Set in Topanga Canyon, California, this thriller follows PI-in-training Bailey as she goes undercover as a writer-in-residence for a famous male author who she suspects had a part in the disappearance of a friend of a friend. One could make a joke about writers and impostor syndrome here- except Bailey is an actual impostor. Her missing person's case is entirely speculative and leaves Bailey feeling very confused- much like I was reading this. Different mediums (journal entries, book entries, newspaper articles) muddled the story and the timeline. The story line and pacing was erratic and all over the place- slow to start, and then unpredictable like the wildfires spreading across Topanga (metaphor, anyone?). There were lots of twists and turns and I appreciate the work and thought that went into this book- as well as the underlying themes- but it was just OK for me. This might appeal more to fans of investigative thrillers or those who enjoy unreliable narrators.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced review copy. This books gets a 3.5 ⭐️ rating from me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

Top quality thriller whose main character (a burgeoning private investigator) goes "undercover" in an attempt to find her best friend (who went missing when SHE went looking for a missing family member.

Very well-written, captivating mystery, makes for an enjoyable read.

I enjoyed this book. The main character obtains a writing position with a famous author. The authors first wife i missing his next wife and child are also missing or are they. The storyline is easy to follow, 3 stars

I really struggled with this one and kept wanting to give up on it. I pushed through so I could give feedback but I think what put me off most was my distaste for the main character. Some of the plot points felt convoluted and felt like it was all over the place.

An undercover writer with ulterior motives in a secluded mountain setting… sounds like an amazing premise! Unfortunately, it just didn’t do it for me, and I found myself skimming so much. I had a hard time concentrating or connecting with the FMC. Her narrative was choppy and all over the place, which is maybe how her mind works. Some of this made more sense as the book went on, but this was the epitome of a slow burn. If you can struggle through the first 2/3 of the book and try to understand the narration, the last 1/3 is a roller coaster of twists!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read this digital ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Bailey Meadows has taken the uncommon step of pretending to be an author in order to search for her missing friend. Armed with credentials and social media history, she is able to work with thriller author Jack Beckham in his remote canyon estate. Jack is clear, he wants Bailey to help him reach a more diverse audience and get him back on the best seller list. He seems charming and open and his staff are helpful but don't seem to respect boundaries.

Bailey is a fledgling investigator and is hoping to find Sam, her missing friend who actually investigates missing persons. She didn't realize how intermittent internet and phone access would be. As she prepares to work with Jack she sees shadows and actual people on the estate. She has a lot of trouble contacting Avery, her lifeline outside and her support to become a detective.

More and more she is wondering what she is doing there. As the walls close in, you won't be able to stop turning the pages. Howzell Hall has done it again - a thrilling novel that includes layers of social commentary. I loved it, and so will you!
#thomas&mercer #whatfirebrings #rachelhowzellhall

What a book! I thought this was going to be similar to Hall's crime series and, well, it's not! Imagine picking up a book and reading about a third of the book, then turning the book on it's side and reading it from that angle, then turning it and reading it upside for a white, then turn it back correctly to finish it out. THAT'S how I felt reading What Fire Brings. It wasn't that I was lost, I was just reading it tilted, right? And then, just when I had it all figured out and it made sense I read the last page! What the hell was that about!? I don't know, I just don't know. Is this a review or me just rambling. It's review of a book that totally confused me and yet I absolutely loved it all at the same time.
Yes! I recommend it. Yes! I loved it. Yes, there all kinds of political points to be made but why not!? Some of us are beyond sick of boring mysteries that just follow an outline with the names and places change. So, YES, this was great!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this DRC.
Dectective-in-training/writer-in-residence Bailey Meadows has come to Topanga Canyon to help thriller author Jack Beckham write his next book. With missing women and wildfires, no one is who they say they are in this twisty thriller.
I loved the fractured insanity of it! Living in Baily’s head felt so real. I always knew she was hiding something and guessing what she and Jack and the security guard and the cook were all really up to kept me thoroughly engrossed.
#WhatFireBrings #NetGalley

I recently read a short story by Rachel Howzell Hall and really enjoyed the sense of humor in addition to the thrill. This is the first full novel I've read and was hoping for that same sense of humor to shine through. While it didn't, I still did enjoy this book. At times it was a little confusing and hard to follow, but overall a solid thriller read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Bailey has just moved to the remove Topanga Canyon, as a writer-in-residence, learning from Jack Beckham, a best selling author. However, she's not really there as a writer, she is there to find a missing person, last seen near Jack's property. Bailey begins to learn the dangers of the canyon each day and she must race to unravel the truth before she is the next woman lost in the forest. 
I had mixed feelings about this one, as it was very slow to start. But as the story reached the last 25/30%, it seemed to really take off and there were some wild moments there. While I remain divided on this one, the author has become an auto-read for me and I look forward to more by her. 3.5*Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for this gifted review copy.

I had a hard time getting into this one, I found myself never wanting to pick it up and being bored, unfortunately I had to DNF this one.

Novel Concept: 5/5
Execution of Novel Concept: 4/5

Title: 5/5
Characterization: 4/5
Dialogue: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Atmosphere: 5/5
Theme: 3/5
Prose: 4/5

Does this pass the Bechdel Test: Yes

My biggest compliment goes to the amount of time and cleverness spent on planting information so that the final act of the book feels intense and interesting and most of all, entirely possible. I think there could be debates about how realistic it is, but a quick google search backs up the most unbelievable parts so at least for me, I bought into it. I especially bought into it because it's well planted.

