Review: Keep Them Close by David Ellis

 

Keep Them Close by David Ellis

Publication Date: June 30th 2026 by G.P. Putnam's Sons

Pages: 368

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Libro.fm | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Keep Them Close started off with a bang and had me hooked from the first page!

 

Allison, a smart defense attorney, is successful, but her marriage is another story. I wanted to strangle her husband!

 

Luke, Allison’s brother, has a run in with the law and Allison’s ready to step in and help, but things are not as they seem.

 

Complicated relationships with betrayals sprinkled in, but at the heart of this was family.

 

Events from the past are woven into the present and I was riveted! Just when I thought I knew what was going on, a new angle came to light. I loved Allison’s quick, smart thinking!

 

Keep Them Close was a twisty and oh-so-good! Five stars from me, and easily one of my favorite reads of 2026!

5 Stars

Book Description:

From the bestselling author of Look Closer comes a new domestic thriller about betrayal and murder inside one twisted family

Siblings Allison and Luke have been through a lot together. They’ve always stood by each other. They’d do anything for each other.

When Allison’s husband, Finley, is murdered, Luke is right there by her side.

Until the murder investigation exposes secrets that could tear their family apart.

An illicit affair. A decades-old accident. A shocking betrayal. How do they explain Finley’s death? And why are the siblings suddenly avoiding each other?

As past tensions resurface, the truth might lie a little too close to home…

Review: Storm Warning by David Bell

 

Storm Warning by David Bell

Publication Date: June 25th 2024 by Berkley

Pages: 364

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Jake Powell is heading off Ketchum Island, Florida to move back home to Ohio. Hurricane Kylie is bearing down so he’s trying to beat the storm. As he bids farewell to his friends in the apartment building Jake finds his friend Dallas, the building manager, dead on the floor, clearly murdered. From there it’s a fight for survival as Jake and the residents battle dangers from the storm and from the unknown killer.

 

Storm Warning was a page-turning, action-packed read, but a little one dimensional in characterization. Some of Jake’s decisions defied logic, IMO, but faced with the same chaos, I wonder if I’d handle things any better. I would’ve liked more meat to the mystery, like more potential motives from the characters forced to try and survive together.  Still, I do enjoy a good battling-the-elements kind of thriller and the story was a quick, entertaining read! 

3.5 Stars

Book Description:

A man living on a Florida barrier island must protect his family from both an approaching hurricane and a relentless killer.

Jake Powell is racing to get off the island as a powerful hurricane approaches. When he finds his best friend Dallas, the building manager, dead from a blow to the skull, Jake realizes there’s more than the storm to fear. There’s a murderer on the island, maybe even still inside the nearly abandoned building.

Dallas had repeatedly run afoul of the wealthy owners of the building by complaining about code violations and the precarious state of the condos. But he’d also once told Jake that every resident had a secret they’d come to Florida to escape. Had one of them killed to conceal their sins? As a dozen people shelter together in hopes of surviving the deadly hurricane, a second murder makes it all too clear: one of them is a dangerous killer.