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

I like David Bell. I love nothing more than an entrancing psychological thriller, (not too too extraordinarly gruesome serial killer story, and a great locked room mystery a la Agatha Christie or a good old fashioned game of Clue. This would fall most closely into the latter clattert (locked house rather than room) but it wasn't what I describe as great and honestly not even good. The pow factor wasn't there, the narrator was irritating at best, downright annoying and overly earnest at best, monotony felt never ending. One of those books I honestly couldn't wait to be over. My feeling towards the book might not have been so harsh if I hadn't expected it to just be all around more.

Author David Bell sets The Finalists on a Kentucky college campus and, at the outset, asks readers to suspend their disbelief and accept the story's premise. Six finalists, all students at Hyde College, are competing on the third Saturday in April for the Hyde Fellowship which has been awarded for the past one hundred and fifty-two years. The private liberal arts college was founded by Major Ezekiel Hyde, who served in the Union Army during the Civil War and established the college not long after.

On the morning of the competition, the students arrive at Hyde House, the stately but somewhat dilapidated Victorian home on the edge of the campus that once served as the Hyde family residence, to find a protest underway. The campus police are working to control the crowd that objects to the anticipated arrival of Nicholas Hyde, the great-great-great-great grandson of the school's founder, to administer the competition. It will be the first time Nicholas will do the honors, since his father, Theodore, died recently, leaving Nicholas the sole Hyde heir to a fortune made mostly through coal. The company has announced its intention to move away from coal to green energy over the course of the next two decades. Nicholas has a reputation for being spoiled, entitled, and irresponsible, which he lives up to when he arrives disheveled and hung over.

The protestors are also angry about recently-discovered information about Ezekiel's military career as a result of research conducted by one of the college's history professors. It seems that the statue on campus of Ezekiel on his horse, Lancer, heralding him as a war hero does not tell the whole story. Now there is proof that Ezekiel participated in the Palmyra Massacre on October 18, 1862, in Palmyra, Missouri. Ten Confederate prisoners of war were executed in reprisal for the abduction of a local Union supporter, Andrew Alsman, even though none of them had any connection to his disappearance.

The Hyde Fellowship finalists are chosen by the Hyde family, based on a combination of academic achievement and financial need. The winner will have any outstanding student debt up to a maximum of $100,000 paid in full and receive a full scholarship for the remainder of their education that includes tuition, books, and room and board. Upon graduation, they are assured an entry-level job with the Hyde Corporation. The winner must accept the job and work for at least one year or forfeit the remainder of the prize. Runners-up receive $5,000.

But the arcane Hyde Scholarship bylaws prohibit anyone from entering the house before the presiding member of the Hyde family arrives. And once the competitors and administrators enter the house, they must remain there for the full eight hours. "If anyone steps so much as one foot out the door, they are disqualified from any consideration for the Hyde Scholarship and all its attendant perks." The chief of police points out that he has inspected every door and window to ensure that they are all secured (in fact, they are nailed shut), and once he locks the front door from the outside, there is no way to unlock it from the inside. "Per the Hyde family bylaws."

"There's something ominous about being locked inside a house," Troy Gaines notes in his first-person narration through which Bell tells the tale. In past years, he has assisted Theodore during the competition. He's anxious to pin Nicholas down about his support for the 100 More Initiative he has been working on for the past two years, during which he has failed to meet his fund-raising goal in his role as the college's Vice President for Institutional Development. The Initiative is a plan to increase the number of minority and first-time students who enroll at Hyde College and Nicholas promised that the Hyde family will contribute two million dollars toward the effort. In recent years, the Hyde family has reduced its contributions to the college which has struggled to compete with other institutions offering their students more up-to-date technology and courses, not to mention modern dormitories and classrooms. Troy misses his days as a professor, when he could really get to know and mentor his pupils, lamenting that now he hardly knows most of the students. "I sold out for money. My fault for having three kids who want to go to college." The college's President has made it very clear that Troy's job is on the line.