There wasn't any information that felt like it was coming out of left field when I sat down and thought about the book. I think Kadence and Finley were the hardest for me to buy into, even though all the information is there. I didn't feel like my intelligence was disrespected nor did I feel like Hall tried to shock me for the sake of it. I just...I don't know.

It might have to do with the fact that we just don't get a lot of information about them in relation to the final act of the novel. I wished we could have gotten some more information about them because it just didn't feel believable for me in consideration to the bag guy and their motives.

Margo on the other hand? I LOVED her. I was suspect of her since the beginning and her character and the choices made--fantastic. She was everything I could have hoped for and more.

I'll be honest: I didn't like the ending. It feels like there's a chapter missing. It feels too calm of an ending given all the lore we learn about Bailey. It just didn't feel right to me--not in the slightest. Given the ending of this book, it posits a very important question about an unaccounted for character and honestly, I wanted to know what happened to him? What did the bad guy to do him?

Part of the set up also irks me the wrong way because there's a break in world logic. Avery's email doesn't make sense by the end of the novel. It tells Bailey that she's looking for someone, but given the ending it doesn't make sense for that email to be phrased like that.

There's also some cloak and dagger stuff that feels a little frustrating, but nothing so egregious I feel the need to go into detail because I never truly felt blindsided. At most I would ask, "okay, but if she knows x why is she acting like this?"

But where this book is at it's weakest is the theme. It didn't really feel like the book was saying something, and I think part of that has to do with the strangely calm ending and the lack of depth given to Kadence and Finely at the end. I think this book had potential to really talk about trauma and psychological damage and the way our brains work against us in order to protect us, but it trips right at the finish line. The thriller is still good. I still had a good time, I just don't think the theme quite hit its mark.

This was a great read, and I feel like I was respected as an intelligent reader. My biggest gripe with thrillers are these rugslip twists, these red herring gotcha shock value nonsense because some writers favor "unpredictability" over an enjoyable read. and that is NOT what's happening in this book, and by that alone I can overlook some of the weaker points.

I’m not going to lie - I really struggled to concentrate for the first half of this book. I just didn’t connect too much with the MC or the whole storyline. However, as the book progressed, the last 20% or so was wild, and there were a lot of unexpected surprises. This kind of made up for the earlier part of the book, and it also makes me wonder if the author didn’t almost craft the story in such a way to really wallop the reader. I would think fans of investigative thrillers/mysteries would enjoy what this one offers.

What The Fire Brings is a thriller set in the Topanga Canyon of Southern California. Bailey, a PI in training, just moved there as part of the writers-in-residence for thriller author Jack Beckham. But what she really moved there for was to find a missing woman named Sam, founder of the nonprofit The Way Home which helps families find their missing loved ones. Sam was last seen in the canyon surrounding Beckham’s property. The WiFi and cellular is unreliable, the surrounding trees and canyon is dry, and fire is a constant threat.

I know that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but this cover is so cool, it immediately pulled me in. I can’t say much about this book without giving things away but the cover was not misleading, this was a good read!

Bailey’s voice was very engaging. I went in and out of boredom the first half of the book or so but once I reached around 65 percent of the book, it picked up and didn’t stop. I think I need to do a re-read at some point to fully digest everything. It was a wild ride!

3.5 rounded up.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I could not get into this but I think more due to a reading slump than a book problem. Don’t take my review to heart.

I liked this interesting take on a thriller by this author and the setting was evocative in the canyons of LA whichever had always had an allure for the criminal element.
It was a fast quick good read that I thoroughly enjoyed

3.5 stars — I was so convinced I hated this book and at about 60% in I started to skim just to get to the conclusion. But then some of the pieces finally slotted into place and I think the end result was quietly brilliant. This plot was totally batshit crazy and choppy at certain critical points but somehow managed to work in its conclusion. Definitely had several “oh SHIT” moments towards the end I did not see coming.

Bailey Meadows is training to be a PI and is on her first undercover assignment — trying to find a young woman who went missing in Topanga Canyon. I was initially frustrated by the lack of information we received about her mark — including why and how she went missing — but all of that will eventually be revealed.

Bailey is posing as an unknown, unpublished new author who has been selected to co-write for a starring best selling male author, Jack. Jack is an enigma, as is most of this live-in writing fellowship situation. The family has just a few too many “personal tragedies” attached to it, making Bailey extremely suspicious. And the area itself also has a sordid history, with several missing women being last seen on local hiking trails. Add a pandemic and an out of control brush fire to the mix and the tension is quickly ratcheted up to an eleven.

Through Bailey’s hap-hazard research files and her honestly terrible investigative skills, we begin to uncover what we came for — answers. And just like any good thriller/mystery — it’s an end that you probably didn’t see coming. I think ultimately ends up being worth the original frustration over the opaqueness in the plot and the confusing way key details are initially revealed.

Twists and turns just like Topanga Canyon Road. Bailey is determined and vulnerable and relatable and frustrating at times, making me hold my breath during her journey. Rachel Howzell Hall uses beautiful descriptive writing, building up the pace as the story progresses. While some of the plot is predictable, there are other surprising, a-ha!, moments that were so fun to read and answered so many questions. Thank you to NetGalley for the e-ARC, I’d recommend this story for fans of psychological thrillers!

What Fire Brings was a wild and twisty ride. It was confusing at times to follow but it all came together at the end. I finished it a while ago and I can’t stop thinking about it. I really enjoyed reading this book!

Generally, I enjoyed this book - some points, however, weren’t very easy to follow. It was difficult to ascertain which character was which at some points, and difficult to put the pieces together to create a solid narrative. The end made up for the middle, certainly, and I enjoyed reading it, but the main character being selected for a residency to solve a whodunit and then another entire storyline erupting made this one just a “meh” for me.