A thank you to Netgalley for sharing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've been a fan of David Bell's compelling thrillers for quite some time now, so I was excited to read his latest installment (and took delight in the title) and my expectations were high. Unfortunately, they weren't quite met and this book was definitely not my favorite. Don't get me wrong, it is good and a fast read despite it's length. The length, however, is part of the problem and the extraneous details could've been parred down, or better yet, devoted to the characters, most notably the primary characters to make them more complex, the connections between them more believable. I was also disappointed that I guessed the killer earlier than later and wished that I hadn't been right. All that aside, the book is certainly entertaining, an above average beach read, and yes, I will continue to read every book that David Bell writes.

I thought this was an ok thriller. I read from David Bell years ago so it’s been awhile that I read any of his work. The beginning was very good to me and I always love short cliffhanger chapters. Towards the middle the book was dragging and I started to skip around. I guessed a bit of the plot. I also liked the multiple povs. I just wished it would have wrapped up sooner than it did.

“Kill All Your Darlings” is the first book I am reading of David Bell’s, but it certainly won’t last. I loved reading the book and thought it was a gripping suspense thriller.

The author adds many twists and turns where you don’t know how the story will turn out. There are shocking murders, revelations, and secrets that I did not expect at all. Initially, the story revolves around Connor and Madeline, and you wonder what happened for her to disappear and reappear. But, it turns out that Connor’s storyline is just part of a bigger picture with many other characters involved. The author paces the story like fine wine, where the plot progresses gradually but very effectively. Some shocking moments include what Connor discovers at the cemetery and when someone comes into his house and starts attacking him till he is unconscious. This book had me glued to the pages, where the chapters end with cliffhangers, making you want to keep reading.

Moreover, the author made the characters complex, and I enjoyed Connor in the lead. In the beginning, you dislike him for how he plagiarized Madeline’s work. But as the story progresses, you begin to feel bad for him and immediately take his side. I wasn’t too fond of Bowman either, even though she was doing her job. There are quite a few other characters like Rebecca, who also add nicely to the tale.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed “Kill All Your Darlings” and can’t wait to read more of the author’s previous works.

In David Bell’s newest mystery, "Kill All Your Darlings," Connor Nye’s life is rapidly deteriorating. Indeed, the college professor, who is still mourning the death of his wife and son five years earlier, knows he might not make tenure unless he publishes something quick. Lost in grief, it’s an impossible task.

But fate seems to toss him a life line. Madeline, one of his best students, disappeared suddenly two years ago after spending the night drinking and chatting with Connor and other students at a local bar. Connor doesn’t remember much about how the night ended; he was too inebriated. But he does remember Madeline’s manuscript, an amazingly written thriller about a murder.

When Madeline doesn’t reappear and it seems more likely that Connor may lose his job, he submits her work as his own. It seems safe enough. No one has heard from her in two years, she didn’t use a computer to write her manuscript, and he is the only one with a copy.

After celebrating the book’s publication at a get-together where he’s showered with praise, and believing that his life is finally back on track, Connor arrives home to find he has an uninvited guest.

Madeline has returned and she wants Connor to pay for stealing her manuscript. He doesn’t have the money she wants; it’s already gone to pay bills.

To make matters worse, Madeline isn’t the only unexpected visitor at the Nye home.


A police detective arrives the next morning as Connor is on his way to class. She questions Connor about his book and how the descriptions of the murder match exactly with the facts police have been withholding. Now, Connor not only risks losing his job and his reputation, he also appears to be a suspect in an unsolved murder. He grapples with whether to tell the truth or not, and decides not to.

“The cover-up is always worse than crime," says David Bell, a professor of English at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he directs the MFA program. “Politicians never learn that — a lot of people don’t.”

The phrase “kill all your darlings” most likely originated with Nobel Prize Laureate William Faulkner, who said, "In writing, you must kill all your darlings.” Or in other words, kill any characters, even the ones you love, that don’t move the story forward. The characters that do remain in Bell’s book include a licentious department head who preys on young, vulnerable female students. It’s a subject that Bell also explores in his book.

“Since the Me Too movement, though we’ve become aware of all these situations, it still happens,” he said, noting that what the existing power structures will do to keep these situations quiet is for the school’s sake not the students'.

David Bell virtual event
What: Parnassus Books will host author David Bell for a discussion of his book "Kill All Your Darlings," with May Cobb, author of "The Hunting Wives."

How to join in: Visit Parnassus Books Facebook page: www.facebook.com/parnassusbooks1/ and click on the Events page.

Cost: The event is free.

FYI: After the live talk has ended, a video will be archived on the Parnassus Books Facebook page under Videos and available for watching.

Thank you to @suzyapprovedbooktours for my copy of Kill All Your Darlings by David Bell. This was the perfect book for this long holiday weekend. This thriller hit all the right topics and kept me turning the pages to see what would happen in this story of a professor who passes his missing students novel off as his own.