The six finalists will compete following the handwritten, highly detailed bylaws that govern every aspect of the proceedings, including the lunch menu, that Nicholas keeps in his locked briefcase. In the morning, they will be served tea and then draft an essay that responds to a prompt. Following lunch, they will participate in individual interviews conducted by Nicholas and Troy. They will be judged on comportment, presentation, and communication, and Nicholas has the sole power to evaluate the competitors and select the winner. There is no appeal process.

Bell has amassed an intriguingly complex, if largely unlikable cast of characters, and skillfully makes every one of them a suspect at various points in the tale. The oldest finalist is forty-two-year-old Captain James Stephenson, a history major who served in the U.S. Army for twenty-five years. Originally from Los Angeles, he has a wife and two children, and is intent on being the first student of color to ever win the prestigious scholarship. Duffy Mansfield is an agriculture major who grew up raising cattle in a nearby county. Sydney Mosley is a marketing major from Plainfield, Illinois and a member of the volleyball team with "Persistence" tattooed on one arm. Her friend, Milo Reed, an art major from Louisville, arrives in a BLM T-shirt and announces that his "politics are really important" to him. Milo has the highest grand point average of any current student. Natalia Gomez, an honors student from Columbus, Ohio, is studying cellular biology. And Emily Paine, from Montgomery, Alabama, is majoring in creative writing She arrives last and is observed walking with some of the protestors gathered outside the house.

The drama begins immediately as the finalists, some of whom are already acquainted, meet each other, are introduced to Nicholas and Troy, and the rules are explained to them. They quickly size each other up and begin angling to establish any possible advantage for themselves. After they gather in the parlor for tea, they begin the written exam, but it's not long before one of them suddenly dies. Since no one has a cell phone and there is no landline in the home, it is impossible to summon help without leaving the house to summon the campus police who are holding the protestors off at some distance from the residence. One finalist voices what everyone is thinking: "Isn't it clear someone killed him to get him out of the way of the competition?"

From there, Bell illustrates, through Troy's thoughts and observations, the machinations and deliberations of the group as they weigh the pros and cons of abandoning the competition in light of the tragedy. As they debate whether to proceed, and explain their justifications, the day wears on and the available choices narrow even as the characters' levels of fear and suspicion escalate. Bell deftly reveals the competitors' backgrounds and motivations for agreeing to compete for the scholarship, as well as advocating for forging ahead with the selection of a winner . . . or finding a way to escape from the home in which dead bodies are piling up. He says it "was a lot of fun to create both empathy and suspicion around everyone." At various points, ideas are voiced and vetoed as Jonathan consults Ezekiel's exhaustively explicit bylaws and reveals the various contingencies outlined therein.

With this moderately-paced locked-room mystery, Bell once again demonstrates his ability to deliver an entertaining story replete with red herrings, misdirection, surprising revelations, and an ending that most readers will not guess. Is there a murderer inside the Hyde house? And if so, how many victims will he/she claim? Bell masterfully brings his fully developed characters to life through snappy, believable dialogue and Troy's descriptions of his interactions with them. Troy is at the heart of the tale and the most sympathetic. He has sold out and knows it. He surrendered the career that provided him a sense of purpose and fulfillment because of economic pressures. The ever-escalating cost of a college education impacts all involved, including the professors and administrators who do not earn enough to send their own children to the institution that employs them, even taking into account the discounts they are ordinarily offered. Troy has been unable to keep up with his employer's demand that he bring in large donations, putting his current position as a vice president is in jeopardy. He understands and appreciates the sense of powerlessness and despair that drives the finalists, even as he is repulsed at times by their behavior and has no idea which, if any of them, he dares trust. He is trapped and constrained in many of the same ways he learns the students are, and relates to their perception that they are part of a system that is unjust, excluding them and condemning them to failure without affording them a fair chance to succeed. For those reasons, he is deeply committed to the 100 More Initiative and determined to ensure that it is launched . . . if he gets out of Hyde house alive.

The Finalists succeeds as a thought-provoking examination of the ways desperation and the feeling of being an outsider for whom success is beyond one's grasp can drive people to do the unthinkable.

