By: David Bell
Narrator: Sean Patrick Hopkins
Penguin Audio
ISBN: 9780593549995
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: 06/24/2024
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
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.
My Review
David Bell returns following Try Not To Breathe with his latest heart-pounding adrenaline-fueled suspense thriller, STORM WARNING.
A man living on a Florida barrier island is caught up in a web of secrets, lies, and murder while protecting his family and friends from a dangerous hurricane and a relentless killer where everyone is keeping secrets in a race against time.
About...
Set on the east coast of Florida on a barrier island, Ketchum Island, there are apartment buildings that have run their course. All three remaining buildings are scheduled to be demolished within six months. The Sunset Manor is one of them, with many problems, code violations, and greedy developers who want to land and build pricy luxury condos called Atlantic Estates.
Fifty years ago, this place was a paradise. Now, not so much. Now, Hurricane Kylie is approaching the Atlantic Coast. Soon, there will be evacuations, and if you stay, the authorities, of course, will not be able to help, and then the causeway bridge will be closed.
Jake Powell is trying to get off the island to connect with his family in Ohio. His best friend, Dallas, is the building manager with whom he just spoke. He gave him his car to drive to Ohio to meet Jordan and Makenzie. Dallas will be headed to Chicago for another property job after the storm.
When Jake comes back to help his friends, he finds Dallas dead from a blow to the head. Who would murder Dallas? Is there a thief among them amid a storm? No cell phone reception and no way to call the cops.
He must try to protect the elderly people in the building, including Hazel, the historian (in her nineties). He tries to gather all the remaining tenants to a lower floor to protect them from the impending hurricane. But can they trust everyone in the building?
Jake had only been living there for six months after separating from his wife and daughter; however, he had made dear friends with these folks. He will be reuniting with this family.
Now, is there a killer on the loose, or is it someone among them? Everyone has secrets, but someone knows too much and puts them all in danger. Then, a security guard shows up and says he was sent by the owners. Is he for real?
As about a dozen people gather together (intriguing characters), including Jake's wife and daughter who decided to surprise him, he must try and protect them from not only a deadly storm but a dangerous killer after there is a second murder.
But as the storm outside grows more threatening, so does the tension in the apartment building, and the surging waters.
Will they make it out alive, who will survive, and will they find what the killer is after? Who can they trust? Hold on for your life...
My thoughts...
Atmospheric and gripping Bell (master storyteller) and long-time favorite author combines old mysteries, past and present, with new dangers to create an evocative page-turner that will have you racing to the end. Readers will be immersed!
STORM WARNING is a heart-pounding, intense, suspenseful, action-packed, high adrenaline, descriptive, atmospheric, twisty thrill ride full of dark secrets and lies. A complex murder mystery and a web of deceit combining obsession, determination, and danger amidst a life-threatening storm, and no way to escape with the bridges closed. Think locked room thriller
Through the Florida winds and storms, Jake takes control to help these residents, his family, and a diverse cast of characters. With great characterization, I adored Jake and Hazel, the older, clever historian with a spunk. I love books set in Florida—hurricanes and murder add to the suspense and intrigue.
I also enjoyed the history behind the building and the land, which is topical today.
As a Floridian for over 20 years, having lived on the east coast from Ponte Vedra Beach, Ormond Beach, W. Palm Beach, to the Florida Keys and always on the water and worked in Ft. Lauderdale and Miami, I have lived through many hurricanes, evacuations, and two other hurricanes in NC and Atlanta, GA. Also, being in the commercial and residential real estate overseeing regional properties throughout Florida and working for developers, I know all too well about corruption and greed (a former whistleblower) and have lived in Florida high rises on the water with all the same problems, code violations, elevator issues, electrical fires, cover-ups, and spent years dealing with the legalities. Plus, I had a 90-year-old female neighbor on my fifteenth floor with an intriguing past (Paris and was from royalty), and she reminded me of Hazel.
