up his pride and admit he did this terrible thing and be embarrassed and lose his career or should he face the facts and realize he is in big trouble if he doesn't? Is this payback for something he did to a student? You will have to read this thriller to find out the twisted ways of student and teachers...and what the price is. I thought not only was this a clever idea, but it is a great way of dealing with harassment that still goes on today between a professor and student and what a great idea of shining a light on the power struggle and cleverness of getting back at someone. Oh I'm giving too much away. 5 stars!

We interviewed David Bell about his new book for the podcast The Perks of Being a Book Lover. His book is action-packed, smartly written, and real page-turner. If tales of the dark side of academia are in your wheelhouse, this one is for you. Great little easter eggs for English majors too. The episode will come out tomorrow, July 7.

https://soundcloud.com/wfmp-forward-radio/perks-season-5-ep-95-david-bell-the-suspense-is-killing-us-7-7-21/s-YQ1hZKoe4sB?in=wfmp-forward-radio/sets/perks-of-being-a-book-lover

Want a fast-moving thriller for the summer? Look no further!

I love this plot-driven thriller! The action starts immediately. Connor Nye, an English professor, publishes his first thriller book, which is actually a stolen thesis from a student who is missing and presumed dead. Unbeknownst to him, the thesis details a murder that took place two years ago, and the police want to know why Connor knows details never released. Meanwhile, this missing student appears at one of Connor’s book readings and threats to expose it all.

There’s an array of characters in this book - the professors and chair of the English department, college students, the police detectives, and the neighbors - all of who add to the mystery and drama. Everyone in this story has questionable ethics. Who can you trust when everyone is protecting their reputation at all costs?

Bell’s well-crafted mystery seamlessly blends multiple POVs and multiple timelines. All the twists and turns line up with the story. Nothing feels out of place. Although this book is a thriller/mystery, Bell also amplifies several themes involving academia: the struggles to publish, abuse of power between professor/student, and sexual harassment.

Kill All Your Darlings is my first book by David Bell, but it won’t be my last! I highly recommend this one!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest thriller by David Bell - an automatic must read author for me! 4.5 stars for a must-read thriller.

Ever since the tragic death of his wife and son a few years ago, Professor Connor Nye has struggled in many ways, not the least of which has been his writing. With the possibility of not receiving tenure because of not publishing, when the perfect manuscript comes to him, he publishes it as his own. But it is really the work of one of his students, Madeline, who went missing shortly afterwards and was presumed dead. Suddenly Madeline is back on his doorstep with her handwritten copy of her book as proof that she wrote it, threatening to expose him to the university and his publisher. That's not all - the book seems to implicate Connor in the death of another young woman. With the police questioning him, his life is blown up no matter what direction he takes.

With short chapters and alternating timelines, this book had me at the edge of my seat. Almost. all of the characters are easy to empathize with and you can see how one bad decision leads to another. It's also a good discussion on sexual harassment at the college student level and the no-win situations so many find themselves in. As always with a David Bell novel, this is a must read!

Connor Nye, a well-liked English professor, has finally written a best-selling thriller after years of trying to get his thoughts on the page. Problem is, they’re not his words – not his book. A student that went missing two years ago – and presumed dead - wrote the story as their thesis and well, what was Connor to do? Now Madeline is back and this is just the beginning of Connor’s problems.

I loved the moral dilemma that’s presented in Kill All Your Darlings. I couldn’t help but feel for Connor; he’s lost so much and yet … nobody understands the deceptiveness of plagiarism quite like those within the field not to mention everything that’s at stake if this deception is uncovered. On top of this, Connor’s stolen words are disturbingly close to an unsolved murder that occurred not far from campus and now the police want to know how he knew details that were never released. Ah, what a tangled web Connor’s got himself enmeshed in!

This is my first book by Mr. Bell and I have no idea how he’s slid under my radar! I’ll definitely be picking up more by him. I enjoyed the twisty plot, the characters that I couldn’t help but empathize with – even as I was shaking my head – and the focus on relevant themes we face today.

My thanks to Berkley Publishing for gifting me a copy for review.

I really enjoyed this book! I have read several books by this author in the past and have had a lot of luck with each of them. This book was no exception. I was hooked by this story from the very beginning and it was able to keep me guessing until the very end. I found this book to be an incredibly entertaining read.

As the story opens, Connor Nye has just published his first novel. This book almost guarantees that he will finally get the tenure that he needs as a professor. There is a problem though. He didn’t write the book. He has been barely functioning at times in the years since his wife and son died. When he finds himself in possession of a student’s manuscript, he decides to publish it as his own since it is presumed that the student is dead. He will soon learn that there is another problem. The book he published implicates him in an unsolved murder.

