Joshua's life has become a predictable pattern of departures and arrivals, a lot of his time spent in an airport. Then he meets Morgan during a layover, with whom he feels a deep connection. Morgan kisses Joshua just before she leaves for her flight, saying she'll never see him again. After she leaves, Joshua sees her face on the news as a missing person. In this fast paced thriller, Joshua is determined to find out why Morgan is on the run.

I appreciate that Berkley Books and Netgalley let me read an advanced copy of this title before it hits the shelves in July.

Joshua does real estate development with his father. Every week he flies to the same cities. The tedium has gotten to him and he’s sure he wants to quit his job, but hasn’t told his dad yet. In an airport gift shop, while on a layover, he meets the mysterious Morgan. They go to a bar, order drinks and have a stimulating conversation. Everything points to this being a one-time encounter until she kisses him and leaves. Now he can’t get her out of his mind. What he does next, only a smitten man would do but it feeds the plot.

I yelled at Joshua so many times “no, don’t do it” that I was almost hoarse.

David Bell writes suspense well and “Layover” is definitely a thriller. But it got a little tedious for me and the person who did the crime was surprising, but also a little contrived. But you should still read it. It’s going to top the charts because it speaks to all who would like to quit their jobs.

This book sounded intriguing, so I definitely wanted to give it a try. In it, a young man named Joshua, who is constantly traveling for his job, has a chance encounter with a mysterious woman in an airport. Although their time together is very short, Joshua decides to abandon his travel plans and try to follow her. Along the way Joshua discovers that this woman is tangled up in a disappearance, a theft, corporate intrigue, and possibly murder. If he can find her, then he believes he can help her, if only she will let him.
While I found this to be a quick, easy, and enjoyable read, I did have one big problem with the book. And that problem happened right off the bat. The whole book is constructed upon the fact that Joshua feels this undeniable connection to this woman, Morgan, which he cannot ignore. On the basis of this connection he decided to disregard his work and family obligations in order to find this woman and try to build on that. As the reader I, however, found this relationship between Joshua and Morgan to be extremely flimsy. The encountered each other VERY briefly at a gift shop, and then shared a couple of drinks at an airport bar. So, in my mind at least, they probably spent all of 45 minutes together, tops (I felt like it was more like 20 minutes). And then the reader has to believe that after this short time Joshua decides to change his flight, leave his father hanging with a very important business meeting, book a new flight that he **hopes** Morgan might be on, and then makes a fool of himself when he does manage to find her. And the whole rest of the book is just Joshua chasing Morgan around, trying to get her to let him help her.
Which leads me to my other problem with the book. Morgan did not want or need Joshua's help, and she made that very clear to him, on several occasions. She was constantly leaving him, running away from him, being rude towards him, lying to him, and trying to get him to leave her alone. If the reader is supposed to "take Joshua's side" in all of this, Morgan's actions make her seem unlikable, untrustworthy, and undeserving of his friendship and loyalty. If the reader is supposed to "take Morgan's side," her actions make Joshua look like an obsessed and stalker-like creep. So I was not really sure what to think about either one of the main characters.
The plot pacing could have been better as well. There was a big confrontation with a lot of tension and suspense, and I thought to myself, "Well, that was quick, but it's okay, this is exciting." I thought it was the big climax of the story. Then I looked and I was only about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way through the book. So then I had a sense of being let-down.
If I overlooked the fact that I did not believe Joshua had any reason to go gallivanting all over Tennessee and Kentucky chasing an ungrateful woman he'd spent about 30 minutes with, and that the same woman was an unsympathetic and unlikable character, then the book was okay. Ironically, at two different times in the book Joshua talks about picking up a mindless suspense/thriller novel in airport gift shops that he can read without much thought or effort. This book falls into that category, as well. If you want a quick easy read to while-away some time while waiting an an airport or doctor's office, then this book is for you.

The Layover is a fast-paced, intense thriller that you won’t be able to put down. What starts out as a chance romantic meeting spins into a brilliant novel full of suspense and endless twists and turns.