David Bell’s latest book is a locked house mystery set inside a fictional private college in Kentucky.

The book is divided into 4 parts: morning, midday, afternoon, and aftermath. In the span of that day 6 students are all vying for one scholarship from the Hyde family.

There are strict bylaws for how the scholarship procedure must be conducted and it’s now the sole heir, Nicholas Hyde’s turn to oversee the process.

All electronic devices are surrendered at the door of the historic Hyde House including, the faculty member, Tony Gaines, who really needs to make sure Nicholas doesn’t stop sending money so the college can remain open.

Once inside, one of the students dies, but if the remaining students want a chance for the scholarship they can’t leave the house.

While there is chaos going on in the house, there is chaos going on outside as well as there is a not exactly peaceful protest going on.

At the end of the day, will anyone even be alive to win the prestigious scholarship?

I was in the perfect mood to breeze through this book. I like the dark academia setting of the book and the short chapters made for an easy read.

I also liked the fact that I didn’t keep having to refer to my notes to remember which character was which so they were written with enough distinction that I could remember who was who.

This is a great read for those that are ready for a break from a romcom summer beach read.

I am loving the short chapters! Thank you so much for that! Most of the books I have read recently have such long chapters.
Another thing I’m loving is the locked room mystery. Those are quickly becoming one of my favorite tropes. While this does have the locked room aspect, I feel as though this plot line was creative. The description immediately pulled me in. This book had a bit of a slow start but the second half went by quickly. It’s a little bit far fetched but kept me reading. The characters could have been a little more developed. Overall, this is a solid 3 stars. I would recommend it purely for ‘entertainment’ and not so much realistic happenings.

I really wanted to like this book. It sounded cool and seemed like it would be right up my alley. Six students from Hyde College are competing against each other for a huge scholarship, and to do this, they are locked up in Hyde House for the day to complete their tasks. But then one of the students drops dead, and that’s where the chaos begins…

Unfortunately, everything about this book fell flat for me. The characters had no depth to them, so I didn’t really care what happened to them. The decisions they made were incredibly stupid, almost to the point of psychotic, and I just couldn’t believe that several normal people would make these choices and continue to justify them.

I thought that after part one ended, things would really start to pick up and get exciting. But that moment never came for me. The ending was very anticlimactic, and the whole book felt like it was building up for something that never came.

I really try my best to always find the good aspects of novels, even if I didn’t like the story that much. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel that there was anything there for me in this one. I did read from other reviews that this author has written some incredible books, so I’m excited to try again in the future!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group for my gifted copy! I’ve posted a review on Goodreads and my IG account as well.

There was a lot to like about The Finalists. I always like setups like this, sort of The House on Haunted Hill without the paranormal aspect. Students are locked into a Victorian house with the last one standing winning a prestigious college scholarship. I really enjoyed the short chapters and the crisp writing style and I was never bored with the plot. But you definitely have to check believability at the door. Also, the characters weren't particularly likable. I would certainly read another book from the author because I've heard great things.

The premise makes the story sound compelling, but the execution leaves MUCH to be desired. When the bodies start to fall, the characters make every single decision that counters common sense. After a while, readers will find themselves protesting out loud as to why the characters are doing what they're doing, and not in a good way. After a while, it becomes harder and harder to suspend all disbelief that intelligent, driven young people would actually put up with these conditions.

The dialogue, also, just doesn't seem realistic at times. The characters insist on continuing with the competition even when it's clear they're not safe, and the way they justify their insistence induces eyerolls and not gasps. Also, the cliffhangers at the end of the chapters--particularly the later chapters--are unnecessary and, quite frankly, ridiculous at times.

The worst part is the end and the reason for the murders in the first place. It's my absolute least favorite resolution for a murder mystery and a clumsy one at best. Given that only two people die and the others are left fumbling through the rest of the day, it seems like readers will just be treading water to get to the end.

Try as I might, I couldn't find anything I liked, at all, about this book.