This book was filled with twists and turns. The story started with a bang and I couldn’t wait to see how Connor would deal with the situation he found himself in. Things just seemed to get more and more complicated for him and it was soon evident that things were a lot bigger than he could have ever known. It was almost painful at times to watch these characters make decisions that I knew would most likely come back to haunt them. I had no idea who was guilty and I loved the fact that there were a lot of surprises along the way.

I would recommend this book to others. I thought that this was a well-crafted and complex mystery that kept me guessing until the very end. I definitely plan to read more of this author’s work in the future.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley.

This is a fact paced, multiple POV, twisty read with fantastic characters. Even though it was a little long for my liking and I knew where the end was going, I still found it really enjoyable! Also - my picture does not do this cover justice. The colors in it are gorgeous!

Academia is a subject with which author David Bell is familiar since when he's not writing thrillers, he is a professor of English at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. He co-founded and directs that university's Masters in Fine Arts in creative writing program. He received his Ph.D. in creative writing from the University of Cincinnati.

The title of his latest novel, Kill All Your Darlings, is actually a quote from William Faulkner, referencing the need for authors to judiciously and, perhaps, ruthlessly, edit their work.

Kill All Your Darlings explores several themes, among them the fact that Connor, a professor beloved by his students who lost his wife, Emily, and Jake, their fifteen-year-old son, suddenly and tragically, has been unable to write . . . and is on the verge of more loss. In academia, the rule is "publish or perish." Connor published a collection of short stories while a graduate student, but has been at the university for seven years without publishing anything. Unless he does, he will not be granted tenure. Without tenure, the university will let him go. And it is highly unlikely that any other reputable college will hire him. Connor just hasn't been able to draft a book or even a few stories, understandably struggling just to keep functioning on a daily basis. Every time he sits down to write, the same story begins pouring out of him about a mother and child dying in the ocean. The chair of the English department, Dr. Preston White, has been more than Connor's boss. He has also been a good friend, compassionate and patiently giving Connor time and space to work through his grief. "Preston the Politician," as folks at the university call him both behind his back and to his face, even gave Grendel, the dog Preston initially rescued from a local shelter for his own family, to Connor, claiming his daughter was allergic. Preston showed up on Connor's doorstep with Grendel, a leash, and dog food. Indeed, Grendel has been a wonderful companion for Connor, who has regularly taken him on walks in the neighborhoods around the campus. But Preston could only protect Connor for so long, urging him to "just produce something."

Bell uses Connor to illustrate that desperate times call for desperate measures . . . and dreadful results. Connor served as Madeline' O'Brien's thesis advisor, and when he read her manuscript he became "consumed with it." Connor recognized that Madeline was a gifted writer and her talent eclipsed his own. Initially, he just wanted to mentor her and play a small part in the success she was sure to achieve. He expected to see her in class and discuss his notes about the book with her. But then she disappeared. And she didn't return. Everyone believed she was dead. With the deadline for his tenure review bearing down on him, Connor typed Madeline's handwritten manuscript and sent it to his agent, who, to his surprise, sold it to a publisher. As Kill All Your Darlings opens, Connor returns home after an event celebrating the publication of the book to find Madeline waiting for him there. In Bell's capable hands, Connor's life begins spiraling out of control.

Soon Connor is also visited by the police who have found disturbing similarities between the book, titled My Best Friend's Murder, and a killing that occurred two years ago. Connor was questioned immediately after Madeline disappeared because he was apparently the last person to see her before she vanished. But now Detective Alicia Bowman wants to know what inspired Connor to write the novel, and is extremely intrigued by the fact that details about the murder of Sophia Greenfield, whose house Connor regularly walked by with Grendel, that were never released to the public are included in the novel. The parallels are uncanny, but Connor has no explanation for how they ended up in the book and can only protest his innocence.

Bell has again crafted a compelling mystery full of surprising plot twists and complications. Connor relates his experiences in a first-person narrative that details how his profound grief about losing his family affected him. He also explains how he came to pass off Madeline's manuscript as his own, as well as his interactions with Madeline, and tangential connection to Sophia and her husband. He relates his determination to prove that he may be a plagiarist, but he is not a killer. Connor is empathetic and endearing because he is, in some respects, hapless. He ignores his attorney's advice, undertaking his own investigation and, in the process, putting himself in danger as more deaths heighten police interest in his activities. At his core, Connor is a decent, likeable man who did a terrible thing. He believably grapples with the choice he must make, knowing that the consequences for telling the truth about Madeline's book will be grave, his career derailed. But he cannot allow himself to be convicted of crimes he did not commit, and it quickly becomes clear that he has placed his trust in the wrong people. Is he being set up?

