ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley for free, although this doesn't influence my review in any way.
I loved Behind Closed Doors and The Breakdown. When NetGalley approved me to read an advanced copy of Bring Me Back I did a little dance. While I enjoyed the story and the twist was executed well, I just felt that it wasn't near her last two books.

The story starts off with Finn and Layla on holiday, when suddenly Layla vanishes. We time jump 12 years and Finn has moved on, but Layla is still missing. He is now in a relationship with Layla's sister Ellen. For all intents and purposed their life is happy. That is until Finn starts finding little Russian dolls and strange emails from someone claiming Layla is alive and well.

In the beginning, the book is told from past and present viewpoints and then switches to different points of view. While I enjoyed the cast of characters and the intensity, I felt the story overall was a bit predictable. A solid 4 stars from me.

I enjoy B.A. Paris writing style and will not hesitate to pick up any of her books in the future. I want to thank B.A. Paris, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for being so gracious in letting me read an early copy of this book.

I was hooked on this story from page 1. I loved the way the story was rolled out using the two different voices. There were a lot of unanswered questions from the very beginning until near the very end. At some point I had an idea the twist was going to involve the sisters, Ellen and Layla, but I never figured it out.

The atmosphere was great—creepy, scary, gripping—and I admit to wondering repeatedly if Finn was to be believed.

Great read!

Bring Me Back was a fun mystery/thriller style book that was a fast read. The author of Behind Closed Doors has created another twisty story with characters who are hiding some of their fundamental personalities from nearly everyone in their lives. Readers will be turning the pages faster and faster as the book draws to a close to understand where Layla has gone, and what it will take to bring her back.

I absolutely loved and devoured this book. I first read a B. A. Paris book, Behind Closed Doors, last spring. I've been unable to get ahold of The Breakdown to read, but when I saw this was on here, I jumped so hard at the chance to read it. B. A. Paris has a way with words and sure brought them back with this story about a woman who goes missing and whose husband is a prime suspect. Similar to a Gone Girl feel, I enjoyed and sped through this book and loved every minute of it.

When you are down to the last 20 pages and not sure how this one’s going to end? You’ve got a good suspense! B.A. Paris once again writes a page turner that keeps you guessing till the very end.
In Bring Me Back she has created a complex love triangle between Finn, Ellen and her sister, Laya. Layla, who has been missing over 12 years after an argument with Finn. Has Layla suddenly decided to show up now that Finn has proposed to Ellen? If so where has she been all these years? And why the games.....
I highly recommend this one!

Thank you, Netgalley, for giving me the chance to read this book! For me it started and ended strong, but the middle was a bit too drawn out with the Russian dolls and the emails. I like that the author comes up with very different plots in her books, including this one. I liked the twist and the not so tidy wrap up. If you like psychological thrillers, check this one out. Let me know what you think. I'm curious.




***********SPOILER ALERT***************



About half way in, I decided Layla and Ellen were the same person. However I thought they were Ellen. So, I was quite surprised with how it turned out.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Dear brain, please shut up!
Wow, what a ride! I'd never read anything by this writer before, but I sure will now.
This is the story of Finn, close to marrying Layla when she disappears. Some years later, Finn meets Layla's sister Ellen with whom he sets up house.
The pace is quite slow as we move from past to present, getting familiar with their history. But then weird things start to happen and the story quickly picks up speed. By now I'm on the edge of my seat, in suspense.
As Finn seems to be loosing it, Ellen is his rock, calm and steady, I like her a lot. Layla on the other hand is the rebel one, tilting the balance. While the tension is building, my brain is spinning to keep up with events, trying to figure out the truth, since all of them are keeping secrets.
Bring Me Back is a well crafted psychological thriller with a nice twist. The characters are indepth and likeable. Their small number making it easy for the reader to keep track of the complex story. Recommended reading!

This book was okay. The plot was interesting, as was the switching between narratives as more of the mystery was revealed. But I found it unable to keep hold of my attention so it took a lot longer for me to get through it.
The twist at the end, I felt, was pretty predictable before it was revealed
The characters didn't really have that much depth to me either.
It was just..an okay read all around. But not one I'd reread.

Short Take: VERY enjoyable, if you don’t think too hard about it.

*Note: I received a free advance copy of this book for review.*


I LOVE road trips. Especially when someone else is driving, and I can enjoy some delicious books and thrilling unhealthy snacks while the wind is in my hair and the radio is playing. In theory, it’s fantastic. In practice, however, there are less-than-fun circumstances, like GPS sending you the wrong way, sitting for seven hours in traffic, arguments over the radio station, or all that fantastic junk food deciding that it’s not your friend after all.