In The Finalists, Bell sets his mystery in the academic world. Six college students are locked in a building, just like students for years before them have done, to take place in a ritual of sorts. They are the finalists for an extremely generous and long-running fellowship, and must now compete in an essay portion and interview to determine the winner. The bylaws are rigid, the representative of the family running the fellowship is drunk, and no one can leave until a winner is selected.

Then one of the students dies.

Bell creates a tense "murderer among us" atmosphere with locked doors and no one coming until the designated time. He also delves into the politics and policies of the behind the scenes workings of academia, which escalate the tension between the characters. The ending is a little pat, but still a surprise.

Definitely a book that does not disappoint. Keeps you on your toes and it’s a must read! I think it’s my favorite of his.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Six students who attend a small private college are competing for a wealthy donor's annual scholarship while locked in at the Hyde House on campus. No way out and no way to communicate. Who will survive?

This is the first novel I've read by David Bell. The six students all come from different backgrounds and the one thing they all have in common is the need for the scholarship money. I felt all the characters were unlikable. I did enjoy their competitiveness and backstories.

My favorite part was the setting. The college campus in Kentucky had me reminiscing on my college days when I attended WKU and U of L. I was able to connect with the characters on the level of needing to find a means in order to pay for college. I'm not sure I would enjoy competing for a scholarship locked in a creepy old house, however student loans are the devil, so I may have been up for it 20 years ago.

I thought this book was creative, suspenseful, the characters reactions were realistic, and multiple themes were covered. I was hooked right from the first chapter, eager to learn more about the mysteriousness of the Hyde family. The second half of the book was hard for me to put down, and I was furiously turning the pages desperate to know the outcome! The ending was so surprising--didn't see it coming!

Highly recommend!

Synopsis:
6 college students compete for a scholarship in a fully locked house. Nobody gets out until the “process” is done. The exams haven’t even started when one of the contenders die. Was it just a freak accident? Or was he murdered? And then just when the exams were underway, another one drops dead. Who is the killer? And why are these people targeted?

My thoughts:
The plot had such a great premise, but unfortunately, it had so many red herrings I lost interest about halfway. I’m all for suspending disbelief, but there were a lot of questionable choices the characters made that irritated me. The story still hooked me until the end though I didn’t really like the ending. Read this if you enjoy:
🏡 whodunnits
🏡 locked room mystery
🏡 unreliable characters
🏡 red herrings galore

Unfortunately, this was not for me.

Six college students have gathered to compete for the Hyde Fellowship. They must enter Hyde House leaving behind their devices. They door locks behind them. They must spend 8 hours inside the house with a college administrator and Nicholas Hyde, heir to the Hyde fortune. There is a protest going on outside Hyde House and inside, one of the finalists has died.

I always have high hopes when I see David Bell has a new book coming out. I tend enjoy his books immensely. This is the first time that I have given one of his books a less than 4 star rating. I enjoy locked room type books. The synopsis of this book was very intriguing. Having to be in locked house. I had Disney's haunted mansion in my mind while reading this "This chamber has no windows and no doors, which offers you this chilling challenge: to find a way out!" Of course there are doors in this book and the windows are nailed shut, but still, I could not get that out of my head. This is a story of survival but for me it was lackluster. I was hoping for more oomph.

I just didn't connect with this book in any way. David Bell usually wows me but not this time. But as I have enjoyed the other books, I have read by him, I will be on the lookout for future books. He is a great writer and I believe this is just a one off.

Others enjoyed this book more than I did, so please read their reviews as well.

I usually round up with my ratings and initially I did, but on further thought, I moved it back down to two stars.

2.75 stars

Locked room mysteries always grab my attention, and I’ve come across a few of them recently. I’m not a stranger to David Bell novels, so I was anxious to see what he did with this scenario.

