Each year, at a small private college in Kentucky, six students are chosen to compete for a prestigious scholarship. It is awarded by the Hyde family who founded the school shortly after the Civil War and who continue to provide much needed financial support. As a requirement for the scholarship, the students are sequestered for a day in the historic family home located on campus. They are given a writing assignment followed by a personal interview by the family representative and at the end of the day the scholarship winner is announced. It’s been done this way for over one hundred years without any problems. Until now.

The Finalists by David Bell has all the elements I like. An academic setting, a locked-room mystery, and a variety of characters. The author even introduces timely issues of race, inequality, and homelessness. In addition, he also touches on the very real issues regarding the financial survival of small, private colleges and how they must continually find new ways to attract supporters as well as students.

But, unfortunately, it still seemed to fall flat and the reader must definitely suspend belief in order to begin to enjoy this book. The premise is interesting, although not very realistic and the characters are diverse but largely unlikeable. The story moves quite slowly at times and the behaviors and reactions of the participants are often inexplicable. Since there were moments when I enjoy The Finalists I will give it 3 stars.

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

Review of The Finalists by David Bell

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This one was overall so so for me. I was super excited because this is a locked room mystery in an academic setting. This could be gold for me but it just fell flat especially the ending. I had no issues finishing it and parts of it were entertaining so I decided to do three rather than two stars. So much potential though. I’m absolutely not giving up on this author yet.

Quick synopsis: At a remote KY university six students are gathered for the day to compete for a much needed full scholarship. Also present is a representative from the family who owns the college and this provides the scholarship as well as an administrator. They are locked in to begin the testing and interview process when one then a second person ends up dead.

Looove David Bell books. They are like comfort reads for me - you never get tripped up on the prose, they read like a dream, and you always know you're going to get a truly unique story.

And truly unique this was! I'm not even really sure how to review this because it was so clever and different and totally not what I was expecting - but also just different than any story he's ever written before.

I loved locked room mysteries - and this one had me on the edge of my seat the whole time and I had no idea who to point fingers at - which I loved! But it got a little muddled at the end and I'm still a bit unsure of why the whole locked-in-the -house thing came to be and why - but also?!... In what world would this EVER happen? lol I mean, I get it - it's fiction - but from the whole premise of this yearly event AND the fact that someone dies right away and they just keep on going with the dead body?!? I mean - it's a fun story to read - but really hard to wrap my head around.

I definitely will always still pick up whatever he writes next, but this one just didn't really work for me plot wise. It was fun to read, because hey, it's DB - and he's an amazing writer - but I was kinda left a little bit frustrated and confused in the end.

I love David Bell and was super excited to get approved for The Finalists. My favorite trope is locked in thrillers so yeah, I was excited.

The premise is 6 students of a university applying for a fellowship are basically locked in to compete and complete a process to see who is getting the scholarship.

People start dying as you can probably guess. This was fun but was a bit slow moving and I dare say predictable. It was entertaining and I enjoyed it but didn’t love it.

I expected more - that is all.
I’ll keep reading David Bell as I do love him. Thanks so much for my early copy. It’s a fast read!

Thank you to David and Berkley for an advance copy of The Finalists.

Six students of varying backgrounds are all selected as finalists for consideration of an epic scholarship that not only takes care of tuition, but also gets the winner set up for the future. The only thing these six students have in common is that they are in a financially stressed situation and this scholarship is life changing. The scholarship, named after the colleges founding family, is proctored by an administrator of the college and Nicholas Hyde – who has recently taken over the family after the death of his father. He is irresponsible and nonchalant and the school is worried that the loss of a real leader in the Hyde family will spell the end of this scholarship and donations…which are keeping the college afloat.

The scholarship is also tainted by the family’s involvement in slavery during the Civil War and causes some protests outside of the historical house where the final tests are administered. When everyone is inside (sans technology, of course), the doors are locked and one of the six candidates drops dead launching an amateur investigation into all the locked-in members. Everyone has a reason to kill of candidates, but who was bold enough to act on it?

I don’t think this book is getting the ratings that I expected to be honest. I thought that it was a pretty successful locked room thriller that kept me guessing and having difficulty trusting anyone. I love dark academia and combining the two was very clever.