Connor has been struggling to write for years following the death of his wife and son. When his student goes missing he publishes his students manuscript as his own. However, this novel has implicated him in a murder and telling the truth is a no win situation.

The story is told through varying points of view this story will keep you on the edge of your seat whether at the beach or the lake this holiday weekend.

QUICK TAKE: I've read a LOT of books this year about authors living their best "Talented Mr. Ripley" fantasies and stealing the lives and manuscripts of their proteges. THE PLOT, MAUD DIXON, PALACE OF THE DROWNED, and now KILL ALL YOUR DARLINGS, the latest addition to the subgenre, and probably my least favorite. This time, a college professor steals the work of a student who goes missing, only to discover the manuscript includes details of an unsolved murder that only the police and the murderer would have knowledge of. Great premise, poor execution, and I'm kinda over the no-good-terrible college professor trope. Just feels a little lazy at this point.

I really enjoyed the plot. A stolen manuscript from his missing student that ends up being published. She shows back up years later and a detective shows up on his door step. I think it could have been a bit shorter, because at times it felt repeative. I still really enjoyed the chacters and the final twists and turns!

This was my second book I’ve read by David and I have to say, I’m a fan! His writing is unbelievable and he hits the high and low notes of the story perfectly.

What would you do if you had the perfect story just sitting in your hands? The person who wrote it is presumed dead, would you publish it as your own? After the deaths of his wife and son, Professor Connor Nye is at his wits end, he needs tenure from the university and to do that, he has to publish something. With so much grief surrounding him, he doesn’t have a clue..until his student goes missing and has given him her thesis to look over. It’s a great story of murder and very detailed..is it too perfect though?

I absolutely loved this story! I’ve been in a migraine induced reading funk lately and this novel helped to bring me out. Great writing, good background and interesting characters. Thank you to David, NetGalley and Berkley for the review copy!!

I loved the concept for this book! A professor whose student goes missing and so he publishes a book she had turned in as his own. It gets great reviews but it turns out that it details a local murder. Such an interesting premise! This is definitely a plot driven book that moves along really quickly. I liked how fast paced it was but I feel like that pace came at the sacrifice of some of the characters. I think a little more depth for Conner and Madeline would have been appreciated. Overall though I really enjoyed it and look forward to Bell's next book!

Best David Bell book yet! I love the dark academia, the characters, and the twists! This is easily my favorite read by Bell so far and his most fast-paced novel yet.

I absolutely loved this thriller. It's a super fast roller coaster, intricate but not too complicated, and has a great main character.

I think Connor, the protagonist, is what I loved the most. He's a likable, sympathetic character, but he also did something really sh!tty, and when confronted by the woman he stole from he basically acts as if she has some AUDACITY to ask for the minimum of what is rightfully owed her. So as the plot moves on and Connor is implicated in a crime he did not commit, as he gets beat up by various people and is faced with losing his job and reputation... I couldn't help but cackle with glee. Connor is a generally good man and the reader does not want him to go to jail for a crime he did not commit, but also, karma is a bitch.

There are a couple different crimes that need to be solved, which may or may not be related, and there are several people - men and women - who may be involved, or complicit, or just related in some way. The story moves back and forth in time and is told from at least three characters' view points, so we can be certain of some things as we attempt to put the puzzle together. Sexual harassment is dealt with throughout the book, as well as the power dynamic between professors and students and how it is abused.

One small detail in the book that I really liked was the relationship between Rebecca, a college student, and her roommate. It's almost an inconsequential part of the story, but they have a tenuous relationship and some resentment regarding a boyfriend who overstays. But instead of the relationship falling apart, instead of the boyfriend continuing to be an ass, everyone involved steps up, looks out for each other, and end up good human beings. This was such a tiny scenario but it never turns out this way in books. I really liked it.

Another different scenario is Connor's care for his dog. There is a lot going on in Connor's life but the author remembers to have Connor act like a real dog lover and make sure his dog is okay. So many times in books I'm left shouting at the pages, "But WHAT ABOUT THE DOG?? What happened to THE DOG?? She left the dog, WHERE IS IT???"

Lastly, I went back and forth between 4 & 5 stars. Although I loved the story, I didn't always feel the dialog rang true, and the sexual harassment felt off sometimes too. But I have to give it my standard Extra Star for having a villain confess their crimes in a believable, logical way. It was totally believable that the crimes would be confessed at that moment, in that situation, and since it is so rare in a book, I'm adding the star and giving this one 5.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. It deserves 5 stars for giving us a character who has done a despicable thing yet is still likable, for giving us female characters who never once work against each other, and mostly for a really fun fast-paced ride. I think this is one of David Bell's best.

So here's the thing. With Kill All Your Darlings and The Plot both coming out within months of each other, and having many similarities in their storylines, it's inevitable that they will be compared. Some of the reviews even suggest Kill All Your Darlings for fans of The Plot.