A college administrator whose job (and possibly the future of the school) depends on bringing in a large donation, six students desperate to find a way to pay for school, and a privileged heir who funds the highly desired fellowship and shows up half drunk on the morning of the event. That’s a lot of potential for conflict – and I didn’t even mention the group of protestors greeting the participants upon arrival. Once the phones are surrendered and the doors are locked from the outside, it’s not long before the first body drops. This seems like a highly unlikely situation that requires a gigantic suspension of disbelief, and I’m sure you’re asking some of the same questions I did – Why can’t they break a window? Why wouldn’t someone have an emergency phone? Why couldn’t they bust down a door or find another exit? Undoubtedly, most readers will also wonder how the participants can cover the bodies and continue with the competition. The author provides answers to all these questions, and the house becomes a nearly impenetrable escape room.

The coveted fellowship provides tuition, books, room and board, and a job after graduation – definitely a prize worth winning. All of these students have strong motives for killing off the competition, and I changed my mind about the identity of the culprit in nearly every chapter. And I still had it wrong until close to the end. It doesn’t take long before the students turn on each other, and there’s a lot of squabbling, suspicion, and shifting loyalties among them.

Issues of privilege, the difficulties of financing education, and the struggles schools undergo to obtain donations are all mentioned in the novel, and it’s a sad reality. With fairly short chapters, this is a quick read and one that will keep mystery and suspense fans guessing.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I am a huge fan of David Bell, but this book was a huge miss for me! The premise sounded so interesting, but the story was not well developed. It was hard to get into and hard to get through. The ending was a letdown as well.

A suspenseful, fast-paced read that held my attention until the very end. For me, the other characters were not as winsome, taking away from my esteem for the book itself.

The Finalists by David Bell
Posted on July 5, 2022 by Kevin Holtsberry
I have been reading some intellectually challenging non-fiction of late and so needed fiction that wasn’t to demanding but yet entertaining. Enter David Bell’s new novel, The Finalist, thanks to my friends over at NetGalley.

Since I received a review copy, I felt like I should post a review (despite not having posted for some time).

Publisher Setup:

On a beautiful spring day, six college students with nothing in common besides a desperate inability to pay for school gather to compete for the prestigious Hyde Fellowship.

Milo–The front-runner.
Natalia–The brain.
James–The rule follower.
Sydney–The athlete.
Duffy–The cowboy.
Emily–The social justice warrior.

The six of them must surrender their devices when they enter Hyde House, an aging Victorian structure that sits in a secluded part of campus.

Once inside, the doors lock behind them. The students are not allowed to leave until they spend eight hours with a college administrator who will do almost anything to keep the school afloat and Nicholas Hyde, the privileged and notoriously irresponsible heir to the Hyde family fortune. If the students leave before time is up, they’ll be immediately disqualified.

But when one of the six finalists drops dead, the other students fear they’re being picked off one by one. With a violent protest raging outside and no way to escape, the survivors viciously turn on each other.

While this felt a little over the top at times (more in terms of the character’s personality and interaction than plot), it kept me interested and wanting to find out what happened (which is the point of a book like this, no?).

Plus, to be fair, much of our world, particularly the world of higher education, seems over the top. And who is to say if you got a group of desperate, highly competitive college students locked in a house with a chance to win a lot of money, it wouldn’t get ugly.

But while the conflict and rhetorical combat creates the tension, it felt annoying to me. But again, what I read about college students these days annoys me too…

In summary:

Plot device/concept is the strong point
Not really liking any of the characters detracts
If you can suspend your disbelief once the first person dies, it is an interesting exploration of the politics and pressures of higher education world these days and the personalities who live in that world
Your reaction to the characters will determine your enjoyment of the story to a large degree
An interesting thought experiment and quick read. Beach/vacation read for sure.

Unfortunately, this book wasn't my favorite. This was the first David Bell I read in a long time, and it was a not-very-good locked room mystery. I didn't believe the underlying motivations of the characters to stay in the house after not one but two people died, was strong enough. I thought the dialogue was stilted, and the reasoning for everyone moving from one room to another and not just staying put was nebulous, hard to explain and hard to keep track of. Utlimately, a bit of a let down for me.

