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What Fire Brings
A writer’s search for her missing friend becomes a real-life thriller in a twisting novel of suspense by the New York Times bestselling author of These Toxic Things.
Bailey Meadows has just moved into the remote Topanga Canyon home of thriller author Jack Beckham. As his writer-in-residence, she’s supposed to help him once again reach the bestseller list. But she’s not there to write a thriller—she’s there to find Sam Morris, a community leader dedicated to finding missing people, who has disappeared in the canyon surrounding Beckham’s property.
The missing woman was last seen in the drought-stricken forest known for wildfires and mountain lions. Each new day, Bailey learns just how dangerous these canyons are—for the other women who have also gone missing here…and for her. Could these missing women be linked to strange events that occurred decades ago at the Beckham estate?
As fire season in the canyons approaches, Bailey must race to unravel the truth from fiction before she becomes the next woman lost in the forest.
Bailey Meadows has just moved into the remote Topanga Canyon home of thriller author Jack Beckham. As his writer-in-residence, she’s supposed to help him once again reach the bestseller list. But she’s not there to write a thriller—she’s there to find Sam Morris, a community leader dedicated to finding missing people, who has disappeared in the canyon surrounding Beckham’s property.
The missing woman was last seen in the drought-stricken forest known for wildfires and mountain lions. Each new day, Bailey learns just how dangerous these canyons are—for the other women who have also gone missing here…and for her. Could these missing women be linked to strange events that occurred decades ago at the Beckham estate?
As fire season in the canyons approaches, Bailey must race to unravel the truth from fiction before she becomes the next woman lost in the forest.
375 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 11, 2024
About the author
Rachel Howzell Hall
26 books1,919 followersRACHEL HOWZELL HALL l is the critically acclaimed author and Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist for And Now She’s Gone, which was also nominated for the Lefty-, Barry-, Shamus- and Anthony Awards and the Audible Originals bestseller How It Ends. A New York Times bestselling author of The Good Sister with James Patterson, Rachel is an Anthony-, International Thriller Writers- and Lefty Award nominee and the author of They All Fall Down, Land of Shadows, Skies of Ash, Trail of Echoes and City of Saviors in the Detective Elouise Norton series. Her next thriller, These Toxic Things, out in September 2021, recently received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, calling the novel ‘cleverly-plotted’ and ‘a refreshing take on the serial killer theme.’
Rachel is a former member of the board of directors for Mystery Writers of America and has been a featured writer on NPR’s acclaimed Crime in the City series and the National Endowment for the Arts weekly podcast; she has also served as a mentor in Pitch Wars and the Association of Writers Programs. Rachel lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter. For more information, visit www.rachelhowzell.com
Her next novel And Now She’s Gone will be published in September 2020. You can find her at www.rachelhowzell.com and on Twitter @RachelHowzell.
Rachel is a former member of the board of directors for Mystery Writers of America and has been a featured writer on NPR’s acclaimed Crime in the City series and the National Endowment for the Arts weekly podcast; she has also served as a mentor in Pitch Wars and the Association of Writers Programs. Rachel lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter. For more information, visit www.rachelhowzell.com
Her next novel And Now She’s Gone will be published in September 2020. You can find her at www.rachelhowzell.com and on Twitter @RachelHowzell.
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June 8, 2024
“Things, people, disappear in forests like this, disappear and no one would ever know, or even figure out where to start looking.”
What Fire Brings is the tenth novel by American author, Rachel Howzell Hall. Bailey Meadows is pleased and a little nervous about becoming the writer-in-residence on the Topanga Canyon estate of famous author, Jack Beckham. An emerging writer would be thrilled even though Jack has chosen her because she’s black, and that fits his need for diversity, equity and inclusion. But Bailey isn’t actually an emerging writer: she’s trying to qualify for her private investigator’s licence, and is undercover, with a manufactured writing history, and work not her own.
Bailey has been sent by her agency boss, Avery Turner, to look for any trace of another PI, Sam Morris, missing since she went to Topanga six months earlier. Was Sam looking for another missing woman? Was she looking for her mother, Theresa Morris, missing eighteen years? Sam had a reputation for successfully finding missing women, and maybe that didn’t suit everyone…
Bailey has been warned that cell phone cover and wifi will be patchy, but she’s equipped with some gadgets to record what she hears, she takes copious notes, and has a list of things, places, dates and people she needs to check out. Sam was seeing a psychiatrist. Did she have a psychotic break, or go into a dissociative fugue? Did Sam leave voluntarily, meet with an accident, encounter a wild animal or a nasty person, or did Jack Beckham, or someone on his estate, have a hand in her disappearance? And can Bailey pull this off?
While trying to pick up clues, Bailey is distracted by footsteps and noises around her cabin, dead air phone calls, strange text messages from unknown numbers, low-battery smoke alarm chirps, and she is still recovering from a mugging that left her with a stab wound, for which she’s trying not to swallow too many Percocet.
She encounters a dishevelled old woman who appears out of the woods with an enigmatic message, a security guard who might not be, there’s the threat of fire, and fliers for a woman missing six years, all of which she can only research when the wifi momentarily kicks in.
She already knows about other women who have gone missing in the area, but from chats with Jack and his staff, it seems that two women closely related to Jack and his father also mysteriously disappeared.
Howzell Hall’s latest is very twisty, and no one is who they first seem to be. Bailey’s narrative is supplemented with journal entries, fliers, evidence and crime reports, and extracts from novels. The reader is soon wondering is Bailey a reliable narrator, or is she being gaslighted?
And even though Jack turns out to be a toxic male (no surprise there!), his discussions with Bailey on writing and the author experience offer a perspective that certainly feels authentic, doubtless because of Howzell Hall’s own experience. Her protagonist’s inner monologue is often blackly funny, she’s smart and gutsy, making this a tense, gripping page-turner.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer.
What Fire Brings is the tenth novel by American author, Rachel Howzell Hall. Bailey Meadows is pleased and a little nervous about becoming the writer-in-residence on the Topanga Canyon estate of famous author, Jack Beckham. An emerging writer would be thrilled even though Jack has chosen her because she’s black, and that fits his need for diversity, equity and inclusion. But Bailey isn’t actually an emerging writer: she’s trying to qualify for her private investigator’s licence, and is undercover, with a manufactured writing history, and work not her own.
Bailey has been sent by her agency boss, Avery Turner, to look for any trace of another PI, Sam Morris, missing since she went to Topanga six months earlier. Was Sam looking for another missing woman? Was she looking for her mother, Theresa Morris, missing eighteen years? Sam had a reputation for successfully finding missing women, and maybe that didn’t suit everyone…
Bailey has been warned that cell phone cover and wifi will be patchy, but she’s equipped with some gadgets to record what she hears, she takes copious notes, and has a list of things, places, dates and people she needs to check out. Sam was seeing a psychiatrist. Did she have a psychotic break, or go into a dissociative fugue? Did Sam leave voluntarily, meet with an accident, encounter a wild animal or a nasty person, or did Jack Beckham, or someone on his estate, have a hand in her disappearance? And can Bailey pull this off?
While trying to pick up clues, Bailey is distracted by footsteps and noises around her cabin, dead air phone calls, strange text messages from unknown numbers, low-battery smoke alarm chirps, and she is still recovering from a mugging that left her with a stab wound, for which she’s trying not to swallow too many Percocet.
She encounters a dishevelled old woman who appears out of the woods with an enigmatic message, a security guard who might not be, there’s the threat of fire, and fliers for a woman missing six years, all of which she can only research when the wifi momentarily kicks in.
She already knows about other women who have gone missing in the area, but from chats with Jack and his staff, it seems that two women closely related to Jack and his father also mysteriously disappeared.
Howzell Hall’s latest is very twisty, and no one is who they first seem to be. Bailey’s narrative is supplemented with journal entries, fliers, evidence and crime reports, and extracts from novels. The reader is soon wondering is Bailey a reliable narrator, or is she being gaslighted?