I really liked Troy, who is the school administrator and our POV for the book. As the only one who doesn’t stand anything to gain from being the murderer (in theory) his opinions are very fair and taken at face value, so it’s almost as if we’re voyeurs in the room watching the events unfold alongside him. The students weren’t very likable, but I appreciate the diversity that David brought to the group. There’s a Black ex-military older gentleman, the notorious brainy kid, an athlete, a typical college social justice student, the one everyone knows, and the local southwestern kid. So we get a hodge podge of opinions and backgrounds to make up a colorful cast that was also easy to keep separate.

My criticism would be that I think perhaps we got a little too much background. That isn’t typically a bad thing, but in this case it may have taken away from the mystery itself a bit. Nicholas Hyde’s character would’ve served better as minor support (if you’ve read a review by me, you know I love an off-page character driven story). A quick history of the Hyde family would have sufficed, but I feel like it was revisited several times.

I have read most, if not all, of David Bell’s book and each has left me so satisfied. He is a talented thriller and mystery writer. I always look forward to his books. The Finalist is the latest of his books and I could not wait to read it. When my copy arrived, I could not get it to it fast enough. I am so excited to say he did not disappoint. I started the book before bed, it took me two days to read it and I read it until my eyes just would not stay open. Now that I have finished the book, I am excited to hear what my thriller friends think of The Finalist.

Six college students of different backgrounds enter a historic house on campus to compete for a scholarship. This scholarship will make or break all six of them. I loved learning about each character, and I really liked that all was not revealed in the beginning of the book. I enjoyed how each character was unique. They had a different reason for needing the scholarship and each of these reasons could also be why they were the killer.

The ending… WOW! I did not see it coming. I never guessed at where David Bell, author, was taking me as the reader. Yet, I am thrilled at how it all came together at the end. I like that I was surprised and am still thinking about how the book ended.

There is no doubt that I will recommend The Finalist to anyone who loves a great thriller book.

I love reading David Bell, so it was a no-brainer that I wanted to read The Finalists. Never mind the fact that it is also a locked room mystery AND focused on academia which are 2 of my favorite things for a narrative. The book itself looks quite chunky so I was shocked to see that it was not a very long book, considering the audiobook is less than 9 hours. The story is told entirely from Troy's viewpoint who is locked in the house along with the students and Nicholas Hyde. There are really short chapters, and I loved the premise of the book, so I was hoping it would fly by. Unfortunately, the plot was just way too much of a slow mover for me, and I didn't believe for a second these students would have all wanted to continue on after someone died. But of course, what kind of book would that have made! None, there would be no book. So, I get it.

One thing that I really loved about The Finalists is the audiobook, and if you do choose to pick this one up, I highly recommend going this route. Sean Patrick Hopkins hasn't narrated anything else I've listened to, but I would gladly listen to him again because he did a great job. He was perfect at conveying different emotions and I was completely happy with his narration. I also thought Bell did an excellent job of making me suspect basically every single person, and I was definitely surprised by the twists which was a plus. I just wish the pace had moved quicker and a couple of the characters had made some smarter choices, and this would have been more of a winner for me.

Thank you to the publishers for my advanced listening and reader copies of this book. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Any time I see a novel described as dark academia I am in! This novel did not disappoint!

How far would you be willing to go in order to compete for a top scholarship? Six students are competing for a prestigious scholarship. The students must give up their cell phones as they enter Hyde House, an over 100 years old house on a secluded area of campus. Then they are locked in for eight hours with Dr. Troy Gaines, a college administrator, and Nicholas Hyde, heir to the Hyde family fortune and the person who will determine the winner.

Hyde has the bylines and makes the rules known and insists on following them exactly as written. The competition begins as the students write essays. Then during a break, someone suddenly drops dead! But according to the bylaws, everyone must remain inside, no exceptions, or they will be disqualified from the competition. Everyone reluctantly agrees to continue, but soon another person drops dead. Then drama and suspense build as the candidates realize they must stay in the house in order to win and a murderer is locked in with them!

I love a locked room mystery and my suspicions kept shifting as I tried to figure out who the culprit was! Narrated from the point of view of Dr. Gaines, the action in this one moves quickly! If you love dark academia, I highly recommend this book! This was my first book by David Bell. I will definitely be reading more books by him!