Madeline is equally intriguing and sympathetic. She's a young woman working to put herself through college who viscerally comprehends and becomes caught in the power imbalance between students and professors. She knows that she must complete her thesis and defend it in order for the degree she has worked so hard for to be conferred upon her. Can she bring herself to go along in order to get along? Like Connor, placing her trust in the wrong people places her in danger. But unlike some of her classmates, Madeline is very much on her own in the world, without a supportive family upon whom she can call for help. She becomes convinced the only way to protect herself is to disappear and only dares to return when she learns that her book has been published, with Connor credited as the author, in an effort to claim what is hers. "Her experience in life had been that women aren't listened to." So she ingeniously takes steps to ensure that the truth will be revealed even if she does not survive to speak it herself.

Through his characters, Bell explores the imbalance of power in the #MeToo age. His story features reckless and egotistical male villains who engage in despicable behavior. They cross the line, abandoning professionalism and using their privilege to unfair and intimidating advantage. Female students know that reporting unethical behavior by faculty members is, at best, a dicey proposition. "It's always gossip when a woman wants to talk about something" and they are all-too-often accused of voluntarily putting themselves in a position to be abused by men. Worse, professors use grades and, in Kill All Your Darlings, the threat of withholding thesis approval -- which equates to failing to graduate -- to ensure that their repulsive behavior goes unchecked. Bell does not shy away from exploring the repugnant conduct and indicting those guilty of it through deftly-timed and shocking plot developments.

Kill All Your Darlings is a fast-paced mystery, made even more engrossing by its timely subject matter, and unvarnished depiction of institutional power structures and the ways in which they victimize those who dare to challenge them. Bell's compassion and affection for his characters is on display throughout the book, and enhances his richly layered and nuanced telling of their stories.

Once again, Bell demonstrates that he is a master of his craft who clearly takes Faulkner's advice to heart. His writing style is strong, clear, and resonant, and readers will be turning the pages frantically to see if they have correctly guessed who killed Sophia Greenwood, and why, whether Connor will unburden his conscience by confessing the truth, and what the future will hold for him, depending on what he chooses to do.

Dr. Connor Nye is in a pickle--come clean that a book he published is not his actual writing or getting convicted for murders he had nothing to do with.

Two years ago, Madeline O'Brien was Dr. Nye's student. She submitted her thesis to him, but then disappeared. The night before she disappeared she had admitted to him that she had written some pretty personal things in it and should probably take it back. In a desperate move to get tenure, Dr. Nye publishes the book as his own.

Now, Madeline suddenly appears in his house and wants the money from the book publishing. Then, a detective is at his door questioning him about a murder that is described in the book with such accurate detail--like he was there.

This story is told through multiple characters' points of view in dual timelines. I enjoyed the unfolding of this story. It moved at a pretty fast pace for such a lengthy book. Connor has made some bad decisions, but, at the time, he was grieving his wife and son. I was pulling for him to get it together. This is a twisty case with many things thrown at the reader. I definitely did not see the ending.

Thank you to GetRed PR, Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for an advance readers copy.

After the death of his wife and child Professor Connor Nye finally has a book published to save his tenure at the university. There is just one tiny problem ,the book is actually written by a former student who has gone missing.In the meantime the police officers start to question him about a murder mentioned in the book which is very similar to a true crime that occurred two years ago

Kill All Your Darlings is another psychological twisty book by David Bell. A fast, fun and an intriguing plotted read with plenty of twists and turns that kept me hooked to the end.

I would like to thank Berkley Publishing Group & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.

This is one of the strongest stories I've read by David Bell yet. The author behaving badly theme has been popular this year, but this is a good take on it, and there are enough perspectives and twists that kept me guessing.

Kill All Your Darlings
By David Bell

A suspenseful and captivating story of plagiarism, murder, and sexual harassment in academia.

SUMMARY
College professor Connor Nye has been off his game ever since his wife and son tragically passed away five years ago. With the threat of not making tenure in the English Department, Connor publishes the thesis of one of his students as his own. Two years earlier, Madeline O’Brien, Connor’s star student went missing, and Connor was the last person to see her. Since Madeline was presumed dead, Connor figured it wouldn’t hurt anyone to publish her novel as his own.