Six students are chosen to compete for the Hyde Fellowship. Each of them must give up their phone and spend a day with the school administrator, Troy, and the Hyde family representative, Nicholas. I just recently finished the author's book, Kill All Your Darlings, so I was excited to get to read his take on a locked room mystery in an academic setting.
Once the security chief locks the door behind them, they have no way to contact anyone on the outside. The day is planned with essay writing in the morning, then lunch and individual interviews in the afternoon. When someone dies before lunch, you would think this day would be over. But the rules imposed by the Hyde family make it quite clear that ending the day early will have lasting consequences. How much would you be willing to endure for a chance at tuition money and a guaranteed job? It seems like each student is desperate to win, and moving the body out of sight seems sufficient for them to get on with the competition.
Sadly, some things just didn't work for me. I struggled with the characters and their decisions, and especially with Troy(who should have been the responsible one who knew better). The last 20% wrapped everything up as far as the who and the why, but it wasn't enough to make me feel differently about my time at Hyde House. I look forward to reading the author's next book.

A group of six students vie for a scholarship to Hyde College, a small college in Kentucky. They agree to be locked up in Hyde House, an old building on the school’s campus. With no electronic devices, what could be more torturous? The group has little in common and each of them will do anything to win the scholarship. College vice president Troy Gaines oversees the competition, which is also attended by Nicholas Hyde. The students are to take a written exam followed by interviews. This process goes awry when one of the students dies by apparent poisoning. Let the finger pointing begin.

I’m a David Bell fan. He’s very creative and surely knows how to create lots of tension and suspense. While I seek out dark academic books, my issue with The Finalists was that it was a bit too slow moving and I was unable to develop any sympathy for the characters, never finding anyone to root for. I wish I cared more. You may feel differently. If you are a locked room fan, this book may work well for you.

David Bell immerses readers in a locked house mystery in his latest book, The Finalists . It’s spring and time for the six finalists at Hyde College in Bluefield, Kentucky to compete for a prized scholarship that also has extra benefits. The students, a college liaison, and a representative from the Hyde family are locked in Hyde House for eight hours. This will be the 152nd year of this tradition. The students are evaluated on an essay written during the morning and individual personal interviews in the afternoon. If the students leave before time is up, they’ll be disqualified. When one of the students dies, the others wonder if they will be killed one by one. Was it murder, an accident, a health issue, or something else entirely?

There are eight major characters in this novel. Vice President Troy Gaines is the college liaison and misses teaching. He’s married, has three children, and is worried about being able to afford paying for their college. At times, he came across as a diplomat and at other times as an authority figure. Occasionally, it felt like he reacted to the situations unrealistically. Nicholas Hyde is the heir to the Hyde family fortune. He’s irresponsible and likes to party and flirt. The students are Milo Reed, Natalia Gomez, Captain James Stephenson, Sydney Mosley, Duffy Mansfield, and Emily Paine. Readers get some insight into their personalities. All of them are desperate for the scholarship money and readers gradually get their backstories.

The characters were easily identifiable, and I had no trouble remembering who was who. The author does a good job of setting the atmosphere and tone of the novel. I could easily visualize the rooms in Hyde House, an aging Victorian house that has been in the Hyde family since the 1800’s. The tone is ominous even without a death due to protestors and strict bylaws requiring no personal items, including cell phones and smart watches.

The story seems to ebb and flow, but it gradually builds momentum. It was interesting to see how everyone in the story reacted as events, including death, occurred during the book. Would you feel safe? How would you react? The dialogue felt realistic despite the lack of critical thinking around solutions. While this was not a fast page-turner for me, the pacing worked well. Will you find the plot twist at the end a surprise or a disappointment?

The author layers multiple themes as the story focuses on the challenges students face in order to get an education as well as the lengths colleges will go to in order to receive donations from wealthy donors. Other themes include safety, death, secrets, blaming others, grief, protests, underrepresented groups of students in college, tradition, and respect.

Overall, this engaging novel was never dull and had periods of intense suspense. If you enjoy locked room (building) mysteries, then I recommend that you check out this one. The key is to connect to one or more of the eight main characters. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

Berkley Publishing Group and David Bell provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for July 5, 2022.