And even though Jack turns out to be a toxic male (no surprise there!), his discussions with Bailey on writing and the author experience offer a perspective that certainly feels authentic, doubtless because of Howzell Hall’s own experience. Her protagonist’s inner monologue is often blackly funny, she’s smart and gutsy, making this a tense, gripping page-turner.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer.
July 8, 2024
I loved it!!
Now I have to go back and finish, AND THEN SHE WAS GONE!! I've enjoyed all of RHH's books, except for that one!! This one was a twisty murder and was unexpected for me. People are always disappearing in the woods!! That's why I don't enter!! LOL...Oh well.
Now I have to go back and finish, AND THEN SHE WAS GONE!! I've enjoyed all of RHH's books, except for that one!! This one was a twisty murder and was unexpected for me. People are always disappearing in the woods!! That's why I don't enter!! LOL...Oh well.
June 10, 2024
This was a deliciously twisty serial murder mystery that has an undercover Black female detective, Bailey Meadows, impersonating an aspiring writer to get mentored and co-author a new book with a best-selling James Patterson type reclusive writer living in a remote Topanga Canyon home.
Cut off from the internet, Bailey's search for her missing friend quickly has her own life being put in jeopardy and things get really interesting when events from the past to do with her mother come into play later on in the book.
Great on audio narrated by Dara Brown, this latest from Rachel Howzell Hall had me on the edge of my seat and I didn't want the book to end (and what an ending it was!). Highly recommended for fans of books like Who is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews or The plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Brilliance Audio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review! I can't wait to read more books by this new to me author soon!
Cut off from the internet, Bailey's search for her missing friend quickly has her own life being put in jeopardy and things get really interesting when events from the past to do with her mother come into play later on in the book.
Great on audio narrated by Dara Brown, this latest from Rachel Howzell Hall had me on the edge of my seat and I didn't want the book to end (and what an ending it was!). Highly recommended for fans of books like Who is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews or The plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Brilliance Audio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review! I can't wait to read more books by this new to me author soon!
June 17, 2024
I liked this, but didn't love it. I think the overall premise is somewhat interesting but I was missing a deep connection to the main character that would make me root for her through everything - but probably because some information about her was left vague, there was a bit of a disconnect. A lot of this story had a slow pace, so I became a little restless in the middle, but I did enjoy the way it really picked up at the end. I think the twists and reveals were a little lost on me due to that character vagueness and the confusion it caused me to have, but it is a satisfying story once I sit down to think about it. I think I'll have to read more from this author to figure out her writing style a little more, and hopefully find a book from her that I love.
March 9, 2024
Bailey has just moved to the remove Topanga Canyon, as a writer-in-residence, learning from Jack Beckham, a best selling author. However, she's not really there as a writer, she is there to find a missing person, last seen near Jack's property. Bailey begins to learn the dangers of the canyon each day and she must race to unravel the truth before she is the next woman lost in the forest.
I had mixed feelings about this one, as it was very slow to start. But as the story reached the last 25/30%, it seemed to really take off and there were some wild moments there. While I remain divided on this one, the author has become an auto-read for me and I look forward to more by her. 3.5*Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for this gifted review copy.
I had mixed feelings about this one, as it was very slow to start. But as the story reached the last 25/30%, it seemed to really take off and there were some wild moments there. While I remain divided on this one, the author has become an auto-read for me and I look forward to more by her. 3.5*Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for this gifted review copy.
May 18, 2024
Finished reading: May 18th 2024
DNF at 14% (53 pages)
"The light shifts in the bedroom - a shadow has crossed the bright lights shining around the pool area... maybe. My eyes are tired, my bones creaky, and I've lived three lives today and -
Footsteps tap somewhere up in the living room or kitchen. Definitely."
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
REVIEW
WARNING: yet another unscheduled unpopular opinion stop!!
May 21, 2024
3.5 stars.
I am torn with this one because the overall story and set of events surrounding Bailey Meadows is fascinating. However, the unreliable narrator execution just didn't work for me in certain parts of the story because things just got too confusing.
While I wasn't necessarily surprised with the final reveal, I really did enjoy the shenanigans that unfolded in the last 15% of the book.
Thank you to Brilliance Audio for providing a review copy.
I am torn with this one because the overall story and set of events surrounding Bailey Meadows is fascinating. However, the unreliable narrator execution just didn't work for me in certain parts of the story because things just got too confusing.
While I wasn't necessarily surprised with the final reveal, I really did enjoy the shenanigans that unfolded in the last 15% of the book.
Thank you to Brilliance Audio for providing a review copy.
March 8, 2024
The MC, an aspiring PI named Bailey, is assigned a missing persons case in Topanga Canyon. Bailey joins a writing program in search of Sam, the missing person. Unfortunately, I dnf this book 35% in, because it was boring. The story was all over the place, Baileys daily journal, Bailey trying to get to know all of the participants, without even knowing if Sam was actually at this house. I want to thank Netgally for the free digital copy in exchange for this honest review.
June 19, 2024
What Fire Brings by Rachel Howzell Hall
Narrated by Dara Brown
Thank you so much Brilliance Audio + NetGalley for the free ALC.
Blurb:
Bailey Meadows has just moved into the remote Topanga Canyon home of thriller author Jack Beckham. As his writer-in-residence, she’s supposed to help him once again reach the bestseller list. But she’s not there to write a thriller—she’s there to find Sam Morris, a community leader dedicated to finding missing people, who has disappeared in the canyon surrounding Beckham’s property.
✨ My thoughts:
Here is another book I read/listened to as part of @booksparks #SRC2024 #GameSetRead summer reading challenge. I love a remote setting and the premise is so good. I thought the narrator Dara Brown did a wonderful job telling this story. I will see that ultimately this story landing right in the middle for me at a three star read. The set up was good but something didn’t quite work for me. I found myself confused at times and some of it felt all over the place. This could definitely just be a me problem and maybe it’s better enjoyed as a physical book. Overall, I still enjoyed this story, it just wasn’t a complete hit for me. I’d say, if this one is on your TBR you should probably read it for yourself and see how you feel about it. What Fire Brings us out now!
Happy reading 📖
Narrated by Dara Brown
Thank you so much Brilliance Audio + NetGalley for the free ALC.
Blurb:
Bailey Meadows has just moved into the remote Topanga Canyon home of thriller author Jack Beckham. As his writer-in-residence, she’s supposed to help him once again reach the bestseller list. But she’s not there to write a thriller—she’s there to find Sam Morris, a community leader dedicated to finding missing people, who has disappeared in the canyon surrounding Beckham’s property.
✨ My thoughts:
Here is another book I read/listened to as part of @booksparks #SRC2024 #GameSetRead summer reading challenge. I love a remote setting and the premise is so good. I thought the narrator Dara Brown did a wonderful job telling this story. I will see that ultimately this story landing right in the middle for me at a three star read. The set up was good but something didn’t quite work for me. I found myself confused at times and some of it felt all over the place. This could definitely just be a me problem and maybe it’s better enjoyed as a physical book. Overall, I still enjoyed this story, it just wasn’t a complete hit for me. I’d say, if this one is on your TBR you should probably read it for yourself and see how you feel about it. What Fire Brings us out now!
Happy reading 📖
June 16, 2024
Thank you Netgalley, Thomas & Mercer and Rachel Howell Hall for the eArc of What Fire Brings.
This is the first of Rachel H Hall's books and I have seen good reviews so I was looking forward to reading this one. The story ia mainly from our main character Bailey who has been sent to Topanga Canyon to help Jack Beckham write his next thriller as a co writer. Together they scope the land, the local town, building a picture, plot lines for this next book. What Jack doesn't know is that Bailey isn't an up and coming writer, she's a PI in training, looking for a missing women called Sam.