My thanks to Berkley Publishers for my digital copy. My thoughts are my own.

I thought this book started out strong but as the story went on, it was hard for me to believe that this group of people would act and react the way they did.

I really enjoyed this book overall. I loved the premise of the college students willing to do anything to pay for college. The locked room scenario adds to the intrigue of this book. I loved the interactions between the characters. I thought there were parts where the characters lacked depth but overall I liked them all.

Disappointing. Six students locked in a room in an old building at Hyde college in hopes of a full ride at the college seems a little far fetched. When one student dies, one might question how far will students go to win. The story moved a little slow and the characters were unappealing. I usually enjoy stories by this author, but this one was just okay.

I have only read one other book by David Bell and it was Layover. I knew then that he was an author I wanted to read more from and sadly I haven’t followed through with that until The Finalists his latest. Now I know he is definitely an author I want to read his backlist. His books are Mystery & thrillers. If you know me you will know that I love thrillers, especially ones where you literally can’t put the book down.

That was the case for The Finalists. It wasn’t until I went to put this into my GoodReads that I saw the book was 400 pages. Reading it as an eGalley I never really pay attention to the percent read and only notice those things later. I was instantly hooked and had a hard time putting the book down. I somehow managed to read this one rainy day.

The book takes place on one beautiful spring day. One of the things I love about the book is that there are only 8 characters involved which makes it easier to follow what is going on and to remember who everyone is. Plus the short chapters are another win for me.

The Finalists take place at a small town University and every year a group of top students with financial needs is selected to take part with one person being the winner to have the scholarship to attend the school. It is being funded by the founding family of the university. This year the remaining heir, Nicholas is putting the event on.

The participants are Milo, Natalia, James, Sydney, Duffy, and Emily, along with Troy who is the college administrator, and Nicholas, the Hyde heir. Everyone has a different background and they don’t seem to have anything in common but the need to win this scholarship. As a parent, I can say that going to university or college is expensive and you try to do what you can so that your child is not going to swim in debt when they are done. So I could see why this group would try to do all that they can to win this scholarship.

Upon entering everyone must give up their phones and any other electronic devices, and they will have no contact with the outside world for their test and interview. This is one of the traditions along with a long list of others. This year starts off differently because there is a protest happening and it’s all about the past events of the founding father. Sadly once inside things aren’t much better. Everyone is locked in Hyde House and no one can exit until the event is over. I should also mention that Hyde House is in a remote and secluded part of the university grounds.

It all starts our harmless until one of the students dies and everyone soon realizes there is a killer amount them but who? In a blink of an eye, things go from bad to worse and fingers start pointing to who it is and the group has to face some hard truths and decisions. Who is behind this and why are they doing it?

The timeline is the present day with a bit of the past when there is mention of certain characters or events.

I really enjoyed reading this intense read that had me sitting on the edge of my seat while trying to figure out who did it, why they did it, and how. I definitely want to read David’s backlist titles. I really think that David’s work will be my go-to with thrillers.

The Finalists is a locked-room mystery set in the world of academia. When six college students compete for the prestigious Hyde Fellowship, they must spend eight hours in the locked, aging Hyde House with a college administrator and the heir to the Hyde fortune. When the finalists begin falling dead, it's clear that someone in the house is willing to kill to get what they want. The book has short, crisp chapters and high tension throughout. Highly recommended!

