Cover Image: Somebody's Daughter

Somebody's Daughter

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Member Reviews

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a review copy. This book was ok for me. I liked the premise and thought it had real potential but something was lost in the execution. I felt that there were the right number of characters to be able to keep track of but also not so many that you couldn't remember who was who. But I felt the characters were just aimlessly running from one person's house to another without any real purpose and I thought the book was unnecessarily long. I had a hard time getting into it but once I got to about 50%, I moved through it much more quickly because I felt like we were going to start getting Earth shattering reveals. Those didn't really materialize. I loved Somebody I Used to Know by this author and will probably read another one of his hoping he gets back to that form.

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I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. I so enjoyed the storyline and all the twists in this book and it is so nice to be able to read a book without all of the cursing.

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Great book! Kept me on the edge the whole time with a very surprising ending. I loved how the chapters rotated between characters, but all moving through the same day. The author did a nice job of pulling the story along with cliff hangers at the end of each chapter. Good character development and plot.

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David Bell's trademark is describing the dilemmas, frustration, and desperation of ordinary people in extraordinary situations. I really enjoyed several of his recent novel, e.g. Since She Went Away and Bring Her Home, and this book is also a very well-written and gripping novel. Bell throws in a number of credible twists, turns and false leads, which keeps the reader guessing - and turning the pages. I can't really put a finger on why I am not totally excited about this book, but I didn't find the plot or characters as believable as in some of Bell's other books. Furthermore, I wasn't quite as surprised by some of the twists and other developments as I presume was the intention.
Well, the four stars awarded to this book are huge and well-deserved, and fans of David Bell will also enjoy this book immensely - as will lovers of books about ordinary people in extraordinary situations.

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Yet another, blood rushing, edge of your seat thriller from the talented, David Bell!

A child, Felicity, goes missing, an ex wife, Erica, shows up literally at Michael and Angela's doorstep with news. The news is what is equivalent to a bomb- explosive enough to blow up a marriage. Michael divorced from Erica, is now happily remarried to Angela (which side bar- they have been painstakingly trying to have a baby with no luck). When Erica shows up and detonates her bomb, Michael is left stunned with the news that he may possibly already be a father and cue the music - dun dun dun -his daughter is missing.

Somebody's Daughter, takes you on a crazy trip (the only kind you can take with an ex, right?) in search of the missing, Felicity. Will they find her in time or will they uncover buried secrets from the past that will haunt all whom is involved? A must read- to which I give a 5 star rating!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!❤️

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This book had many different characters, each with their own story to tell, which did it make it a little hard to follow. I am a fan of David Bell's writing, but I didn't enjoy this one as much. I had a hard time sympathizing with Erica. I did not like her character at all. Even after reading the book and reading her explanation for not telling her ex-husband that he had a child, I still couldn't wrap my brain around that fact. I didn't understand why she would wait 10 years to tell him that he has a child, and this is only after said child is missing. If Felicity had not gone missing, would she have ever told him about her? Erica came off as erratic and self-centered, and I just could not get myself to empathize with her.

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Michael's ex-wife, Erica, shows up at his porch claiming his nine year old daughter is missing. A daughter Michael never knew existed. So begins the crazy night of trying to find Felicity. The book took so many twists and turns I kept changing my mind on who was involved with the kidnapping of Felicity. At times I wondered if there even was a little girl or if it was all a ruse. Each chapter seemed to end with a little cliffhanger and I couldn't stop reading because I needed to know what was happening.

Of all of David Bell's books, this is one of my favorites. It was fast paced and kept me in suspense right until the end. I couldn't put it down. I loved the story line, characters and writing style. Yes, I did hate Erica. I know I should have felt bad for her with her daughter missing, but I just couldn't. I didn't believe anything that came out of her mouth.

I definitely recommend the book, especially if you are a fan of David Bell.

Thanks to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group and the author, David Bell, for a free electronic ARC of this novel.