I really enjoyed reading this book. There's a lot of character building for Bailey, her background and why she is looking for this women. There are a few moments within the book that the twists becoming a little blurred, Or a little jump/loss of time. These however are very deliberate and once the plot comes together, work very well. The other characters in the book, particularly Jack have very individual personalities and keep you guessing on who is the good guy, and who really isn't. The peak of the book , probably around the last 3rd, is very tense and has you twisted up and you just want to know the truth. I found the payoff of the plot well executed and brought the whole book together.
Favourite Quotes " Inside us there is something that has no name, that something is who we are "
" If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there " Lewis Carroll
A solid 4 .25 stars, rounded down to 4 stars for Netgalley, Amazon/Bookbeat and Goodreads.
This is the first of Rachel H Hall's books and I have seen good reviews so I was looking forward to reading this one. The story ia mainly from our main character Bailey who has been sent to Topanga Canyon to help Jack Beckham write his next thriller as a co writer. Together they scope the land, the local town, building a picture, plot lines for this next book. What Jack doesn't know is that Bailey isn't an up and coming writer, she's a PI in training, looking for a missing women called Sam.
I really enjoyed reading this book. There's a lot of character building for Bailey, her background and why she is looking for this women. There are a few moments within the book that the twists becoming a little blurred, Or a little jump/loss of time. These however are very deliberate and once the plot comes together, work very well. The other characters in the book, particularly Jack have very individual personalities and keep you guessing on who is the good guy, and who really isn't. The peak of the book , probably around the last 3rd, is very tense and has you twisted up and you just want to know the truth. I found the payoff of the plot well executed and brought the whole book together.
Favourite Quotes " Inside us there is something that has no name, that something is who we are "
" If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there " Lewis Carroll
A solid 4 .25 stars, rounded down to 4 stars for Netgalley, Amazon/Bookbeat and Goodreads.
June 17, 2024
I will say that when I understood what was going on, I did enjoy the narrator in this book. I had a very hard time following this book. It would switch between different stories and the past without warning so I found myself confused a lot. This book was not for me.
March 6, 2024
What The Fire Brings is a thriller set in the Topanga Canyon of Southern California. Bailey, a PI in training, just moved there as part of the writers-in-residence for thriller author Jack Beckham. But what she really moved there for was to find a missing woman named Sam, founder of the nonprofit The Way Home which helps families find their missing loved ones. Sam was last seen in the canyon surrounding Beckham’s property. The WiFi and cellular is unreliable, the surrounding trees and canyon is dry, and fire is a constant threat.
I know that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but this cover is so cool, it immediately pulled me in. I can’t say much about this book without giving things away but the cover was not misleading, this was a good read!
Bailey’s voice was very engaging. I went in and out of boredom the first half of the book or so but once I reached around 65 percent of the book, it picked up and didn’t stop. I think I need to do a re-read at some point to fully digest everything. It was a wild ride!
3.5 rounded up.
Thank you very much to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I know that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but this cover is so cool, it immediately pulled me in. I can’t say much about this book without giving things away but the cover was not misleading, this was a good read!
Bailey’s voice was very engaging. I went in and out of boredom the first half of the book or so but once I reached around 65 percent of the book, it picked up and didn’t stop. I think I need to do a re-read at some point to fully digest everything. It was a wild ride!
3.5 rounded up.
Thank you very much to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
March 1, 2024
Bailey Meadows is a PI in training going undercover as an aspiring author in Topanga Canyon. She was accepted into a writer-in-residence program to work with and learn from Jack Beckham, your typical wealthy author/villain. His family has lived in the canyon for generations and funded almost every community group and program that exists, earning the town’s goodwill and an untouchable status. But Bailey believes that the Beckham family is responsible for the disappearance of Sam Morris, a woman who spent her time locating missing people. And Sam isn’t the only woman who went missing in Topanga Canyon. The more Bailey investigates, the more crimes she suspects the Beckhams of committing. But she’s determined not to blow her cover and to get to the truth. Will she be able to do so before she’s the next one to go missing?
It was slightly hard to get into this story. There is quite a bit of inner dialogue throughout that is itself harried and disjointed. There’s not much interaction between Bailey and the other characters at times, and we’re left with her thoughts and a copious amount of descriptions about the canyons and wildfires. But the action picks up towards the end of the story and it really gets good. If it could have been that crazy earlier on, I think more people would be engaged and stick with it.
I also wasn’t sure if one of the twists was supposed to be apparent early in the story. But plenty of action still follows that reveal, so maybe it was. I think when you sit back and reflect on the way the story evolves, you realize how hard it must have been to write Bailey’s character. And there are other reveals where you’re like “Whaaat? Oh, that’s good.” So, you might find it a bit confusing at certain points, but the author did an awesome job of weaving all the complex threads of the story together. This is one book that you will not forget!
It was slightly hard to get into this story. There is quite a bit of inner dialogue throughout that is itself harried and disjointed. There’s not much interaction between Bailey and the other characters at times, and we’re left with her thoughts and a copious amount of descriptions about the canyons and wildfires. But the action picks up towards the end of the story and it really gets good. If it could have been that crazy earlier on, I think more people would be engaged and stick with it.
I also wasn’t sure if one of the twists was supposed to be apparent early in the story. But plenty of action still follows that reveal, so maybe it was. I think when you sit back and reflect on the way the story evolves, you realize how hard it must have been to write Bailey’s character. And there are other reveals where you’re like “Whaaat? Oh, that’s good.” So, you might find it a bit confusing at certain points, but the author did an awesome job of weaving all the complex threads of the story together. This is one book that you will not forget!
July 11, 2024
3.5 stars.
Bailey Meadows arrives at the luxurious home of famous writer Jack Beckham. She has been granted his latest writer-in-residence position, and will be working closely with Beckham to craft her first novel. She's a little less thrilled when Jack says she was chosen because she is Black, and she will demonstrate he is widening his audience, and she fits the bill for the program's diversity requirements.
But, Bailey is not actually a writer. She works for a private investigation firm owned by former police officer Avery Turner, and is in the Topanga Canyon to locate Samantha "Sam" Morris, a dedicated investigator of missing persons cases who worked with Avery. Sam Morris has located many missing women, or their bodies, over the years, bringing their families some measure of relief.
The Topanga Canyon is hard hit by drought, and the surrounding forest is ever ready to burst into flame. Bailey is educated daily about just how delicate the natural balance is, and how devastatingly fast a fire could spread.
Bailey is equipped with a recording device, her phone, her pc, her paper journal, and files about women who have gone missing in the canyon for several years. Her phone is mostly useless, however, as a connection to a cell network or the internet is spotty at the best of times.
Bailey begins to experience noises almost immediately within the well-appointed guest house on the property, causing her to question what she is seeing and hearing. She receives the occasional strange text messages, and wonders about the man working security in the area.
Bailey's file on Sam indicates that Sam had been looking for years in the canyon for her missing mother Theresa Morris. Sam was also seeing a psychiatrist before her disappearance, and it's surmised she may have entered a dissociative fugue, simply wandering off, or possibly she suffered an accident, or had a deadly encounter with one of the wild animals in the canyon.
Meanwhile, gradually, Bailey seems to gain Jack's trust. His family has suffered tragedy, with his mother disappearing during his childhood, and later, his wife also disappearing, presumed drowned, during a working vacation.
This was a very twisty, and challenging read, with the intermittent failures of Bailey's technology, the odd noises, appearances of a strange woman on the property, the snooping security guy, and odd clues that point to not only Sam's but another woman's disappearance not so long ago. Then there is Bailey's heightened fear of fire, some odd things Jack says and does, and everything seeming much worse as Bailey is still recovering from a mugging that left her injured and shaken, and remembering, in flashes, moments from the incident. As time goes on, one starts to wonder what is real and what is imagined.
Then the book snaps into terrible focus at around sixty to seventy percent into the novel, and things become clear and awful. Jack's desires to reach a new audience are sincere, but there is so much about him that kept me wondering about his veracity and his past. And Bailey proved a difficult window into the activities around her; she's got a keen wit, she's analytical and driven, but the more time we spend with her, the more we wonder if things around her are being manipulated to skew her perceptions, or whether she is a reliable narrator.