Or, if you’re a strapping young lad named Finn on a trip with his girlfriend Layla, you could stop at a rest area to use the bathroom, and return to the car to find Layla has disappeared, which would definitely put a damper on the festivities.

Bring Me Back begins with Layla’s disappearance, then jumps ahead ten years. No trace of Layla has been found, and Finn has since become engaged to Layla’s sister Ellen (yes, it’s weird & creepy). With his life finally starting to come together after losing Layla, Finn is thrown back into the nightmare when someone begins sending him and Ellen messages and packages with meanings that only Layla would have known about.

So is Layla still alive? Or has whoever killed her and gotten away with it for ten years decided to play a sadistic game with Finn and Ellen?

I’ve seen similar setups in other books, but I have to say that I did not see the final twist coming. I was caught completely off guard, and that is generally a good thing, but the final reveal was so incredibly implausible that I just couldn’t buy in to it. It’s something that has been done a few times in other books & movies, and much more effectively, I think. And it only works if you assume that one of the main characters is a complete and total moron, more than a little blind and deaf, and self-centered to the point of caricature.

Ok, I’ll concede that last one. Finn was a class-A d-bag, with anger issues and pretty much zero redeeming qualities. And not in the fun, twisted, sociopathic kind of way, either, he’s just the guy that nobody likes having around.

If you’re willing to overlook an unlikable narrator though, and to just go along with the craziness, Bring Me Back is actually pretty fun. The pacing is spot-on, and the writing is engaging enough that I devoured this one like it was a gas station burrito and I was cruising down I-79 with the 80’s station playing.

The Nerd’s Rating: FOUR HAPPY NEURONS (and some Clapton. LAAAAYYYYLLLAAAA!!! has been stuck in my head for days.)

This book will latch on to you and not release its grip long after the fateful climax. And, it’s hard to review the book without revealing spoilers. So I’ll just say this is a psychological thriller of the best kind; one that I felt sure I’d figured out until I realized I hadn’t.

The writing is excellent and the character development slow, steady, and real, as the reader comes to know the characters and they get under your skin and make you doubt your own sanity by book’s end. Bravo to B.A. Paris for writing such a captivating and delightfully creepy book. I will be looking for more books by this author in the future.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press. I am under no obligation to write a positive review and I received no compensation for writing this review.

Bring Me Back was a disappointing read, and I confess that I skimmed large parts of it from about 30% to the end. I didn’t really like any of the characters well enough to care about them and the end was more predictable than I find acceptable. Paris’s set up for the story is intriguing: Layla disappears in the few minutes Finn leaves her alone, at night, at a roadway rest stop. She is never found. More than a decade later, at a memorial service for Layla that Finn is pressured to hold, he meets Layla’s sister. He’s attracted to her and before they know it they’re engaged to be married. And then little things point to Layla being alive. There are sufficient clues available to leave only the inexperienced reader at sea.

This book was outstanding. Another amazing thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. Much like Behind Closed Doors, I devoured this book and was done in less than 24 hours.
The characters were quickly developed and I loved the back and forth between time and characters as the chapters progress. I can say that I saw the twist, but didn't exactly know WHAT the twist was until the end. I thought the build up to the twist was excellent, keeping me on the edge of my seat. There were a few clues that threw me off the scent too.
Once again, Paris delivers!

Finn is frantic when Layla disappears after they’ve had an argument. Years later his life seems to be getting back to normal-as normal as it can be living with Layla’s sister, Ellen-when he keeps seeking little reminders of Layla. Bring Me Back is a little slow moving at times, but I love that Ms. Paris’s books are unpredictable, at least for me. However, I didn’t like Bring Me Back as much as her other two books.

I was given an advanced copy of this book from the publisher. All views expressed are my own.

This was a good book although in my opinion it still wasn't as good as her first book: Behind Closed Doors.

.On the way home from a skiing trip a restroom stop is made in a roadside picnic area.. Finn tells Layla to stay in the car and keep the doors locked while he uses the restroom when he comes back he finds the car doors and open and Layla gone.

After looking for her he calls the police and informs them of her disappearance, that's what he tells the police.

However it isn't the actual story of what happened.

Layla remains missing for twelve years there have been several sightings of her and lost objects suddenly appearing.in the village where he now lives and at his house.

Finn is now engaged to Layla's sister Ellen.. He gets mysterious emails about the cottage he and Layla lived in and telling him she is alive.

The truth about the night Layla disappeared is that they had a fight when she tells him she slept with another man he becomes angry and he drags her out of the car and shoves her: then he blacks out.

