THE REQUEST BY DAVID BELL

• Publisher: Berkley (June 30, 2020)
• Publication Date: June 30, 2020
• Sold by: Penguin Group (USA) LLC

When a man agrees to do a favor for a friend, he gets more than he bargained for as he becomes embroiled in a woman’s murder in this new thriller from the USA Today bestselling author of Layover.

Ryan Francis has it all—great job, wonderful wife, beautiful child—and he loves posting photos of his perfect life on social media. Until the night his friend Blake asks him to break into a woman’s home to retrieve incriminating items that implicate Blake in an affair. Ryan refuses to help, but when Blake threatens to reveal Ryan’s darkest secret—which could jeopardize everything in Ryan’s life—Ryan has no choice but to honor Blake’s request.

When he arrives at the woman's home, Ryan is shocked to find her dead—and just as shocked to realize he knows her. Then his phone chimes, revealing a Facebook friend request from the woman. With police sirens rapidly approaching, Ryan flees, wondering why his friend was setting him up for murder.

Determined to keep his life intact and to clear his name, Ryan must find the real murderer—but solving the crime may lead him closer to home than he ever could have imagined.

THOUGHTS/REVIEW:

Oh my goodness, this was a terrific read that I really enjoyed. I am always on the look out for thrillers that quickly grabs my attention from the very first page, with characters that seem to get in deeper trouble, and of course with some twists to keep you guessing and those adrenaline pumping.

David Bell delivered another amazing thriller in The Request. Ryan Francis is guilt ridden and trying to make things right with a family involved in a car accident that Ryan was a part of where one of the daughters died, and another left disabled. He anonymously leaves an envelope with money for the family every month. He is happily married and with a son, has a bar he is a partner of and life seems to be doing okay until it spirals out of control. His friend Blake asks for a favor, the request, which is simple enough until he gets framed for murder.

Bell wrote a real fast paced thriller that was entertaining and addicting. I thought the writing was superb and had me guessing and talking loudly to some of the characters. I was really immersed in this engrossing and relevant read about the power of social media and the way it seeps through our lives. I love a great thriller that I can binge read with protagonists that are in impossible situations.

I encourage you to pick this up for an enthralling and binge worthy read worth staying up for.

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT:

David Bell is the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of eight novels from Berkley/Penguin: SOMEBODY'S DAUGHTER, BRING HER HOME, SINCE SHE WENT AWAY, SOMEBODY I USED TO KNOW, THE FORGOTTEN GIRL, NEVER COME BACK, THE HIDING PLACE, and CEMETERY GIRL. He is an Associate Professor of English at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky and can be reached through his website www.davidbellnovels.com.