When Madeline shows up on his doorstep on the day of the book’s release, demanding the proceeds from the book, Conor is astounded. But it is who shows up on his doorstep days later that has him even more perplexed. The book documents details of the murder of a local woman, a friend of Madeline’s, which happened over two and a half years ago. The police inform Connor that the book contains previously undisclosed information about the murder. Now the police want to know how Connor knows that information unless he was the killer. Now Connor must decide whether to admit his plagiarism or be changed with murder.

REVIEW
KILL ALL YOUR DARLINGS is a captivating and suspenseful story of plagiarism, murder, and sexual harassment in academia. It’s like a story that was ripped from today's headlines.

The novel explores the shocking depths people will go to protect their reputation. It’s a delightfully brisk and fast-moving read. The cleverly-layered writing shifts back and forth in time and is told from various perspectives. The read is well worth the challenge.

Author David Bell has created a robust cast of characters that include students, professors, the police detectives. The characters add drama and suspense to the story. You won’t know who to trust, and you can't help but appreciate the skillfully executed twists and turns.

I was perplexed by choice of the title for the book until I read the epigraph and realized it was a William Faulkner quote, “In writing, you must kill all your darlings.” Cute, given it’s a book within a book. Bell is the author of thirteen novels. His most recent mysteries include The Request (2020), Layover (2019), and Somebody’s Daughter (2018).

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher Berkley
Published July 6, 2021
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

Kill All Your Darlings has a great premise but the execution fell flat for me. Connor is a college professor who had been given a hand written manuscript by one of his students right before she disappeared. When everyone assumed she was dead, Connor passed off the work as his own. It was published and became an instant hit! But then the police showed up because a murder in the story has details that line up a little too closely with an actual unsolved case.

At this point I was all in and very interested to see where things would go. However it got pretty windy and long in the middle. So many characters believed in ways that made no sense to me it was really hard for me to buy into the final resolution.

Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

[Many thanks to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC of "Kill All Your Darlings," available for release now!]

In the latest novel from prolific writer, David Bell, comes a story about Connor Nye, an English professor, who after the disappearance of a female student, passes off her thesis as his own work., leading to a publishing deal and a small burst of fame in the community. The novel in question is about the disintegration of a female friendship and the subsequent murder of a young woman, and implicates him in an unsolved, similar murder from several years ago. Before he knows it, Connor is faced with an impossible dilemma: admit that he didn't write the novel and lose his job or keep up the lie and risk everything. As the walls close in around him, Connor must clear his name and uncover the truth of what really happened in his student's manuscript.

Bell's writing made it easy to follow along all the loose threads and breeze through the novel but thrillers should not be over 400 pages. There were some scenes that could have been edited to avoid repetitiveness. I felt that the author tried to cram a lot of unnecessary and implausible action into the novel, which I wasn't fond of. The characters were not entirely people you wanted to root for (or fun villains) and that made it difficult to care about what happened to them. Connor, especially, has an interesting backstory but because of his wallowing and complaining, it was hard to feel sorry for him.

I will give the author's future book a try but this one ultimately missed the mark for me.

English professor Connor Anne has a hard time dealing with the loss of his wife and son. He is struggling to meet ends meet and keep his job by making every attempt to write his novel. When his student Meredith disappears, leaving her thesis, a manuscript novel with Connor. He, in an effort to keep his tenure, publishes the novel as his own.

The events happening post this release, put Connor in a dilemma to either reveal he did not write the novel or risk everything to clear his name out of scandal surrounding more deaths on the campus.

This was a very gripping, fast paced read that I enjoyed a lot. I highly recommend this book to all the mystery, thriller lovers out there when it releases on July 6, 2021

Thank you @getredprbooks @berkleypub and @netgalley for the #gifted galley in exchange of my honest review,

I love a good thriller any time of the year and Kill All Your Darlings by @davidbellnovels was like a summer blockbuster. I can’t do the plot justice with a short summary and I don’t want any spoilers so the gist is that an English professor is in a fog after tragically losing his wife and son is caught up in a mystery surrounding his recent novel, a missing student who suddenly reappears and a murder in their college town.

I will leave at that as it is best to go blind into this fast paced thriller. This book was such a fun, juicy ride. The multiple POVs and dual timelines kept me on me toes and elevated my stress levels. Every character, even each supporting character, played a critical role and was expertly interwoven together to further the story and add to the suspense. It felt like every detail was carefully placed to drop clues and keep the reader guessing. My heart pounded during this entire book and I could not stop reading. And I really appreciated how current social issues of sexual assault and “me too” were addressed throughout so it was more than just an exciting page turning thriller that kept me guessing until the very end.