David Bell is one of the most reliable suspense writers working today. Each year or so I look forward to a new outing from him. I've come to expect taut plots, credible characters, and vivid descriptive writing.
Two books ago he published The Finalists, which is my favorite of his novels. Bell's following novel was Try Not To Breathe, a page-turning thriller in the vein of F. Paul Wilson. Now we have his latest, Storm Warning.
I'd love to be able to say it's Bell's best to date, but I'm afraid it isn't the case. He's known for original storylines, but Storm Warning is a cliched novel about a group of people waiting out a storm while a murder is in their midst. I've read a few books with similar themes in recent years, and a quick check at Goodreads proves there are a lot of books with the exact same title.
All the boxes are checked. An assortment of eccentric people in an isolated location while a monster storm wreaks havoc. In addition to the chaos of the storm there are turbulent emotional tangles within the group. People start to wind up dead, and the storm isn't the culprit. There are red herrings galore. Is one of them a murderer trying to use the storm to hide their nefarious deeds?
This could be a Taylor Adams or Riley Sager novel. If, that is, they were as good as David Bell. Bell is one of the best writers I've read in the field, and he's better than the material in Storm Warning.
The characters are well-drawn and the descriptions of the devastation are powerful. It almost feels like an apocalyptic story. To Bell's credit there are no mind-blowing twists. The mystery slowly unfolds in a logical manner that doesn't insult the reader's intelligence.
Then there is the sloppy happy ending. I like happy endings, but I want a satisfying emotional experience rather than one that is trite and predictable. It felt like a cheat.
I enjoyed Storm Warning, and I sped through the pages with the speed of a hurricane. It is, however, my least favorite of all David Bell's books.
Written by Mark Sieber
Two books ago he published The Finalists, which is my favorite of his novels. Bell's following novel was Try Not To Breathe, a page-turning thriller in the vein of F. Paul Wilson. Now we have his latest, Storm Warning.
I'd love to be able to say it's Bell's best to date, but I'm afraid it isn't the case. He's known for original storylines, but Storm Warning is a cliched novel about a group of people waiting out a storm while a murder is in their midst. I've read a few books with similar themes in recent years, and a quick check at Goodreads proves there are a lot of books with the exact same title.

This could be a Taylor Adams or Riley Sager novel. If, that is, they were as good as David Bell. Bell is one of the best writers I've read in the field, and he's better than the material in Storm Warning.
The characters are well-drawn and the descriptions of the devastation are powerful. It almost feels like an apocalyptic story. To Bell's credit there are no mind-blowing twists. The mystery slowly unfolds in a logical manner that doesn't insult the reader's intelligence.
Then there is the sloppy happy ending. I like happy endings, but I want a satisfying emotional experience rather than one that is trite and predictable. It felt like a cheat.
I enjoyed Storm Warning, and I sped through the pages with the speed of a hurricane. It is, however, my least favorite of all David Bell's books.
Written by Mark Sieber
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