3.5 stars rounded up!

This psychological thriller completely threw me in more ways than one. I will admit it was a little hard to get into. The way the story was told by the main character. It was kind of broken up a bit and a weird back and forth in her thoughts and real life moments and even some flash backs. Some things didn’t make sense as I was reading it. And it was a handful of information to take in. However, near the end I fully understood the reasoning behind how the main character told the story. Let’s just say this story has a wild ending with a few plot twists I did not expect. It kept me turning page after page, and on the occasion I felt like the book was falling flat a little, something would end up happening that would reel me back in. Would recommend this book if you’re into psychological thrillers and suspense novels and don’t mind a slow burn with a narration that can be slightly hard to digest at times.

I wasn't always sure where I stood when I was reading as there were points when I felt drawn to the book and characters but then other points I felt distant and bored.

Thank you Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the copy of What Fire Brings by Rachel Howzell Hall. Wow what a wild ride! I really liked Bailey and how she tried to get used to the Topanga Canyon way of life and the new people she met. I loved the character development. Remind me to never go somewhere with bad wifi connectivity though! There’s a lot going on, but the story unfolds slowly. Just when you think nothing is really happening, BOOM! Reveal after reveal will leave you breathless, or with your mouth hanging open, like mine was. I can’t wait to read this book again to see what clues I missed, because I didn’t guess a thing. Thank you for the amazing read!

1Farah G
My Books
Browse ▾
Community ▾
Farah G rated a book liked it
less than a minute ago
What Fire Brings by Rachel Howzell Hall
What Fire Brings
by Rachel Howzell Hall (Goodreads Author)
Read
Thriller author Jack Beckham wants to change things up and regain his spot on the bestseller list, so he hires Bailey Meadows as a writer in residence to help him do just that. But what Jack doesn't know is that Bailey has her own reasons for wanting access to his property, and they are very different from what he might be assuming.

Because over the years women have gone missing in the area adjacent to Jack Beckham's home, and one of them is a close friend of Bailey's, a community activist named Sam Morris. So Bailey is helbent on finding out what happened to Sam - even if it means putting her own life in jeopardy. Which it well might.

With the wildfire season closing in quickly, and dangers in the area that include mountain lions and other wildlife, Bailey has limited time in which to implement her plans.

This is an ambitious thriller which delivers better on some fronts than others. It was actually a little hard to get into, and the narrator does not immediately feel like a sympathetic character to the reader. But the reasons for this eventually become evident, and the story does have twists and turns aplenty to keep you entertained.

This story felt hard to get into because of how the narrator thought and acted. That is explained later in the book, but I really felt like it was a barrier to me losing myself in the story, even once I figured out what was going on. So that took some of the enjoyment out of it for me.

I received an early copy but all opinions are my own.

I think this is a good book, but it felt too choppy for me. The flow with the story and the characters just was not there.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this he opportunity to read What Fire But ings by Rachel Howzell Hall - complex, twisty and creepy - i loved it!