I liked this book, but it definitely took me a while to appreciate the story. But, I knew that if I hung on (particularly because of the big clue the author gave us early on), Rachel Howzell Hall would reveal all and I'd be left entertained and rewarded, which I can attest to.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Thomas & Mercer for this ARC in exchange for my review.
Bailey Meadows arrives at the luxurious home of famous writer Jack Beckham. She has been granted his latest writer-in-residence position, and will be working closely with Beckham to craft her first novel. She's a little less thrilled when Jack says she was chosen because she is Black, and she will demonstrate he is widening his audience, and she fits the bill for the program's diversity requirements.
But, Bailey is not actually a writer. She works for a private investigation firm owned by former police officer Avery Turner, and is in the Topanga Canyon to locate Samantha "Sam" Morris, a dedicated investigator of missing persons cases who worked with Avery. Sam Morris has located many missing women, or their bodies, over the years, bringing their families some measure of relief.
The Topanga Canyon is hard hit by drought, and the surrounding forest is ever ready to burst into flame. Bailey is educated daily about just how delicate the natural balance is, and how devastatingly fast a fire could spread.
Bailey is equipped with a recording device, her phone, her pc, her paper journal, and files about women who have gone missing in the canyon for several years. Her phone is mostly useless, however, as a connection to a cell network or the internet is spotty at the best of times.
Bailey begins to experience noises almost immediately within the well-appointed guest house on the property, causing her to question what she is seeing and hearing. She receives the occasional strange text messages, and wonders about the man working security in the area.
Bailey's file on Sam indicates that Sam had been looking for years in the canyon for her missing mother Theresa Morris. Sam was also seeing a psychiatrist before her disappearance, and it's surmised she may have entered a dissociative fugue, simply wandering off, or possibly she suffered an accident, or had a deadly encounter with one of the wild animals in the canyon.
Meanwhile, gradually, Bailey seems to gain Jack's trust. His family has suffered tragedy, with his mother disappearing during his childhood, and later, his wife also disappearing, presumed drowned, during a working vacation.
This was a very twisty, and challenging read, with the intermittent failures of Bailey's technology, the odd noises, appearances of a strange woman on the property, the snooping security guy, and odd clues that point to not only Sam's but another woman's disappearance not so long ago. Then there is Bailey's heightened fear of fire, some odd things Jack says and does, and everything seeming much worse as Bailey is still recovering from a mugging that left her injured and shaken, and remembering, in flashes, moments from the incident. As time goes on, one starts to wonder what is real and what is imagined.
Then the book snaps into terrible focus at around sixty to seventy percent into the novel, and things become clear and awful. Jack's desires to reach a new audience are sincere, but there is so much about him that kept me wondering about his veracity and his past. And Bailey proved a difficult window into the activities around her; she's got a keen wit, she's analytical and driven, but the more time we spend with her, the more we wonder if things around her are being manipulated to skew her perceptions, or whether she is a reliable narrator.
I liked this book, but it definitely took me a while to appreciate the story. But, I knew that if I hung on (particularly because of the big clue the author gave us early on), Rachel Howzell Hall would reveal all and I'd be left entertained and rewarded, which I can attest to.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Thomas & Mercer for this ARC in exchange for my review.
June 24, 2024
3,5*
Bailey Meadows is a newbie PI on an undercover mission to find out if the successful thriller author Jack Beckam has something to do with missing women in Topanga Canyon. She is posing as an aspiring writer participating in Beckam's writing programs he is organizing on his estate surrounded by tick Santa Monica Mountain woods where fires often spontaneously start and destroy everything in their way...
Things I liked:
-This is an amazing premise for the novel, especially coming from a thriller author. There is something meta about the whole thing I assumed she had a lot of fun with.
-I love the way RHH writes dialogue. There is a long scene of conversation between Jack and Bailey on a trip and, my god, it says so much when you go back and read it again after finishing the novel.
-The whole mystery and the twist in the middle of the huge fire was just a great way to finish the novel.
Things I wished were done a bit differently:
-I have a soft spot for RHH's books. I own all of them and not all of them are my favorite, but I always love to read them, if that makes sense. There is something wonderfully messy about her characters and her writing. Like a screen with too many opened tabs there is a lot of disconnected information thrown at reader without any sense of organization, cut of sentences and lines of thinking abruptly abandoned left to hang there... I know it can be jarring for some readers, but I love that about Hall's characters and their thinking process. I just trust her to lead me where she wants and often it's worth my time. This messy, raw writing is one of her charms, but in a novel like this it's extra accentuated because our main character, Bailey, is an unreliable narrator. Not even she knows what's happening or what happened to her.For example, you get a random info she is stabbed and you get confused because you wonder why is she on this job- things like that. Because of her condition she tends to slide into paranoia and we have those scenes that read like they are a lot more then they are because she feels like they are. It's not easy following her thought process, no matter how realistic it sounds. With all of that said, I feel like it was not necessary for this premise. There was so many things happening already, a perfectly set up stage... and this was just clouding the whole mystery at the center. With an added natural disaster like fire which brings a whole another level of vibe and thrill, it just was too much. I imagined the story without it and the way mystery unfolded proved it could stand on its own. So, there.
All in all, a fine offering from RHH, but not one of her best.
I would like to thank Netgalley, Thomas & Mercer and Rachel Howzell Hall for an advanced copy of What Fire Brings. All opinions are my own.
Bailey Meadows is a newbie PI on an undercover mission to find out if the successful thriller author Jack Beckam has something to do with missing women in Topanga Canyon. She is posing as an aspiring writer participating in Beckam's writing programs he is organizing on his estate surrounded by tick Santa Monica Mountain woods where fires often spontaneously start and destroy everything in their way...
Things I liked:
-This is an amazing premise for the novel, especially coming from a thriller author. There is something meta about the whole thing I assumed she had a lot of fun with.
-I love the way RHH writes dialogue. There is a long scene of conversation between Jack and Bailey on a trip and, my god, it says so much when you go back and read it again after finishing the novel.
-The whole mystery and the twist in the middle of the huge fire was just a great way to finish the novel.
Things I wished were done a bit differently:
-I have a soft spot for RHH's books. I own all of them and not all of them are my favorite, but I always love to read them, if that makes sense. There is something wonderfully messy about her characters and her writing. Like a screen with too many opened tabs there is a lot of disconnected information thrown at reader without any sense of organization, cut of sentences and lines of thinking abruptly abandoned left to hang there... I know it can be jarring for some readers, but I love that about Hall's characters and their thinking process. I just trust her to lead me where she wants and often it's worth my time. This messy, raw writing is one of her charms, but in a novel like this it's extra accentuated because our main character, Bailey, is an unreliable narrator. Not even she knows what's happening or what happened to her.For example, you get a random info she is stabbed and you get confused because you wonder why is she on this job- things like that. Because of her condition she tends to slide into paranoia and we have those scenes that read like they are a lot more then they are because she feels like they are. It's not easy following her thought process, no matter how realistic it sounds. With all of that said, I feel like it was not necessary for this premise. There was so many things happening already, a perfectly set up stage... and this was just clouding the whole mystery at the center. With an added natural disaster like fire which brings a whole another level of vibe and thrill, it just was too much. I imagined the story without it and the way mystery unfolded proved it could stand on its own. So, there.
All in all, a fine offering from RHH, but not one of her best.
I would like to thank Netgalley, Thomas & Mercer and Rachel Howzell Hall for an advanced copy of What Fire Brings. All opinions are my own.
March 14, 2024
Bailey Meadows has taken the uncommon step of pretending to be an author in order to search for her missing friend. Armed with credentials and social media history, she is able to work with thriller author Jack Beckham in his remote canyon estate. Jack is clear, he wants Bailey to help him reach a more diverse audience and get him back on the best seller list. He seems charming and open and his staff are helpful but don't seem to respect boundaries.
