I am a David Bell fan.   With each book of his that I have read I have been kept captive by his words needing to read straight through to the end to solve the mystery.   With Bring Her Home I solved the mystery before I reached the end but was still so hooked that I could not put the book down.   

The format of short chapters helps make the pages fly by.  I kept thinking 1 more chapter, just one more and then ending up reading for another hour.    I just couldn’t help myself. 

I like that this was a story about a single dad, a widow trying to figure out how to raise his teenage daughter.  He struggled, he loved, and he did the best he could.   I have teenage daughters and I know their dad loves them and would take care of them if something happen to me but there is so much that I do for them that he is clueless about that I feel like Bill is similar to my own husband.     Bill won me over that he never gave up.   He didn’t let the police keep him in the dark, he followed his gut and his heart to find out the truth about Summer’s disappearance.  

Bring Her Home is a great thriller.   There are twists, turns, and so many clues given.     They mystery isn’t hard to solve but it is so fun to learn more about the reasons, the whys, and the who’s.

BOOK TAGS⇣

⤏ MULTI-LAYERED MYSTERY 
⤏ THRILLS & SECRETS
⤏ TWISTY
⤏  SOMEWHAT ANNOYING MC

BOOK DETAILS⇣

AUDIO PERFORMED BY⇢ JON LINDSTROM
NARRATION RATING⇢  5/5
BOOK COVER⇢ LIKE SECRETS IN THE WIND...
SETTING⇢ JAKESVILLE...I THINK
SOURCE⇢ LIBBY AUDIOBOOK (LIBRARY)
AUDIOBOOK LENGTH⇢ 11 HOURS, 56 MINUTES

MY THOUGHTS⇣

I originally tried to read an ARC of this a few years ago...and I found myself unable to get into it.  I figured maybe someday once the Audiobook comes out that I could try again.  It took me long enough, but I finally got around to it. 

John Lindstrom was a competent narrator with a pleasant voice and I'm glad that I went with the Audio.  It really helped with the main issue I had with this...I didn't care for the main character of Bill.  He was exhaustingly repetitive and he tended to go off half-cocked and crazy. Thank goodness for his sister Paige, she was his much-needed voice of reason.

Despite that, the overall mystery of his daughter's disappearance was twisty and engaging and basically a parent's nightmare.  My favorite kind of mystery has many layers, where each one is revealed as the story progresses towards the conclusion and this one delivered on that.   


MY RATING⇢ 3¾✰STARS✰

BREAKDOWN⇣
Plot⇢ 4/5
Characters⇢ 3/5
The Feels⇢ 3.7/5
Pacing⇢ 4/5
Addictiveness⇢ 4/5
Theme or Tone⇢ 3.7/5
Flow (Writing Style)⇢ 4/5
Twisty-ness⇢ 4.3/5
Originality⇢ 3.5/5
Ending⇢ 4/5

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Books for this free readers edition. In exchange I am providing an honest review.

Bell's books intrigue me. The premise is always one that catches my attention, several of his titles are on my TBR list, but as far as actual execution of the story he's batting 50% for me. 

Bill's daughter, Summer, is missing. His wife died a couple of years ago and his daughter is now missing. He is desperate to find Summer. And then the call comes, a girl has been found severely beaten and almost dead. Bill rushes to the hospital. At least Summer is alive. Standing vigil at her bedside Bill's mind churns with all the questions he has about how Summer got to where she is and why. Through police questioning and little secrets being revealed Bill discovers Summer isn't the kid he thought she was. She had a lot going on behind the scenes that he was completely oblivious too. It's making him question everything and everyone he can think of. When a mistake uncovers the identity of two other girls in connection with Summer's disappearance and then reappearance Bill is undone. He is frantic to get answers, side stepping the police investigation to conduct his own. If only Summer would just wake up, then they would get some answers. 

This title fell flat for me and I think there were two main reasons. 

One, the main character Bill. I was, as a parent myself, so annoyed with him. Any thinking adult knows that investigations take time and resources. I abhor that line used on screen or in print that is along the lines of the person yelling at the Detective to get to work finding the missing person instead of talking with them about it. Uh hello. Any thinking adult, nay person older than about 14, knows that it isn't just one person looking for a missing person and updates need to happen and questions for answers are part of the process. It's just so annoying to me. Also, Bill's completely inappropriate interactions with the teenagers in this story grated on my nerves. Again, as a parent - even a parent distressed over their child - you know you don't hunt teenagers down and try to get them to talk. It's stupid and unrealistic. I understand Bell was trying to show the lengths Bill would go to for his daughter but it annoyed me rather than endeared me. 

Secondly, the story didn't move for me like it should have. Given the timeline of the events I feel like I would have, as the reader, felt the urgency as well and the story would have presented itself at that pace. Instead I felt like the story was dragging and very few parts were descriptive of the urgency. Also, it was very clear - to me - very early on what the answers were to some of the questions hovering because of Summer's disappearance and reappearance. It was not hard to put the pieces together of who was involved and for potential reasons why. Bell tried to build suspense but it didn't work for me, I was already halfway to the conclusion before he revealed what was probably supposed to be, and was for some, a shocking fact. I was actually just glad when it finally came to light because I was sure that meant the story was wrapping up. I was only partially correct...on the story finally ending that is. It still went on for much longer than I thought it should have. 

