Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris
Reviewed by: Becky Houghton, Reference Assistant
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Suggested Age: Adult
What is this book about? Is the 10-year missing woman, Layla Gray, back? That is the crux of the story in Paris’s Bring Me Back. Protagonist and narrator, Finn McQuaid’s girlfriend (Layla) goes missing from a locked car in a rest area in France as they return from a ski vacation. But early in the story, ten years later, while Finn has finally moved on with his life and is now engaged to Layla’s older sister, Ellen, Layla is spotted by a her former neighbor in the small English town in which she and Finn had lived. Is Layla back and does she want Finn back? More importantly, does Finn still love Layla more than his fiancée, Ellen? The “mystery” in the story revolves around these questions and the ominous appearance of Russian nesting dolls which both girls owned during their childhoods. As the plot twist and turns, the reader begins to unravel the backstory.
My review: I was a bit disappointed in this novel. The first novel by Paris, Behind Closed Doors, was excellent so I had been looking forward to this one, her third psychological thriller. Don’t get me wrong, Bring Me Back still kept me reading and changing my theories on what the outcome would be, but it did not have the horrific terror-producing effect on me that her first book did. As the story unfolds, the reader may lose sympathy for Finn as his temper and inability to let go of his obsession with Layla unfolds. Ellen is an opposite personality type to Layla, making me wonder how Finn could love both women or was he just “settling” for Ellen since Layla had vanished without a trace. The mysterious appearance of Russian nesting dolls and the sightings of Layla caused me to wonder about the disappearance. I did find that I wanted to keep reading into the night to learn the outcome of this story even as I began to suspect what the ending might be.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Suspenseful, Menacing, Contrived
Give This a Try if You Like… B.A. Paris’s previous two books, Behind Closed Doors and The Breakdown or A.J. Finn’s Woman In the Window
Rating: 4/5