Bailey is a fledgling investigator and is hoping to find Sam, her missing friend who actually investigates missing persons. She didn't realize how intermittent internet and phone access would be. As she prepares to work with Jack she sees shadows and actual people on the estate. She has a lot of trouble contacting Avery, her lifeline outside and her support to become a detective.
More and more she is wondering what she is doing there. As the walls close in, you won't be able to stop turning the pages. Howzell Hall has done it again - a thrilling novel that includes layers of social commentary. I loved it, and so will you!
#thomas&mercer #whatfirebrings #rachelhowzellhall
Bailey is a fledgling investigator and is hoping to find Sam, her missing friend who actually investigates missing persons. She didn't realize how intermittent internet and phone access would be. As she prepares to work with Jack she sees shadows and actual people on the estate. She has a lot of trouble contacting Avery, her lifeline outside and her support to become a detective.
More and more she is wondering what she is doing there. As the walls close in, you won't be able to stop turning the pages. Howzell Hall has done it again - a thrilling novel that includes layers of social commentary. I loved it, and so will you!
#thomas&mercer #whatfirebrings #rachelhowzellhall
June 10, 2024
Gooood lord, this was a wild unhinged ride.
As Bailey Meadows goes undercover as thriller author Jack Beckhams writer-in-residence in order to find her friend Sam - things get extremely creepy in the remote Topanga Canyon.
I absolutely love the way Rachel Howzell Hall writes. I actually was laughing out loud at a few parts. The way this story unraveled was so insane but I loved it. I was definitely left a little confused at the end on what the hell just happened but I fully enjoyed the entire ride getting there. I can’t wait to read more of her books.
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!
As Bailey Meadows goes undercover as thriller author Jack Beckhams writer-in-residence in order to find her friend Sam - things get extremely creepy in the remote Topanga Canyon.
I absolutely love the way Rachel Howzell Hall writes. I actually was laughing out loud at a few parts. The way this story unraveled was so insane but I loved it. I was definitely left a little confused at the end on what the hell just happened but I fully enjoyed the entire ride getting there. I can’t wait to read more of her books.
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!
June 27, 2024
2.5 stars.
I more or less enjoyed reading this, but my thought for most of the book was "this feels like the first draft." Especially early on, it's hard to tell what's going on, even when the story pauses to over-explain it. The main character, Bailey, seems to know or believe some things without explanation, and then not know crucial information later. Information that should have been mentioned earlier suddenly drops into the plot, as though Hall just came up with an idea and didn't go back to set it up. Et cetera.
The characterization was also odd, at least to me. Margo struck me as overly friendly, and since she's celebrity-adjacent, I kind of read her as "rich lady putting on a show of niceness." But Bailey's response is "oh, she's so nice, I like her," so...I guess not. Another character, Luann, is from Texas, which you know because she's always saying stuff like "deader than vulture bait" or "sleeping like a prairie dog" or whatever. Characters info-dump their whole backstories at the drop of a hat, and of course, seemingly-nice characters suddenly act cartoonishly evil once you know that they're villains. Bailey herself varies wildly in competence. I like that she's not an infallible Sherlock Holmes-type character, but I'm starting to think that I could handle this investigation better.
The setup is that Bailey is posing as a writer-in-residence to co-author a book with Jack, a famous novelist. This is a cover for her to be looking for a missing woman named Sam in the area around Jack's estate. Why she needs this cover, why she thinks Sam is in the area, etc., are all kind of vaguely defined.
At one point, Bailey gets lost in the woods and is attacked by Random Rapists. Just...hanging out in the woods, waiting for potential rape victims to stumble by. As you do. She escapes and nothing else comes of this.
At another point, Bailey is told that Avery might be crazy and lied to her for her own reasons. This probably doesn't mean much to you, since you don't know who Avery is. I do know who Avery is—Bailey's detective mentor, who sent her on this mission—but I was similarly nonplussed, because by this point we haven't actually met Avery so it's kind of hard to care. Also, it's clearly a red herring and Bailey looks dumb for instantly believing it. (Except sometimes she doesn't, because again, she's inconsistent.)
A lot of reviews say that the book gets good near the end, when we learn three big twists. The first is that the villains' plan is to . The second is that Bailey . The third is that Jack
I actually guessed that third one about a hundred pages earlier, but my reaction was "Really? Is that where we're going here?" And that's kind of how I feel about all of them. I don't read many thrillers, but even I know that "" is kind of a cliché. I actually like the first idea, in theory, but it doesn't amount to much (really, nothing in the "writing a book" concept does). The main problem is that none of these twists seem to fit in THIS book. It's a subtle problem of tone. It felt like the story was trying to be more grounded until this point, and all three of those reveals are just so improbable in real life.
The second twist is the most important one. It recontextualizes a lot of the story, and in retrospect, a lot (but by no means all) of the earlier "flaws" were actually clues or mysteries that relate to this. The problem is, at the time they just felt like sloppy writing, and you have to get through 300 pages of that before you learn the truth, at which point we have to keep pausing the action to infodump how this all makes sense, actually.
It's also weird because we're basically following a different protagonist now. Kind of. They actually seem pretty similar to me, but the story keeps emphasizing how different they are, so...I dunno. It's awkward however you look at it.
I actually wonder how the book would work if we knew Twist #2 from the start. We could have chapters alternate between POVs, and when something didn't add up, we would already know, or at least guess, why and be waiting for the character(s) to put things together.
The epilogue should have been cut. It's too long, focused on some new character that we don't care about, and if this story was supposed to be about our protagonist coming into her own or grappling with themes of identity or something, I feel like ruins that.
I also want to discuss the "DEI shit," as the book puts it. Because see, Bailey is a forty-year-old black woman. I have no problem with this, and I actually like the meta angle that Hall is writing a thriller about a middle-aged WOC helping Jack write a thriller about a middle-aged WOC. However, at the risk of sounding like one of the one-dimensional strawmen inserted to argue against this point...well, I was annoyed by the one-dimensional strawmen inserted to argue against this point. And the fact that the villains suddenly turn racist when their villainy is revealed. It's just very silly, watching murder someone and then berate Bailey for thinking that you could have a novel with black people in it. Like the bleeding corpse wasn't enough, we wouldn't realize that this character is evil unless they rant against diversity in fiction.
Also, one of those strawmen complains that Bailey only got the writing job because she's black, and thus stole it from white writers. We're clearly not supposed to agree with this. But the thing is...Bailey is not actually a writer. She does not want to be a writer (except sometimes she does, because inconsistent). All of the credentials that she used to get this job are fake. Being black is, in fact, her only qualification. So whether or not you agree with Hall's point, she basically created the worst possible setup to make it.
Anyway, there are a lot of problems, but I did mostly enjoy it. The ending is pretty gripping, and I got in a Goodreads giveaway, so it's a nice little treat.
I more or less enjoyed reading this, but my thought for most of the book was "this feels like the first draft." Especially early on, it's hard to tell what's going on, even when the story pauses to over-explain it. The main character, Bailey, seems to know or believe some things without explanation, and then not know crucial information later. Information that should have been mentioned earlier suddenly drops into the plot, as though Hall just came up with an idea and didn't go back to set it up. Et cetera.
The characterization was also odd, at least to me. Margo struck me as overly friendly, and since she's celebrity-adjacent, I kind of read her as "rich lady putting on a show of niceness." But Bailey's response is "oh, she's so nice, I like her," so...I guess not. Another character, Luann, is from Texas, which you know because she's always saying stuff like "deader than vulture bait" or "sleeping like a prairie dog" or whatever. Characters info-dump their whole backstories at the drop of a hat, and of course, seemingly-nice characters suddenly act cartoonishly evil once you know that they're villains. Bailey herself varies wildly in competence. I like that she's not an infallible Sherlock Holmes-type character, but I'm starting to think that I could handle this investigation better.