Talk about a closed door mystery! These scholarship finalists are locked in a house, with no phones or electronics, while protesters rally outside, held back by police barricades, so no one is available when the first finalist drops dead, or the second…
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The Finalists by David Bell pits six college students against each other, vying for a prestigious fellowship that could solve all their financial anxiety. The only thing they have in common is that they all attend the same college, they have all been personally chosen to compete in a traditional interview which consists of a written essay, high tea, a shot of rare bourbon, and a one on one with a descendant of the colleges founder and biggest benefactor, and they all need the scholarship in order to continue their education.
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Protestors, who object to the war record of the founder and the source of the founding family’s fortune, gather to let their views known on this important occasion. The protest seems tame until a brick is thrown, narrowly missing the college administrator who is there to help facilitate the contest.
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With danger mounting outside, behind the barricade, and danger inside the locked house threatening them all, tension mounts to the surprising end.
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This was a quick read that I enjoyed. I did not guess “whodunnit”, but really didn’t have reason to suspect any of the characters, even if the students seemed to be a bit cutthroat in their competition, the administrator would probably do anything to reach his fundraising quota, and the benefactor is so determined to follow the process step by step, although he doesn’t really seem interested in the actual students.
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The Finalists by David Bell, 400 pages. Berkley Books, 2022. $27.
Language: R (117 swears, 29 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW
Every year, the Hyde family awards one student a scholarship, which covers tuition, student loan forgiveness, room and board, and a guaranteed job with the Hyde Corporation upon graduation. The final six students just need to gather in Hyde house to write one more essay and have a personal interview with a member of the Hyde family to decide the recipient of this coveted scholarship. But this year is different. This year, some of them will not be leaving Hyde house alive.
I was expecting more escape room feels, but Bell’s book turned out to be more about human tendencies. When the threat appears, blame is thrown every which way out of desperation, and ally and enemy lines are drawn and stepped over whenever convenient. While most of the characters think only of themselves, Troy, the main character, is constantly confused by trying to do what is best and by being able to see from the others’ points of view. This viewpoint made the story more chaotic and confusing, and readers don’t really know what’s going on until the concluding explanation.
Troy, Duffy, Sydney, and Emily are implied White; Nicholas and Milo are White; James is Black; and Natalia is Latina. The mature content rating is for alcohol use, mentions of drugs, mentions of sex, and illegal activity. The violence rating is for mention of guns, blood, and murder.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

First off, I want to say, that every book I’ve read by David Bell, I’ve absolutely loved. So, when I had the opportunity to read this story I was very excited. The setting was at a college in Kentucky, have lived in the area, that drew me in right away. Next, it was set in academia, ok, now it’s hit two of my hot buttons. Number three, students are in a locked room type setting which I’ve also enjoyed in the past. All of that being said, unfortunately this story missed the mark with me.

I struggled getting through this book. I’m not sure if it was just me and I wasn’t in the right frame of mind when I read it, or it there are others that felt the same way I did. That being said, I will still read anything and everything David Bell writes because I have enjoyed so many of his other books.

Thank you to #netgalley and #berkleypublishinggroup for allowing me to read the eARC of this book. All opinions expressed above are my own.

The Finalists is a locked room, dark academia novel. It was a quick read for me, but unfortunately it fell short due to because the premise was over the top unbelievable. If you are a reader who doesn't mind totally suspending disbelief, this one might work better for you.

I love a locked room mystery and I love books set in academia so this one definitely pulled me in with the premise. 6 students competing for a scholarship - they all had to hand in their phones and agree to spend the day cut off from everyone while they compete.

However, the execution on this one didn’t work for me. It’s hard for me to put my finger on exactly why but I had to reread many parts because I kept falling asleep. That’s not a great sign in a mystery. And when I ultimately reached the end, I didn’t feel any sense of surprise or satisfaction - just huh, okay, it’s done.

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

This was an interesting read that had two of my favorite elements - a locked room thriller on a campus setting. When I saw that along with it being by one of my favorite authors I knew I had to read this one! The audio was narrated by Sean Patrick Hopkins and he did a wonderful job with this as well. Overall this was entertaining but not my favorites of his. It started strong but quickly jumped the shark, and while I do not require thrillers to be believable, this one was a bit out there and not entirely necessary as I thought this had a lot of potential. The students could have reacted with more passion to what was happening around them (aka people going down) but the way they reacted to everything was banal and I expected more. Like I said, I enjoyed the setting and the locked room component, and it was a quick and entertaining read, however it was not my favorite by Bell and I am really looking forward to seeing what he does next.

Thanks for the free audiobook PRH Audio! And thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Books for the digital copy to review. This one is available now.

Honestly the Goodreads rating system of 2 stars meaning "it was ok" is really how I feel about this book. The premise had some promise- a locked room style mystery always does- but it felt really disjointed and the ending in particular didn't work well for me. The (white, male, middle aged) main character tries to deal with the issues of race and class that are coming up in the events of the book, but it's unclear on if he's bumbling through them as a character choice or if it was just written clumsily. David Bell's books have generally been pretty hit or miss for me, and this one felt like a definite miss.