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Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview Somebody's Daughter by David Bell. David Bell's novel is full of twists and turns - he takes the reader on a journey to find a young child who is missing.
Felicity is 9 years old, she lives with her mother, she doesn't have a father, and she is missing. Erica, her mom, was married to Michael - Michael is now married to Angela, and Felicity, Erica claims is Michael's child.
Felicity has been gone for a few hours, and Erica goes to Michael's house after 10 years and tells him that Felicity is his child and he needs to help her find Felicity because the police are not doing their job.
Michael goes with Erica - and the journey to find Felicity begins.
Bell introduces alot of characters, but the reader stays right with the plot. This is a hard book to put down - questions and family dysfuction reign in this comtemporary novel.
RECOMMEND>

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What a great suspense filled book. Had to stop a few times to remember who was who and what....twisty.. loved it!


Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early release copy

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David Bell is usually a pretty reliable choice when it comes to suspense thrillers. This one, though, reads like it’s been phoned in or whatever the literary equivalent of that would be. Actually, it reads like it was written purely for the paycheck and was paid for by the page. That’s seems like a pretty severe estimation, but I’ve read every book Bell’s written so far, I know how well he can write and have a wide pool for comparison, so…yeah. This is thriller lite version, primarily a family drama with some misunderstanding based intrigue. Ready made for Lifetime movie of the week. The plot involves a 9 year old girl who disappears, the kid’s paternity is questionable, hence the title. So one evening a man receives a visit from his ex wife, whom he’d not seen in 10 years, claiming that the child is his and is nowhere to be found and we’re off…everyone gets involved and sure enough in one evening/night/early morning the mystery, such as it were, is solved. The fact that it took over 400 pages to cover that short of a span of time gives you an idea of just how exhaustively detailed everyone’s perspectives were drawn out to be. Every chapter ends in some form of gasp inducing event and yet the sum total is so very underwhelming. Not even a murder, barely a proper mystery to solve, some suspense, sure, but for a thriller it’s just so…tame. Very frustrating, actually, to patiently wait for the book to get interesting while it steadfastly refuses to do so, opting instead for a somewhat tedious theatricality. And this is from a man who started with some pretty intense scary stories before he realized which genre is where the money’s at. Maybe it’s one of those things where a person just really mellows out with age. The thing is Bell can write, he’s got the basics down, even if it’s by numbers, it’s much more often than not oodles of fun, and his books read very easily and quickly and entertain plenty. In that respect this one is no exception, stylistically it’s Bell, thematically it’s Bell PG. So basically perfectly readable, just so disappointing and difficult to care about. Too bland, too mild, too lackluster, too long and too fairy taleish of an ending. Don’t judge the author by this book if you’re just discovering him, everyone’s got bills to pay. Thanks Netgalley.

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While Somebody I Used to Know remains my favorite David Bell novel, he did a great job with Somebody's Daughter. He creates a tangle of interconnected characters and weaves them all together marvelously. So when Michael Frazier's ex-wife Erica shows up saying her daughter, who he possibly fathered before their split, is missing, they leave together to search for her. While his current wife is left behind, she puts together different pieces of this crazy puzzle with police who come to check her home for the missing 9-year-old. Each character adds to the story, whether that story helps elaborate on a detective, mother-in-law, co-worker, or babysitter's narrative. I was ultimately surprised by the ending, which I didn't love. Some issues brought up throughout the story weren't addressed at the end, leaving the readers to put together their own interpretation. As a crime drama addict, I was surprised that Bell ended the book as abruptly as he did, but did ultimately enjoy it!

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When a little girl goes missing, the question of who is her father comes into play. Decades old family secrets are revealed and intrigue is on every page. A great book for book clubs. I could not put this book down.

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I really enjoyed this book! I had never read the author before, but I'm going to have to look into reading his other books. The chapters were short and the plot moved along at a great pace. I was a little worried, because there were three different storylines happening at the same time, but it wasn't hard to keep everything straight. The ending was unexpected (at least for me) and everything wrapped up very well.