All in all I felt "meh" during this entire read which is always a disappointing way to feel about a story you are looking forward to. Am I giving up on David Bell? I'm not. I'm not moving any more of his titles to the top of my TBR but I'm also going to read them when they come my way. He's got great ideas, I'm looking for the one that he executes to live up to those plot descriptions.

This was another good thriller by David Bell. I thoroughly enjoyed it! I always think I know what is going on, and then there’s a plot twist to send me for a wild ride.

I loved this book! Every time you think you have the story all figured out, boom, a new twist! I was very pleased to read it and happily surprised by how good it is.

The story is captivating and well-written. If you are looking for a thriller to read, Bring Her Home won't disappoint.

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A super intense drama that kept me entertained throughout.  This was my first time reading this author and I loved it.

A must read!  Actually anything David Bell writes falls into that category.  A true page turner!  A perfect read!

This book gripped from the start and never let go.  2 girls going on a summer adventure that completely changes their lives. A fathers love so strong he could not give up on his daughter he had to find her which lead him down an unexpected path he never saw coming.  I'd you like a thriller that keeps engaged a book you can't put down this is the book for you

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book. 
The plot was pretty interesting and drew me in even though the middle part dragged and the main character was overly dramatic and repetitive. I read this back to back with the most recent David Bell and maybe I was just losing patience with the author.

Though I liked the book, I made the decision at the time I finished not to review it on my site. Maybe in the future I will include it in a book list post or another article.

I found this to be a decent mystery / thriller. There were a couple of twists that I didn't see coming. I was engaged enough with the story that I wanted to know what happened, but I did find that it felt a bit long. I think part of that was that I was often frustrated by the main character. I found him pretty unlikable. I understand that he is in a terrible situation and it involves his daughter. I'm sure I'd be a crazy person too if I thought my daughter was missing or severely injured or dead. However, he was just annoying at times. He consistently made assumptions about people and jumped to conclusions and made bad decisions. As much as I wanted to relate to him, I just couldn't. Maybe because of this, I found some of the other characters felt just a bit off to me too. It distracted from the story for me. 

Overall, I thought the story was interesting. As I stated, it had some surprising twists, but also some not so surprising twists. I found the ending lacked substance. You were left with the question of, "Why would that person do that?" and there was no answer. I like my conclusions to make a bit more sense. I like my "bad guys" to have a reason for doing what they're doing, unless they're completely insane and it's just that type of story, which this wasn't. Though, I did like the idea behind the ending and think it had the potential to be good. I just think it needed to be more thought out so that the reason behind it made more sense. Wish I could explain that better without giving anything away. 

This was the first book I've read by David Bell. I enjoyed the story well enough and would be interested in reading more work by this author.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.   Highly recommended read!   Thanks for providing through Net Galley.  Five Stars *****

Two teenage girls go missing and then their badly beaten bodies are found in the city park. One is dead and the other is clinging to life. 

Bill Price the father of Summer (the girl who is still alive) runs to his daughters side. Life can't seem to give him a break. He lost his wife a few years ago to an accident and now his daughter is in a coma.  Bill makes it his mission to find out who harmed his daughter and killed her friend, Haley, however things make a turn for the worst when he finds out the girl laying in the bed in a coma is Haley and not his daughter Summer.

Bill pushes himself further into the investigation intent on finding out who is responsible but he might just end up with more than he bargained for as the unraveling of secrets proves how little we really know about the people we love.

I found this book entertaining enough but was slightly disappointed because the mystery element of the story, wasn't suspenseful as it is loosely based on the true life story of  Laura van Ryn and Whitney Cerak. If you aren't familiar with their story you can find it HERE.

There is a lot of drama, a lot of weird things are happening and it's fairly predictable but it is an easy read as Bell knows how to tie things together and simplify them.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest opinion.  This book had an interesting plot, the series of events were a bit predictable, however it never stopped me from wanting to continue reading to find out the outcome.  The author kept the mystery of the twists and turns coming, and you really felt the anguish of the character of Bill, Summer's dad.  His reactions were understandable, however in the real world I'm not so sure the police would have let him get as far as he did being involved so much in an ongoing investigation.  However, I would recommend this book if you are looking for a quick read that will keep your mind racing until the end.

David Bell writes a thriller that keeps you wanting to find out the truth. As a parent, it's hard to imagine the feeling of thinking your child could be badly injured or possibly dead. Then he throws in these great twists to keep you guessing until the end. I will definitely read more by this author.

Another winner from David Bell! David Bell has a way of writing his characters that makes you feel like you've known them for years, instead of just meeting them in this book. 

The plot moves at a steady pace; this is not a fast paced book but you need to invest the time to really grip what's happening in the story.

I couldn't even get through the fifth chapter of this story. This is the third book by this author that I haven't finished.

Bring Her Home had a slow start  but once I got into it I could not put it down. The book is fast paced with twists and turns, some a bit hard to believe at times. It's pretty easy to guess who the guilty party/parties is but you have to keep reading to find out why! I would definitely recommend this book to a friend.

Thank you NetGalley for the copy of Being Her Home by David Bell that I read and reviewed.
This book had parts that were very predictable and and told many times before so that was a bit disappointing but then it has other parts that were fresh and new that made the book so much more. I wish the author would have kept with new ideas and not went down that boring predictable road that most readers could figure out right away.
I was torn with what to rate the book because like I said I liked part of the story and I hated part of the story so I am giving Being Her Home three out of five stars.