The setup is that Bailey is posing as a writer-in-residence to co-author a book with Jack, a famous novelist. This is a cover for her to be looking for a missing woman named Sam in the area around Jack's estate. Why she needs this cover, why she thinks Sam is in the area, etc., are all kind of vaguely defined.
At one point, Bailey gets lost in the woods and is attacked by Random Rapists. Just...hanging out in the woods, waiting for potential rape victims to stumble by. As you do. She escapes and nothing else comes of this.
At another point, Bailey is told that Avery might be crazy and lied to her for her own reasons. This probably doesn't mean much to you, since you don't know who Avery is. I do know who Avery is—Bailey's detective mentor, who sent her on this mission—but I was similarly nonplussed, because by this point we haven't actually met Avery so it's kind of hard to care. Also, it's clearly a red herring and Bailey looks dumb for instantly believing it. (Except sometimes she doesn't, because again, she's inconsistent.)
A lot of reviews say that the book gets good near the end, when we learn three big twists. The first is that the villains' plan is to . The second is that Bailey . The third is that Jack
I actually guessed that third one about a hundred pages earlier, but my reaction was "Really? Is that where we're going here?" And that's kind of how I feel about all of them. I don't read many thrillers, but even I know that "" is kind of a cliché. I actually like the first idea, in theory, but it doesn't amount to much (really, nothing in the "writing a book" concept does). The main problem is that none of these twists seem to fit in THIS book. It's a subtle problem of tone. It felt like the story was trying to be more grounded until this point, and all three of those reveals are just so improbable in real life.
The second twist is the most important one. It recontextualizes a lot of the story, and in retrospect, a lot (but by no means all) of the earlier "flaws" were actually clues or mysteries that relate to this. The problem is, at the time they just felt like sloppy writing, and you have to get through 300 pages of that before you learn the truth, at which point we have to keep pausing the action to infodump how this all makes sense, actually.
It's also weird because we're basically following a different protagonist now. Kind of. They actually seem pretty similar to me, but the story keeps emphasizing how different they are, so...I dunno. It's awkward however you look at it.
I actually wonder how the book would work if we knew Twist #2 from the start. We could have chapters alternate between POVs, and when something didn't add up, we would already know, or at least guess, why and be waiting for the character(s) to put things together.
The epilogue should have been cut. It's too long, focused on some new character that we don't care about, and if this story was supposed to be about our protagonist coming into her own or grappling with themes of identity or something, I feel like ruins that.
I also want to discuss the "DEI shit," as the book puts it. Because see, Bailey is a forty-year-old black woman. I have no problem with this, and I actually like the meta angle that Hall is writing a thriller about a middle-aged WOC helping Jack write a thriller about a middle-aged WOC. However, at the risk of sounding like one of the one-dimensional strawmen inserted to argue against this point...well, I was annoyed by the one-dimensional strawmen inserted to argue against this point. And the fact that the villains suddenly turn racist when their villainy is revealed. It's just very silly, watching murder someone and then berate Bailey for thinking that you could have a novel with black people in it. Like the bleeding corpse wasn't enough, we wouldn't realize that this character is evil unless they rant against diversity in fiction.
Also, one of those strawmen complains that Bailey only got the writing job because she's black, and thus stole it from white writers. We're clearly not supposed to agree with this. But the thing is...Bailey is not actually a writer. She does not want to be a writer (except sometimes she does, because inconsistent). All of the credentials that she used to get this job are fake. Being black is, in fact, her only qualification. So whether or not you agree with Hall's point, she basically created the worst possible setup to make it.
Anyway, there are a lot of problems, but I did mostly enjoy it. The ending is pretty gripping, and I got in a Goodreads giveaway, so it's a nice little treat.
May 29, 2024
This felt like trying to solve a mystery using someone else's brain.
You get the hint in the beginning that the main character may be under some type of psychological distress, but it's never really acknowledged or explained. As the story proceeds, you're limited to knowing only what the character is able to understand. If she can't remember something, you can't remember something. If she reads an article out of context, you read it out of context. If she can't process new information, you can't process it. This structure, at times, could be confusing to read, but I was always "getting it" just enough to stay intrigued.
Ultimately, this was a standard thriller plot made more interesting because of the way it was told. The characters and setting were also stronger than other books of its type. Suspension of disbelief was too high for me to love this, but otherwise a solid read.
You get the hint in the beginning that the main character may be under some type of psychological distress, but it's never really acknowledged or explained. As the story proceeds, you're limited to knowing only what the character is able to understand. If she can't remember something, you can't remember something. If she reads an article out of context, you read it out of context. If she can't process new information, you can't process it. This structure, at times, could be confusing to read, but I was always "getting it" just enough to stay intrigued.
Ultimately, this was a standard thriller plot made more interesting because of the way it was told. The characters and setting were also stronger than other books of its type. Suspension of disbelief was too high for me to love this, but otherwise a solid read.
March 17, 2024
Thanks to Net Galley for the advanced copy of this book!
This is maybe 3.25 stars. There were parts that were SO good and other parts that were SO confusing. I felt like I was dropped in the middle of the story and it was so disjointed (which I think was what the author was going for). But as a result, I had a really hard time getting into the story and it took me forever to read.
I love Howzell’s characters, descriptions, and ideas. I just wish they were organized a bit more. I really wanted to just relax into this book but I couldn’t ever get there.
This is maybe 3.25 stars. There were parts that were SO good and other parts that were SO confusing. I felt like I was dropped in the middle of the story and it was so disjointed (which I think was what the author was going for). But as a result, I had a really hard time getting into the story and it took me forever to read.
I love Howzell’s characters, descriptions, and ideas. I just wish they were organized a bit more. I really wanted to just relax into this book but I couldn’t ever get there.
May 6, 2024
City girl Bailey Meadows is at the Topanga Canyon ranch of mystery writer Jack Beckham, supposedly as a struggling novelist/attendee to an emerging writers conference plus the chosen recipient of mentorship with Beckham. In reality, she’s a private investigator in training looking for another Black woman who disappeared in this area, Sam Morris. Morris herself was looking for her missing mother and also had applied to the writing program. The best-selling author, a person with a murky past, wants Bailey’s assistance with the sequel to his novel about….a serial killer responsible for missing women in the same canyon. Too close to true life? Bailey wants to find out.
Rachel Howzell Hall has a track record of creating strong, smart, confident Black women who can solve puzzles and independently get solutions. Bailey, is, however, a tad scatterbrained and forgetful (on painkillers after a mugging incident), and unexplainably distressed at times (a food allergy that requires a life-saving Epi-pen shot also has her on edge). The book is interspersed with moments from dreams, passages from the missing woman’s life, old police reports, and flashbacks to a devastating fire years ago — which sometimes made transitions from chapters challenging. Fire is also a looming character: especially once we learn it takes 90 minutes for a wildfire to sweep from the canyon to the ocean, but it would take over 7 hours to evacuate the residents on the lone escape route.
The last third of the book is action-packed and filled with surprises — Bailey is a bewitching main character and the author has again created an amazing portrait of a complicated young woman. 4 stars!
Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Guilty, guilty, guilty: Jack rants that he’s criticized for characters with green eyes, because…yeah. Anyway, no green eyes in this book.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO The drought in Topanga is its own character and properly described as a fire magnet. And the author knows her Barbra Streisand rose bushes.
Thank you to Thomas and Mercer and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!
Rachel Howzell Hall has a track record of creating strong, smart, confident Black women who can solve puzzles and independently get solutions. Bailey, is, however, a tad scatterbrained and forgetful (on painkillers after a mugging incident), and unexplainably distressed at times (a food allergy that requires a life-saving Epi-pen shot also has her on edge). The book is interspersed with moments from dreams, passages from the missing woman’s life, old police reports, and flashbacks to a devastating fire years ago — which sometimes made transitions from chapters challenging. Fire is also a looming character: especially once we learn it takes 90 minutes for a wildfire to sweep from the canyon to the ocean, but it would take over 7 hours to evacuate the residents on the lone escape route.