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I read 7 of his David Bell's books- I have enjoyed all seven!

I recommend this book!

12 hrs beginning to end
Tues 8:16pm - doorbell ringing
starts the story and suspense keeps building
I could not stop reading!
You will think that you have mystery solved - then another piece of puzzle
is found and you will have more to solve. You will want to keep reading to
conclusion. The multiple points of view gives the whole story all around.

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Sorry but I just couldn’t get into this one. The premise was good but then every character’s actions were completely bizarre, and so the whole story became unbelievable to me.

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"Somebody's Daughter", the latest novel by David Bell is a mesmerizing book that incorporates incredible action into a short period of 48 hours. Michael Frazier is happily married to Angela, his second wife. His life and that of Angela is suddenly turned upside down when Erica, his first wife comes banging on his door. She screams that she needs Michael's help in finding her daughter who has been taken. The police have not proven helpful and Erica does not know where to turn. Michael decides to go with her to help in the search. One of the first pieces of information that comes out is that Michael might be the father; a fact that he is completely unaware of and especially puzzling since he has been separated from Erica for 10 years and he and Angela are having problems in conceiving.
Mr Bell manages to put an enormous amount of action as well as introduce and describe a wide variety of people that have possible reasons to take Felicity; Erica's daughter. The reader will change their mind many times about what has happened during the course of the action which is only 48 hours. There are two policemen; one a policewoman that becomes emotionally involved with the possible consequences of the alleged kidnapping, an estranged boyfriend of Erica, a woman that had her own daughter kidnapped as a baby 10 years ago, and Michael's sister who has made it big in the entertainment world.
The book is impossible to put down once started and must be finished if the reader is to get any sleep. An extremely well orchestrated thriller and one that will assure future searches for David Bell's work.

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I did not find the characters believable and the plot is highly unlikely to me. Angela would let detectives into her house and then go off with a man she's leery of? Michael would race around the area, kidnapping an innocent man and ditching his wife so many times? Michael came off as a chump to me and I kept wondering why he didn't just go home. And then they all live happily ever after?
I will consider acquiring this book for our library, just to get our patrons' opinions.
.

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I can't remember the last time I read a book in one evening, but "Somebody's Daughter" was too good to put down! This book grabbed me from the first sentences and there was never a moment that I didn't totally enjoy it. At first it seemed like a wonderfully breezy domestic tale, rather than the tense suspense thriller it would soon become. Such a multi-layered plot with so many compelling, complex characters--each so well drawn that it was never hard to keep track of them. It seems almost every chapter ends with a cliffhanger and as I went on to the next page, I thought I couldn't wait for the narrative to return to the plot thread just visited--until I started the next chapter, when I was immediately drawn back into another thread I had regretted leaving just moments before. Loved this book! Having just gone back to the beginning to check that the first pages were indeed as good as I remembered (they were), I realize I am jealous of those who have yet to have the pleasure of reading this book! Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this wonderful book. I see I did read one of Mr. Bell's previous books, "Bring Her Home," which I liked quite well, though not as much as this one. On the strength of "Somebody's Daughter," I'll definitely be checking out all of his other work.

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When Michael Frazier's ex-wife, Erica, unexpectedly shows up on his doorstep, she drops a bombshell that threatens to rip his family apart: Her ten-year-old daughter is missing--and Michael is the father. Unsure whether this is the truth but unwilling to leave the girl's fate to chance, Michael has no choice but to follow the elusive trail of the child he has always wanted but never knew he had.
After Michael departs, his wife, Angela, learns shocking news about Erica and fears for the safety of both her husband and the endangered girl. When a stranger, a man who claims a connection to Erica and her missing daughter, knocks on the door, Angela is drawn out into the night--and deep into the tangled web of Michael's past....

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Really good book that is full of twists and turns. I did guess right on the kidnapper! I still liked it even though I knew who done it!

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