David Bell | Bring Her Home

Plot:

Just a year and a half after the tragic death of his wife, Bill Price’s fifteen-year-old daughter, Summer, and her best friend, Haley, disappear. Days later, the girls are found in a city park. Haley is dead at the scene, while Summer is left beaten beyond recognition and clinging to life.

As Bill holds vigil over Summer’s bandaged body, the only sound the unconscious girl can make is one cryptic and chilling word: No. And the more time Bill spends with Summer, the more he wonders what happened to her. Or if the injured girl in the hospital bed is really his daughter at all.

When troubling new questions about Summer’s life surface, Bill is not prepared for the aftershocks. He’ll soon discover that both the living and the dead have secrets. And that searching for the truth will tear open old wounds that pierce straight to the heart of his family…

Review:

This was a thriller unlike any other! David Bell writes emotional thrillers that really keep you in suspense. Given the nature of this one with two girls beaten so badly that one is dead and one is hanging on by a thread, Bell really doesn’t hold back with the ugly that can be seen in this world. Not only is this a taute thriller, but it’s also an emotional journey seen from the eyes of what families go through when a violent tragedy strikes. I knew I was in for a wild ride when I began this 400+ page read and it starts off with the main character and father of one of the girls, Bill Price rushing into the hospital as his missing daughter has been found. There was no room for fluff or buildup with this one, Bell just went straight for the kill.

The characterization in this one was a straight shot for me. Bell does a fantastic job of making even the most unloveable characters relatable and written with depth. Treating his reader as a puppeteer, you can’t help but love you he wants you to, be creeped out by who is lurking in the shadows, and hate anyone who gets in Bill’s way as he races against time to find out what really happened to Summer and her friend, Haley. When you combine these characters with the phenomenal imagery that is laced within their words, I had knots in my stomach and lumps in my throat as I went along on this journey whether I liked it or not. At times, I had tears in my eyes as Bill was brutally honest with the thoughts in his head and the emotions that escaped him. I was practically digging my heels in the ground during the scenes in the woods. I was emotionally running behind Bill trying to catch up during the finale. As July approaches and the weather here in Upstate New York begins to increase its percentage of humidity, I could still feel a chill when Bell described the cold and damp ground or the frost in the air. There is not one imperfection in this story.

Speaking of the story, what I was expecting and what I got from this were two different ends of the spectrum. I expected some “fluff” pages, where I was wondering why this was in the novel or just something to take up some time before I found out what really happened that day. I expected some characters to be introduced specifically to throw me off. I expected a lot. I received a gem. What I received was a poignant read filled with suspenseful pages that didn’t waste not one word. I got beautifully written and honest characters that each hold a purpose within this novel, each a puzzle piece fitting into the grand scheme of things. The first time I had sat down to begin this one, I planned on reading the first 50 pages to get a true feel of what I was in for. I stopped at 113, cursing myself for not starting it sooner. The second time I had picked this up, I planned on stopping at 300. Then I planned on stopping at 350. Then all hell broke lose within me and I stayed up until 2AM to finish it. At no point was I disappointed, especially at the ending. David Bell shocked me with each and every (and there are many) twists in this spectacular read.

While I consider myself to be an avid reader and someone who loves diving into a good read, this one consumed me and took over my life for three glorious days. I am a huge fan of his first novel, CEMETERY GIRL and cannot believe how much his writing has improved (especially when I didn’t think anything needed to improve in the first place.) This is one of my top thrillers this year, perfect for a bookclub or a good recommendation for any bibliophile who has that one friend who wants to “get back into reading”. 

Rating: 5/5