The Layover, by David Bell, was given to me as an advance reader copy in exchange for my opinion.
It was a quick read that had me guessing for a while. Joshua lives a monotonous life. He works for his dad's real estate development firm. He's at the airport for yet another trip when he meets Morgan. In a whirlwind meeting, he is intrigued by her good looks, dark glasses and an intense kiss she gives him. As she leaves, he sees her picture on tv as a missing person. He thinks she must be in trouble. Completely enamoured by her, he makes the snap decision to help her. Why would he take such a risk to help someone he doesn't even know? He will be risking his job, his relationship with his father and his reliable girlfriend all for someone he just met. The chapters following will keep you guessing for a while. When he thinks he has things figured out, more information arrives causing him to question what he thinks he knows. I would recommend The Layover if you enjoy romance and mystery. It definitely has both, heavier on the mystery side. You begin to make a connection with Joshua and want to help him figure out what is going on. You also want to help him figure things out in his own life. All the while questioning, did he really have an instant connection with Morgan or is his own life so scripted, he jumped at the chance to play hero and escape his own reality?

This was such a fun and fast-paced read. I had not read anything by David Bell before, so I was unfamiliar with his style of writing. It's very much "dude writing," which is normally not my thing, but it really worked with this book.

The concept was intriguing--- a young professional meets a girl in the airport on a layover. Sparks fly, he gets a little stalker-y, and finds out she's a missing person. He becomes a little more stalkerish and decides to hunt her down, but soon discovers she's in trouble up to her sunglasses. It's action-packed and a little twisty, and definitely not a deep read, but fun nonetheless.

I couldn't put it down. Perfect book for the beach or an airplane trip.

Joshua Fields lives life as though every day was Groundhog Day. He flies from one meeting to the next closing deals with his father. It’s a different airport, different bar, different town but his day to day life is the same. He’s tired of the monotony but can’t bear to let his dad down. He’s petrified to fly – so each flight is preceded by a Xanax and a cocktail combo. Then at a random airport bar, he briefly encounters the beautiful, mysterious and vulnerable Morgan Reynolds. They share a few secrets and a stolen kiss. Josh is enamored and cannot determine if his chance encounter with Morgan was the best or the worst thing that has ever happened to him.

Giles Caldwell, a prominent local philanthropist and businessman has gone missing and he has a close association with Morgan. The police, Giles’ brother and several others pursue every lead. The possibilities are endless, and the suspects are many. I don’t want to give anyway any of the storyline, but I will say that is novel is jam packed with twists and turns. Each time I thought I had it figured out, I was so wrong.

This book showed up in my Netgalley account as ready to read and I accepted it, but had I known it is by the same author of <i>Someone’s daughter</i> I wouldn’t had read it because I didn’t like the other book. And I am right about this one too, it is very superficial, lots of telling, unlikeable characters, and not credible. The MC is just pathetic.

The book was okay. I honestly could not understand the motivation of the main characters. It did not make sense to me that Joshua kept chasing after Morgan. Plus--he kept finding her, which seemed pretty unlikely.

Businessman meets mysterious woman during layover. Intrigued, follows her. They reconnect and she tells him part of her secret. Murder, theft of a valuable ring from her employer. Brother of boss is tracking her down. Cops trying to find them. Cleverly done.

I decided to quit reading this book at 19% because I just wasn't caring at all about anything that happened (which was very little). I didn't like Morgan or Joshua. Joshua is a 25-year-old under his dad's thumb, and Morgan is so mysterious that I didn't care about her at all. I did keep eye rolling over the fact that she constantly wore a huge floppy hat and sunglasses. Way to remain inconspicuous. There's also a side story going on with a female police officer/investigator who has pretty much only lamented over the fact that she's neglecting her daughter over her spring break. She's investigating a missing person case that is a snoozer as well. I was expecting riveting suspense like I'd read about in other early reviews, but nothing interesting or exciting has happened.

Joshua meets a girl at the airport and he can't forget her so his routine life is now derailed.

What is true and what is a lie as Joshua tries to discover the truth about Morgan. Is she really considered missing and why is she on the run.

Time to put your seat belt on and prepare for a crazy ride.

I found myself yelling at Joshua, trying to give him hints to no avail.

A good read that has the pages turning quickly.

Thanks to Net Galley and Berkley Publishing Group for the opportunity to read Layover !!! Loved it.