A chilling tale, B ell has written a very realistic fictional version of the real Florida and its problems, which is very timely and topical. It is full of menace and all the elements of a locked-room thriller. I thoroughly enjoyed it and read it in one sitting!
Recs...
STORM WARNING is for fans of the author and those who enjoyed Margot Hunt's The Guests, John Grisham's Camino Winds, Eliza Nellums' The Bone Cay and Ana Menéndez's The Apartment. Plus, readers who enjoy books about Florida hurricanes, apartment buildings with a colorful cast, corruption, family dramas, historical mysteries, with intriguing pasts, murder, and locked-room thrillers.
Thank you...
Thanks to Berkley Pub and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy for an honest review. #CoverLove
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 4.5 Stars rounded to 5
Pub Date: June 24, 2024
A personal note:
Speaking of Florida hurricanes, I said I would never evacuate again during a hurricane (living on the water on the top penthouse floor) after my last disaster. Unless you live in Florida, you do not understand if they evacuate the East and West Coast, then you have a disaster. There is no way this many people can evacuate, which they now understand after the last big hurricane. Florida's major highways (I-95 and FL Turnpike), roads, and gas stations cannot accommodate millions of people evacuating, which they have learned the hard way. Florida is long and narrow, with only two major highways to escape. I spent 26 hours driving only 3 hrs away from West Palm Beach and only made it to Ocala (on my way to NC— which never happened). Long lines to the gas stations or no gas. Then, I had to stop at a hotel after all the driving before it hit (including the entire state). A hotel tripled the normal rates, then the hurricane hit there and flooded with no power, no gas stations, no cell, or food, or restaurants open. Then, the State of Florida would not open the roads back up to allow you to return home for days until they attain gas. Then, it was another 20 hours to drive back home with more water damage there that I could have cleaned up if I had stayed. I would have been better off staying. This is why people stay. I have also been to a shelter with evacuation and never again. You just have to take your chances!
I have since moved a few miles from the water and out of the high rise. Currently on a 5-year waiting list for a property in Asheville, NC, to escape this madness of hurricanes, iguanas, alligators, sugar cane burning, and hot and humid weather. Mountains and seasons, please.
Praise for the novels of David Bell
“A terrifically tense thriller...will keep you guessing until the very end.”
—New York Times bestselling author Riley Sager
“A tale straight out of the psychological thriller territory blazed by the likes of Harlan Coben and Lisa Gardner.”
—The Providence Journal
“[A] suspenseful, page-turning thriller.”
—HelloGiggles
“A tautly told, heart-pounding read...every character’s a suspect and no one can be trusted.”
—New York Times bestselling author Mary Kubica
“A compulsive, twisty, race-against-the-clock thriller...[a] smart and unrelenting page-turner!”
—New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger
About the Author
David Bell is the New York Times-bestselling author of sixteen novels including TRY NOT TO BREATHE, SHE’S GONE, THE FINALISTS, KILL ALL YOUR DARLINGS, THE REQUEST, LAYOVER, SOMEBODY’S DAUGHTER, BRING HER HOME, SINCE SHE WENT AWAY, SOMEBODY I USED TO KNOW, THE FORGOTTEN GIRL, NEVER COME BACK, THE HIDING PLACE, CEMETERY GIRL, THE GIRL IN THE WOODS, and THE CONDEMNED.
His work has been translated into numerous foreign languages, included on several bestseller lists, nominated for the Pushcart Prize five times, and, in 2013, won the prestigious Prix Polar International de Cognac for best crime novel by an international author. KILL ALL YOUR DARLINGS was also nominated for a 2022 Edgar Award.
He is a professor of English at Western Kentucky University where he co-founded the MFA program in creative writing. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, he spends his free time rooting for the Reds and Bengals, watching movies, and walking in the cemetery near his house. He lives in Bowling Green, Kentucky, with his wife, young adult author M Hendrix. WEBSITE