The last third of the book is action-packed and filled with surprises — Bailey is a bewitching main character and the author has again created an amazing portrait of a complicated young woman. 4 stars!
Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Guilty, guilty, guilty: Jack rants that he’s criticized for characters with green eyes, because…yeah. Anyway, no green eyes in this book.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO The drought in Topanga is its own character and properly described as a fire magnet. And the author knows her Barbra Streisand rose bushes.
Thank you to Thomas and Mercer and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!
May 31, 2024
ARC by NetGalley and the publisher.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
Bailey Meadows is a private investigator in training who recently relocated to Topanga Canyon. She may have gone to the remote Southern California area as a part of a writers-in-residence program for famed thriller author Jack Beckham, but her real motives have a little to do with writing a book. Bailey is looking for the missing founder of a nonprofit. One that actually helps other families find missing loved ones. Yet now owner Sam Morris is the missing person herself. Bailey begins searching for Sam in the dangerous canyons she was last seen in, particularly the area around Beckham‘s estate. Strangely enough many other women over decades have gone missing in this very same location. Could this all be connected? As Bailey frantically searches for answers, she begins to wonder if she may end up being the next missing woman.
What Fire Brings is a psychological thriller that takes the reader on a wild ride through the treacherous canyons of Southern California as we follow the clues of missing women with our FMC Bailey. I will say the beginning of this book was a bit of a struggle for me to get through as it was on the slower side till about 35% in. I also found some writing style choices to not necessarily work for me. As it came off as rather choppy with the story unfolding through police reports, flashbacks, dreams, thoughts from the past missing women, and then of course mostly from Bailey who at times was very scatterbrained. I can appreciate the authors intentions behind these creative stylistic choices when it came to the FMC though as they did tend to showcase Bailey’s frantic searching in an immersive way. Once I became use to these stylistic choices though I did begin to enjoy the book and the plot more. The last quarter without a doubt had me turning pages as many of the twists were beginning to reveal themselves, some of which I did not see coming. Overall What Fire Brings was a unique thriller that fans of slow burn mysteries will without a doubt enjoy.
What Fire Brings comes out June 11th, 2024.
Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
Bailey Meadows is a private investigator in training who recently relocated to Topanga Canyon. She may have gone to the remote Southern California area as a part of a writers-in-residence program for famed thriller author Jack Beckham, but her real motives have a little to do with writing a book. Bailey is looking for the missing founder of a nonprofit. One that actually helps other families find missing loved ones. Yet now owner Sam Morris is the missing person herself. Bailey begins searching for Sam in the dangerous canyons she was last seen in, particularly the area around Beckham‘s estate. Strangely enough many other women over decades have gone missing in this very same location. Could this all be connected? As Bailey frantically searches for answers, she begins to wonder if she may end up being the next missing woman.
What Fire Brings is a psychological thriller that takes the reader on a wild ride through the treacherous canyons of Southern California as we follow the clues of missing women with our FMC Bailey. I will say the beginning of this book was a bit of a struggle for me to get through as it was on the slower side till about 35% in. I also found some writing style choices to not necessarily work for me. As it came off as rather choppy with the story unfolding through police reports, flashbacks, dreams, thoughts from the past missing women, and then of course mostly from Bailey who at times was very scatterbrained. I can appreciate the authors intentions behind these creative stylistic choices when it came to the FMC though as they did tend to showcase Bailey’s frantic searching in an immersive way. Once I became use to these stylistic choices though I did begin to enjoy the book and the plot more. The last quarter without a doubt had me turning pages as many of the twists were beginning to reveal themselves, some of which I did not see coming. Overall What Fire Brings was a unique thriller that fans of slow burn mysteries will without a doubt enjoy.
What Fire Brings comes out June 11th, 2024.
Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
April 6, 2024
4.5 rounded up.
I had a great time with it and was excited to pick it back up. My only gripe is that the ending became a little too dizzying for me. I’m not entirely sure I understand what happened in the last bits. I think this will be a fun book to read again knowing some of what’s really going on and picking up new clues.
Energy: Wary. Confident. Instinctive.
Scene: 🇺🇸 A luxurious estate in Topanga Canyon, California
Perspective: We follow an aspiring PI undercover as a writer-in-residence at the estate of a famous thriller author. They are trying to discover what may have happened to a colleague and friend who was last seen in the area before going missing. We also get flashbacks to an earlier time in the same region when a killer was preying on women.
🐕 Howls: Dizzying cluttered ending. .
🐩 Tail Wags: Use of natural and man-made situations to create unease and high-stakes moments. Bursts of high stakes. Disorienting and unreliable narrators and characters. Our main character. Unhinged villains.
🤔 Random Thoughts:
Disorienting in the best way (on purpose and consistent) so I could still overanalyze characters’ actions and puzzle through the clues even while in suspended disbelief mode. I love when I can mentally yell at a character and then have it all make sense 🫢.
The lead up to the ending was a little too all over the place and I was getting whiplash, but I still liked how it ultimately ended. Just be okay with open and unresolved endings, though!
Not a big fan of action movies or film noir, but this felt like a mix of those in a way I wanted. It had the elements of those genres that I enjoy (bursts of high stakes, misinterpreting dangerous situations) without the bits I dislike (no prolonged fight scenes or repetitive cat-and-mouse games).
----
🎬 Tale-Telling: Choppy, staccato, gritty.
🤓 Reader Role: On the shoulder of the main character. Thrown right in the story with no idea what’s happening or who is who. We discover everything as it happens around us.
🗺️ World-Building: Sensory, atmospheric, cinematic.
🔥 Fuel: Starts with PI sleuthing to uncover what happened to the missing women in this area. Is Bailey’s colleague safe, in danger, or worse? Moves to what is actually going on? Who can we trust? Who is who?
📖 Cred: Plausible to suspended disbelief but in an intriguing way.
🚙 Journey: Memorable weekend getting lost on dusty, twisty roads with some great views.
Mood Reading Match-Up:
-Sundrenched hills. Wildflowers. Cicadas. Bacon sizzling. Smoothie blending. Frosted grass. Smoke-filled skies. Owl hooting. Footsteps on gravel.
-Gritty whodunnit…did anyone do it? mystery
-Casts of potentially unreliable characters
Content Heads-Up: Medical (allergies, stitches/blood). Prescription drug use. Parental abandonment (brief, recall). Mental health (dissociation, fugue). Racism, prejudice (virtue signalling, characters). Loss of a parent. Murdered or missing persons. Natural disasters (fire).
Rep: Black, White, and Latina Americans. Cisgender. Heterosexual.
📚 Format: Advance Reader’s Copy from Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley
My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶
I had a great time with it and was excited to pick it back up. My only gripe is that the ending became a little too dizzying for me. I’m not entirely sure I understand what happened in the last bits. I think this will be a fun book to read again knowing some of what’s really going on and picking up new clues.
Energy: Wary. Confident. Instinctive.
Scene: 🇺🇸 A luxurious estate in Topanga Canyon, California
Perspective: We follow an aspiring PI undercover as a writer-in-residence at the estate of a famous thriller author. They are trying to discover what may have happened to a colleague and friend who was last seen in the area before going missing. We also get flashbacks to an earlier time in the same region when a killer was preying on women.
🐕 Howls: Dizzying cluttered ending. .
🐩 Tail Wags: Use of natural and man-made situations to create unease and high-stakes moments. Bursts of high stakes. Disorienting and unreliable narrators and characters. Our main character. Unhinged villains.
🤔 Random Thoughts:
Disorienting in the best way (on purpose and consistent) so I could still overanalyze characters’ actions and puzzle through the clues even while in suspended disbelief mode. I love when I can mentally yell at a character and then have it all make sense 🫢.
The lead up to the ending was a little too all over the place and I was getting whiplash, but I still liked how it ultimately ended. Just be okay with open and unresolved endings, though!