Layla is alive and she is the one sending the emails to him and leaving the lost objects for him to find.
She wants Finn back and threatens to harm Ellen if he doesn't comply with her wishes.

Everything comes to a head and someone is killed and a surprising/shocking secret is revealed.

This book was interesting in that this time it was female who became unhinged/dangerous rather than a male as in the previous books.

12 years ago Finn and Layla, after returning from a ski trip in France, pull over at a picnic area around midnight to use the restroom. When Finn returns to the car, Layla is missing. This is the story that Finn tells the police...and it's mostly true.
Now Finn has tried to move on with his life. Layla has been declared dead, even though a body was never found. Finn is now engaged to be married to Ellen, Layla's sister, a bond which formed over the shared grief of losing Layla. After the engagement is announced they find a Russian stacking doll on the wall outside of their house. Only a few people know the significance of this and how it ties to Layla. Ellen is certain that it's Layla but Finn believes someone is trying to play a cruel joke. The Russian dolls continue showing up and then Finn gets an email from someone claiming to be Layla. She tells him that if he really loves her then Ellen needs to disappear for them to be together...even if Finn has to kill her to get her out of their way.

Bring Me Back is a thrilling mystery with lots of twists. I consumed this novel in one day because I couldn't go to sleep until I knew what was going on. The book transitions between past and present events which slowly piece together parts of the mystery. I had a pretty good idea of what the major plot twist of the novel was going to be but several times, due to new information, I started second guessing myself. Fans of B.A. Paris will definitely enjoy this exciting new whodunit, a must read for 2018.

This book is a definite mind twist! It’s cleverly written to keep you constantly guessing at what really happened. The ending answered all the questions. I’m not sure how I feel about the ending. It fit the storyline, I’m just not sure about my feelings for Finn. I received an advance review copy in exchange for an honest review by NetGalley

B.A. Paris has turned into an absolute, put-down-any-book-I'm-reading-to-read-hers, must-read author for me. She spins psychological suspense like no other. In Bring Me Back, we follow a storyline of "now" and "before".

Our main character's girlfriend went missing several years ago...long enough that she is considered dead and has had a memorial service. He has recently become engaged...to his missing girlfriend's sister. Then, strange things start to happen...references to things only he and his missing girlfriend would know about...emails and items that can't be explained away.

I was completely swept up in this story and did not want to put it down. I immediately stopped reading the book that I was reading in order to dive into this one when I received my approval email from NetGalley. If you enjoy twisty psychological suspense, you have got to read this one (as well as the author's first two books). I am still reeling from the ending of this one!

I received this book as a Netgalley ARC. I was very excited to read it because I had heard really good things about Behind Closed Doors. Very early into reading Bring Me Back, I joked with my daughter about where I thought the book would go. It turned out I guessed right so unfortunately I saw it coming. I would liked to have read it from a different perspective to see if I would have picked up on the final plot twist. This is a solid suspense/thriller. It is hard to review a book like this without giving away the twists but there were several which makes a book like this a lot of fun. I did not always like Finn but it did not take away from enjoying the book. This would be a great beach read. Just in time for summer.

Russia, Russia, Russian Dolls….

It seemed like an invasion of the Russian dolls! I may need my own set now as the characters really seemed to enjoy them (really??!!)

This one starts off with a bang! I was totally creeped out by the truck rest stop (I’ve always found them creepy, especially at night). And when Finn finds his girlfriend Layla has vanished from their car, I was on the edge of my seat. Ooh…..surrounded by spooky woods too!

As the plot thickens, I was intrigued to find out how things would resolve. The dolls seemed to be showing up everywhere and seemed to be like a character in the story (yes, please). I was questioning everything and curious to find out. This made it an addictive read.

I will say the story seemed to lose steam in the final chapters and the ending was off the rails (in my opinion). Still enjoyed it immensely and I think fans of this author will too!

B.A. Paris is back with another fast-paced mystery thriller and I could easily describe it as CREEPY. I absolutely loved The Breakdown so I was thrilled to get my hands on Bring Me Back.

Lots of things were creepy: Finn(!!), the Russian stacking dolls, Finn's descriptions of the women in his life, but the top of the list, for sure, was Finn set to marry Ellen, the sister of his missing for 12 years "fiance" Layla. That concept never quite settled with me.

I read this in one sitting... as to see how things would turn out and somewhat disappointingly, I had this outcome pegged from pretty early on. While this was a highly anticipated read for me, I was not as enthused with it as I had been of it's two predecessors. It starts of strong but it gets a big repetitive and predictable. I truly wanted to love it but ended up just liking it.

(3.5/5 stars)

Thanks to Netgalley , St. Martins Press, and B. A. Paris for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.