Both feature a creative writing professor, who has a student who writes an incredible story better than anything the professor has read before. Both professors find themselves with a decision to make when their students disappear/never publish, and both professors choose to publish the respective stories under their own names, effectively stealing the words of their students. Both professors have to reckon with what happens when someone threatens to expose them, and when the stories they stole have similarities with real life crimes.

The thing is, The Plot does it better, much better.

I've enjoyed Bell's books in the past, but this one just felt so slow and stretched out to me. The story dragged and felt repetitious. I definitely appreciated Bell writing about a really relevant and important topic, and there were parts that were really suspenseful and interesting. But by the time I got to those last chapters I had lost a lot of my interest, and then the ending was so abrupt.

I think Kill All Your Darlings does suffer for coming out within a few months of The Plot. That said, I don't think I would have loved Kill All Your Darlings regardless.

I love reading David Bell books and this one did not disappoint. I found myself very invested in Connor's life and wanted to see him succeed even if he had done some not so great things. The book was unputdownable and I pretty much read it in one setting. I really wanted to find out what happened! I loved the way it was told from different POV's and different time periods and it was fun trying to piece everything together. I guessed some things correctly but not all! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Well crafted story of mystery! I enjoyed reading the first person views in both past and present. The mystery has twists and turns to keep readers interested to the end. Although readers may guess who's the culprit is, the final twist is a bit of a surprise. Connor's grief was realistic and relatable. The emphasis on sexual harassment was important. Recommended!

Absolutely terrible. The reader knows who did this from a very early chapter in the book. Everything is just too transparent and laughable. Predictable and trite. I really have nothing good to say about this book.

It also seemed like a product placement ad for bad bourbon.

This one is unfortunately not grabbing my attention at all And I ended up stopping at about 20%.. generally it may be the story isn’t to my liking as I DNFed a similar plot line earlier this year as well . Will give this author another try though

The epigraph reads, " In writing, you must kill all your darlings," attributed here to William Faulkner. And sure enough, the author does, literally and figuratively.

This is a story about a stolen manuscript, a book within a book, and following close behind another one I recently read, I have to say I enjoyed this one so much more. With the publication of Kill All Your Darlings, the motivation is clear - Connor Nye is nearing tenure in the English department at his college and is nowhere near meeting his deadline. Then he reads a brilliant manuscript by one of his students. When she goes missing, presumed dead, he's the only one in possession of the handwritten manuscript and he makes his publishing deadline (and tenure) by claiming the book as his. Connor has a problem (well, maybe two) - she's not dead.

What bad luck Connor has. He recently lost his wife and son, which leads to his drinking and being less attentive as a professor. If only he had listened to his student Madeline, when she first came to him to express her doubts about publishing her thesis (novel). Because she didn't know the details of the murder in her book were real, but she suspected someone did. And now the police think Connor did it. And Connor just keeps adding fuel to the fire when he tries to investigate on his own. Running behind the storyline is the theme of sexual harassment by those in power, and especially how that plays out in higher education. Can Connor redeem himself in the end? Read the book and find out!

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an advance reader's copy.

What a fun book! I have so much to say, but am finding it hard to talk about this novel without giving too much away. I think this is one of those that is better for readers to go into blind, and enjoy the ride with all of its twists.

Connor Nye is a professor of literature. One of his duties is helping senior students with their final thesis. During a time when he was destroyed by the loss of his wife and son, he found himself drunk and alone with a student, Madeline, who based her thesis on a truth that shouldn’t have been shared. The following day, Madeline disappears and Professor Nye was the last to have seen her. Down on his luck and in need of publication for tenure, Nye decides to use his former student’s work as his own, publishing it into a suspense, crime novel about a murdered woman.

There is a lot going on at the beginning of this book, which sets the stage of the current timeline. The background information and jumping between timelines is very difficult to describe without giving much away, but also very crucial to the reader to understand current happenings. I flew through this book, it was so engaging. It bounced around between characters and the timelines, which held my attention, and kept me in the dark throughout. I thought I had it figured out, but I didn’t see it coming! A very well done thriller!

Great summer read. Keeps you turning page after page in a thriller with plenty of surprises and twists that you won’t see coming.

I've read a few of David Bell's books and what he always does so very well is keep you hooked at the end of a chapter so that you just have to keep turning the pages to soak up all the suspense. He has done it again with his latest release, Kill All Your Darlings. If you love a campus novel then take note that this book will be right up your alley.

Set at a university in Kentucky the novel opens with Professor Connor Nye celebrating the publication of his first novel. The celebration takes a turn for the worse when Connor receives a visit from Madeline, a former student who disappeared two years previous. Madeline threatens to upend Connor's world as she is the true author of the novel Connor has just published. Adding more layers of plot complexity, the novel is eerily similar to the real life murder of Sophia Greenwood who was killed just months before Madeline disappeared.

Bell intricately brings all of these strands together for a powerful final reveal. Kill All Your Darlings released on July 6, 2021 so you can get your copy now from your favorite bookseller or library. Thank you to Berkley Books for the ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.