Not a big fan of action movies or film noir, but this felt like a mix of those in a way I wanted. It had the elements of those genres that I enjoy (bursts of high stakes, misinterpreting dangerous situations) without the bits I dislike (no prolonged fight scenes or repetitive cat-and-mouse games).
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🎬 Tale-Telling: Choppy, staccato, gritty.
🤓 Reader Role: On the shoulder of the main character. Thrown right in the story with no idea what’s happening or who is who. We discover everything as it happens around us.
🗺️ World-Building: Sensory, atmospheric, cinematic.
🔥 Fuel: Starts with PI sleuthing to uncover what happened to the missing women in this area. Is Bailey’s colleague safe, in danger, or worse? Moves to what is actually going on? Who can we trust? Who is who?
📖 Cred: Plausible to suspended disbelief but in an intriguing way.
🚙 Journey: Memorable weekend getting lost on dusty, twisty roads with some great views.
Mood Reading Match-Up:
-Sundrenched hills. Wildflowers. Cicadas. Bacon sizzling. Smoothie blending. Frosted grass. Smoke-filled skies. Owl hooting. Footsteps on gravel.
-Gritty whodunnit…did anyone do it? mystery
-Casts of potentially unreliable characters
Content Heads-Up: Medical (allergies, stitches/blood). Prescription drug use. Parental abandonment (brief, recall). Mental health (dissociation, fugue). Racism, prejudice (virtue signalling, characters). Loss of a parent. Murdered or missing persons. Natural disasters (fire).
Rep: Black, White, and Latina Americans. Cisgender. Heterosexual.
📚 Format: Advance Reader’s Copy from Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley
My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶
March 18, 2024
Bailey Meadows is an aspiring private investigator, and she’s now posing as an “emerging” writer, accepted into a program where she’s paired with famous thriller writer Jack Beckham at his estate. The Beckham residence, located in secluded and dense Topanga Canyon, was where the missing person Bailey is searching for was believed to be last seen. Over the years, other women have also gone missing near the residence, and Bailey tries to find the connection, and the threats are mounting, both from inside the residence and from an approaching wildfire. What Fire Brings has an unusual narrative as the plot unfolds with seemingly random bits and pieces of information, journal entries and police reports interspersed with the story. As the book progresses you’ll understand why, but as you’re reading, this scattered style was jarring and confusing, and really took away my interest as I was trying to decipher the ramblings. Although I’ve enjoyed this author’s prior books, and once the plot comes together it finally all made sense, I had to fight my way there, and that diminished my enjoyment of this book. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
July 2, 2024
Bailey Meadows is in training to be a private investigator. Her 1st undercover assignment brings her to Topanga Canyon and to the home of a famous thriller author, Jack Beckham. She is chosen as his writer-in-residence to help him write another bestseller. But she's not there to write. She's there to gather clues and hopefully find Sam Morris, who disappeared in the canyon near the Beckham home. However, Sam Morris is not the only missing woman in the canyon. She quickly realizes that the canyon can be dangerous with wildfires and mountain lions. As fire season approaches, Bailey starts to uncover dark secrets. Could there be a link between the missing women and what happened years ago on the estate? Can she find Sam and evacuate before the whole estate is engulfed?
This book started out slow, but it did pick up near the end. It had an interesting plot with a few twists, but unfortunately, I wasn't a fan of the writing style. The story jumped around a lot without any explanation. Which honestly left me a bit confused in some parts. I found the FMC unrelatable and annoying at times. But just because this book was not for me doesn't mean it's not for you.
This book started out slow, but it did pick up near the end. It had an interesting plot with a few twists, but unfortunately, I wasn't a fan of the writing style. The story jumped around a lot without any explanation. Which honestly left me a bit confused in some parts. I found the FMC unrelatable and annoying at times. But just because this book was not for me doesn't mean it's not for you.
June 13, 2024
A difficult time
The story took several times and much longer than usual to read a thriller. I wanted to give the story my undivided attention. The author is new to me, and it took some time to grasp her writing style.
My thoughts about the story: Mostly, Bailey, or Sam's constant musing was distracting for me. The plot was fluid, and the writing was easy to follow. I knew some of the characters were a ploy in the storyline to make the mystery plausible. I liked the fact that Bailey sensed the missing ladies had a connection to Jack Beckham, the famous author. I wasn't sure whether it was the father or the son. Like father, like son, I guess. The funny thing, with Big Jack's constant mentions in the story, I sensed there was a reason he received so much attention. The metaphors and similes will pull the story together. Just be patient. Overall, the mystery had an unexpected conclusion. The story flowed well, and it featured a likely outcome for a person facing the ordeal the leading character survived- maybe? 4.75 stars...
The story took several times and much longer than usual to read a thriller. I wanted to give the story my undivided attention. The author is new to me, and it took some time to grasp her writing style.
My thoughts about the story: Mostly, Bailey, or Sam's constant musing was distracting for me. The plot was fluid, and the writing was easy to follow. I knew some of the characters were a ploy in the storyline to make the mystery plausible. I liked the fact that Bailey sensed the missing ladies had a connection to Jack Beckham, the famous author. I wasn't sure whether it was the father or the son. Like father, like son, I guess. The funny thing, with Big Jack's constant mentions in the story, I sensed there was a reason he received so much attention. The metaphors and similes will pull the story together. Just be patient. Overall, the mystery had an unexpected conclusion. The story flowed well, and it featured a likely outcome for a person facing the ordeal the leading character survived- maybe? 4.75 stars...
July 8, 2024
Bailey moves into a well known writers mansion to help him with his next book. Nothing is what it seems and it feels like she can’t trust anyone. She is a PI that is searching for her friend that went missing in this area. Did Jack have something to do with it? Did his staff?
This book relies heavily on confusing the reader and an unreliable narrator. I was at first confused as to what was happening. I felt like there needed to be better back story on the characters to keep everyone straight. I also was slightly Annoyed with the main character Bailey. There was so much back and forth with what she knew and what she didn’t know it became increasingly frustrating in the book. The last 25% of the book picks up steam and reveals a few twists. I think this book will appeal to some readers but I wasn’t a huge fan.
Thank you netgalley for a copy of this book.
This book relies heavily on confusing the reader and an unreliable narrator. I was at first confused as to what was happening. I felt like there needed to be better back story on the characters to keep everyone straight. I also was slightly Annoyed with the main character Bailey. There was so much back and forth with what she knew and what she didn’t know it became increasingly frustrating in the book. The last 25% of the book picks up steam and reveals a few twists. I think this book will appeal to some readers but I wasn’t a huge fan.
Thank you netgalley for a copy of this book.
July 14, 2024
This is a very tough review for me to write. So many times I couldn’t figure what was true, what characters were real, and which characters were even telling the truth.
Bailey is sent undercover as a up and coming author. She’s accepted as an author in residence at the estate of famous author, Jack Beckham. Many women have disappeared in the mountain below Jacks estate. So much of Baileys identity is so vague, but Jack never questioned her.
Again, who’s identity in this story is real? Then throw in the fugue state where someone can forget their identity, caused by some type of trauma, and start living a new identity.
The ending left me with way too many questions?
Bailey is sent undercover as a up and coming author. She’s accepted as an author in residence at the estate of famous author, Jack Beckham. Many women have disappeared in the mountain below Jacks estate. So much of Baileys identity is so vague, but Jack never questioned her.
Again, who’s identity in this story is real? Then throw in the fugue state where someone can forget their identity, caused by some type of trauma, and start living a new identity.
The ending left me with way too many questions?
March 6, 2024
I’m not going to lie - I really struggled to concentrate for the first half of this book. I just didn’t connect too much with the MC or the whole storyline. However, as the book progressed, the last 20% or so was wild, and there were a lot of unexpected surprises. This kind of made up for the earlier part of the book, and it also makes me wonder if the author didn’t almost craft the story in such a way to really wallop the reader. I would think fans of investigative thrillers/mysteries would enjoy what this one offers.
February 23, 2024
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.
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