This is my first David Bell thriller and I enjoyed it very much. Joshua is leading a very normal, even keeled life when in walks a woman that gets his attention and turns his life upside down, He believes in the good in people and is caught up in the life of someone that he wants to believe is good.

There are many twists in this thriller that are unexpected.

I found this book a very predictable thriller about how Josh gets overly involved with a woman he encountered at an airport.

I thought the events were very unlikely and the setup was not enough to convince me that there was some realistic motivation for the rest of the novel.

Joshua Fields is a workaholic. The good part of that is he works for his father who has every intention of turning their thriving business over to his son as soon as Joshua is ready. The bad part of that is that he is always traveling; in and out of airports all around the country and living out of suitcases in one hotel after another. He has a girlfriend that he thinks he will marry but is not that excited about the prospect. He also does not like flying, and lives on Xanax in order to be able to board a flight.
The story begins with Joshua meeting a beautiful girl at an airport, sharing a drink, and a kiss and realizing that he wants to have more with Morgan; the lady in question. He than begins a round of chasing after her from one city after another until they meet again. This time the two share a beautiful interlude of sex until Morgan just disappears again. Joshua chases after her; does not meet his father at a very important meeting with prospective customers in Florida, and becomes involved with Morgan's problems which may include being involved with murder.
The events of the novel are laid out in a very enticing way, and they lend themselves into having to finish the book in one delightful read. It has been several years since Mr Bell's last book was published and that for me was a spoiler via hoping that his next book will be available shortly. But than again one cannot ask a gifted writer to hurry the next finished project and risking the possibility that it will not match his previous books. A five star novel and one that does continue the author's literary reputation and the hope that more of his works will be available shortly.

Always a fan of David Bell’s stories, The Layover is no exception.
Joshua Fields is stuck in the monotony of his life, traveling so much he doesn’t know what city he is in at times. It doesn’t help that he needs to numb himself before he flies. Is this what he really wants out of life?
In steps Morgan, whom e meets in yet another airport. After a brief conversation and a kiss, she leaves for her flight. While still thinking of this beautiful stranger, Josh sees her on television...as a missing person.
What happens next makes Josh question everything that is familiar to him. How far will he go to try and save her? Or is he saving himself?

Layover is my second David Bell novel and I enjoyed it. My interest was held from the first page! Joshua Fields has done what’s expected of him, working for his father’s business, flying around and making deals. He’s successful but unfulfilled. His life is boring and predictable.

When he meets a mysterious young woman in an airport bar, he is captivated by her. They have drinks and chat and before she leaves, she gives him a kiss that makes his head spin. He must see this woman again! A little later, he sees her face flash on the tv screen, she’s a missing person.

He races through the airport and manages to get on the same flight as her, not going to Florida as planned. This kicks off the story of Joshua and Morgan, a bit of a cat and mouse, where he’s trying to figure out her story and why she keeps popping up and leaving. Also in pursuit of Morgan is the police and a sinister fellow whose brother is missing. What does Morgan have to do with this missing man? Who is she?

The pace is tight, the tensions are high, and you will want to slap some sense into Joshua a few times. I know I did!

This is a fun, easy read! Perfect for a day by the pool or lounging on the couch.

Due out in July.

I have read and enjoyed reading all of David Bell's books.
This is another "TO READ" by David Bell - a good read!

2 people - chance encounter
They share a moment in line at airport, share a drink
she leaves - he discovers she has been reported missing
He tracks her down... he wants her story!

She took a job out of college hoping to make a difference;
she was idealistic and hopeful at a tech company where she created an app - LifeShoppe
She was not given a bonus because she is a female.

Now, her boss/owner of company is also missing
his brother is searching for him and her...he is one intense, terrifying guy

Deeper and deeper into story... mystery is deeper and deeper
Hard to stop reading as with all of David Bell's books- you will stay with book in hand to reach conclusion.

I always enjoy this author. This was a good book full of suspense. The main character was a little nieve. I felt a little sorry for him throughout the whole book. I will buy it for our library.

David Bell's Layover was a tantalizing novel captivating Joshua's every nerve as he tries to solve the mysteries of the girl behind him in line at the airport. As the plot deepens, Joshua is deceived over and over, but does he ever give up? A great read that keeps your attention
throughout.