BLOG TOUR: Layover by David Bell @berkleypub
Layover
by David Bell
I've been a huge David Bell for a while now. Most of the books I've read by him center around a daughter but this time he veers in a little bit different of a direction with a man obsessed about a woman he met in an airport. Continue below to see my full thoughts.
Publisher: Berkley Books
Publish Date: July 2, 2019
Hardcover
416 Pages
Standalone
Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense
Joshua Fields takes the same flights every week for work, his life a series of departures and arrivals, hotels and airports. During yet another layover, he meets Morgan, a beautiful stranger with whom he feels an immediate connection. When it's time for their respective flights, Morgan kisses Joshua passionately, lamenting that they'll never see each other again.
As soon as Morgan disappears in the crowd, Joshua is shocked to see her face on a nearby TV. The reason: Morgan is a missing person.
What follows is a whirlwind, fast-paced journey filled with lies, deceit, and secrets as Joshua tries to discover why Morgan has vanished from her own life. Every time he thinks one mystery is solved, another rears its head--and his worst enemy might be his own assumptions about those around him.
My Review:
I'm a huge fan of David Bell. Most of the books I've read of his has centered around daughters so color me intrigued when I get something a little different with The Layover. Joshua meets Morgan in the airport and their brief, but intriguing, conversation causes him to stop playing it safe in life and start tracking her down. Why is she so secretive? What is she hiding behind her hat and big glasses and why, even though she's a stranger, does she insist he'll never see her again? You'll think Joshua is nuts and/or creepy for going after her but we wouldn't have this story without his impulsiveness, now would we? ;)
As usual, the short chapters and writing style of Bell keeps you turning the pages. The first parts are extremely compelling and have me right inside Joshua's head while being introduced to Kimberly, a cop looking into the disappearance of a man and becomes involved. The first little reveal of why Morgan is on the run was a bit underwhelming but I knew Bell had more in store for us readers and I was right. Towards the middle to last third of the book, things took a little bit of a back seat and the intensity waned a bit. And where did Kimberly go? Her storyline almost became nil and I needed more from this character. It all comes together towards the end and I can appreciate where Bell took Joshua's character. (I mean, how often do we sit where we're comfortable in life even if we're not exactly the happiest?)
I love the nod to Kings Island in the book since I used to go to this amusement park when I lived in Ohio! And cheers to Joshua's dad - the most understanding of all fathers EVER. While I do think certain parts of the book could've been a bit more fleshed out, I did enjoy this story, even though I thought Joshua was incredibly nuts to continually go after this stranger. I like where Bell took Morgan, but I also wish I had more insight to her story as well. It's not a bad thing to want to know more about these characters, right? Looking forward to what Bell brings us next.
★★★
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