Bring Me Back

by B. A. Paris

She went missing. He moved on. A whole world of secrets remained, until now. Finn and Layla are young, in love, and on vacation. They're driving along the highway when Finn decides to stop at a service station to use the restroom. He hops out of the car, locks the doors behind him, and goes inside. When he returns Layla is gone, never to be seen again. That is the story Finn told to the police. But it is not the whole story. Ten years later Finn is engaged to Layla's sister, Ellen. Their shared grief over what happened to Layla drew them close and now they intend to remain together. Still, there's something about Ellen that Finn has never fully understood. His heart wants to believe that she is the one for him, even though a sixth sense tells him not to trust her. Then, not long before he and Ellen are to be married, Finn gets a phone call. Someone from his past has seen Layla, hiding in plain sight. There are other odd occurrences: Long-lost items from Layla's past that keep turning up around Finn and Ellen's house. Emails from strangers who seem to know too much. Secret messages, clues, warnings. If Layla is alive, and on Finn's trail, what does she want? And how much does she know? A tour de force of psychological suspense, Bring Me Back will have you questioning everything and everyone until its stunning climax.

• ISBN10: 1250151333
• ISBN13: 9781250151339
• Publish Date: 19 June 2018 (first published 8 March 2018)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 19 October 2021
• Imprint: St. Martin's Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[layawaydragon]

Content Warning: Domestic Violence, Child Abuse,

Entertaining. I read it all. It's like a bad movie I couldn't stop watching.

Finn is a douche. Why is the rich white boy with an anger problem that gets bailed out of everything the main protagonist? He's not clever or funny. He's not someone to sympathize with or care about. I can't even properly root against him, he's so unseasoned. Who fucking cares? Not me!

All the tug of war whining and conjecture was annoying. Especially coming from Finn.

It's not a unique twist. I did see it as a possibility but kept thinking no way because all the characters could be THAT dumb, right? Wrong. They were. And I'm insulted that Paris though I'd be *shocked* and *awed* by it.

It's so silly and unbelievable. As in not fucking possible. And that throwaway line trying to be deep at the end *eyeroll*

Haven't read B.A. Paris's previous work. Don't plan on reading anything else by her.


Spoiler Shit:
Knew as soon as the "rigorous beauty regime" passage. It's so exact opposite, it's comical.
What about facial recognition? And her paperwork? And fingerprints?
Finn's whole "Russian doll saved me" is bullshit.
Wouldn't the acquittal from murder charges keep him from being prosecuted for manslaughter later via double jeopardy?

[Quirky Cat]

3 1/2 Stars

I received a copy of Bring Me Back from the publisher thanks to a contest. I don’t have to leave a review, but I am choosing to do so.

Bring Me Back is the latest in B. A. Paris’ thriller novels. What originally caught my attention (and was the reason I saw/entered in that contest) was the cover. It’s striking. I don’t think I’ve seen a lot of thriller novels make such wonderful use of yellow and black like that. The silhouette was a perfect touch too, especially considering the implied subject from the title.



Have you ever picked up a novel and been sucked into it right from the start? That happened to me with Bring Me Back. It immediately pulled me into it, and I just couldn’t look away. Like many thrillers, this one starts off with a tragedy. While we can tell it’s being told at a later date, the intensity of the moment pulls us in right from the start. Finn, the main character has lost his girlfriend. Or more accurately put, his girlfriend has gone missing.
From there things go back and forth, between the past and the present. They’re really easy to tell apart though. The past events are written almost as if in a letter, which is really interesting and a nice touch.
Together the past and the present build up a series of events, slowing telling us more and more of the truth for what actually happened that fateful night. It quickly becomes clear that not everything is what it seems, but more on that later.
Finn is an interesting sort of character. In some ways I liked him, and in other ways I couldn’t stand him. There were moments where he came off as being unbearable creepy or controlling, other times charming and passionate. Sometimes he was aggressive, and other times a coward. Other times he was closed to the world, even those that he should have been holding closest to him. Seeing how he was behaving versus what he was thinking allowed us some additional insight, but it was still difficult to ignore how the people around him must have been feeling. On the whole I think I’d have to say that I wouldn’t have liked Finn, had I met him in person. But that’s okay; I don’t think I needed to like Finn to feel invested in his story.
I will say that I was disappointed in how everything ended. For one thing I think the introduction was so much stronger than the conclusion. For another I felt, to put it simply, cheated. There was no way I could have figured out what happened here, as the truth was intentional obfuscated and warped. I also didn’t love the use of a couple of psychological clichés at the end (I’m trying to be vague because I don’t want to give away the big reveal). It felt cheap to me.
Other than the conclusion I really did enjoy this book. There were lots of moments that built up the anxiety and intensity of the situation, hitting those perfect notes that one can only hope for from thrillers. I also really loved the writing style and quality, which are huge bonuses in my book.


For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Eve1972]

This book was excellent. I loved this author's other book BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, so I knew I had to get my grubby hands on a copy of her new one. And disappointed I was not. I was hooked from the first page and hated to set it aside for some sleep. It was well written and fast paced. The plot was engaging and kept me turning the pages. The characters were intriguing and well developed. Now, I will say that I figured out the twist pretty early on. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say I had a theory from very early on and that theory proved to be right. That said, the author did have me doubting myself more than once as I tried to figure out what exactly was going on and who was behind it all. So I wouldn't say the twist was obvious, just that I am damn good of Sherlocking things out. (lol)





Anyway, all in all, this was another fantastic book by this author. It provided me an entertaining and much needed break from the monotony that has become the romance genre of late. Very soon I will have to pick up THE BREAKDOWN and give it a read as well. Yours truly is giving this one two huge thumbs up.

[kristy]

I received this book for free from the publisher through Netgalley for a review. This was another excellent book by B.A. Paris. I would recommend this book to any mystery/thriller reader and tell them to set some time aside because once they start they wont want to stop until the end. I was drawn in right away and finished the book within a few hours. Finn and his girlfriend Lyla are happy together and in love until the night that Lyla disappears. Years pass with no sign of Lyla, Finn has moved on and is about to be married when suddenly he starts to receive emails and find objects in his home which make him believe Lyla is alive. Has his old girlfriend returned or is someone else trying to play a game with him? I think the author did a good job keeping the action moving, creating characters that I cared about, and having a twist that I didn't see coming. I can't wait for the next B.A. Paris novel.