The Bet

I love mysteries and this one was exciting. This held my attention from the very beginning. The ending was quite a surprise and kept my interest. I look forward to more books from this beginning author. Good job!!

After reading the first two chapters, I almost deleted this one, however, I went back and read a number of 5 star reviews and decided to give it a go. It is a tense ride but does redeem itself at the end. A rather surprise turn towards the end of the book adds shock value. Glad I stuck it out.

I thought the idea behind this book was good. The ending just seemed very strange and very rushed. I actually felt cheated at the end. It was as if I read the entire book waiting to see how it would all be resolved only to have the author skip over all the important facts and end too abruptly. Definitely could have been better.

While generally liking this book, I was frustrated a few times when Mr. Brown went off course into lengthy periods of things that added nothing to his story line. I kept wanting to holler at him to shut up and get back to the real reason he wrote the book. It felt like he was just filling empty pages. But in the end I liked the story, gruesome as it was.

I enjoyed reading this book. The story was full of twist and turns. Sometimes when I am reading a story I think, "This would be a good movie." and I thought that with this one. I don't know if the author has other books but I'm going to look see if he does.

I enjoyed reading this book. The story was full of twist and turns. Sometimes when I am reading a story I think, "This would be a good movie." and I thought that with this one. I don't know if the author has other books but I'm going to look see if he does.

After reading reviews as well as clip of the book I thought it was going to be a great read but I just couldn't finish the book. After the 5th chapter I lost interest. Book just didn't grab my interest moving too slow.

It moved a little slowly, and after reading a couple reviews that gave away too much information, it kind of spoiled it for me. After he accepted the bet, I skipped to the last four chapters. It wasn't the best book I've ever read.

This story had real potential but the author just could not pull it off. Even the twist did not really matter. We never found out if it effected anything. One main character disappeared without any explanation. The timing of the ending sequence made absolutely no sense at all. Too bad, what could have been a real thriller was a silly yawner. The author should have given the idea to someone who could develop it.

The premis sounds interesting but it becomes a horror story with non believable side stories. The ending is absurd. It's an easy read but, again, gruesome....it could have been a lot more interesting. The chase could have been a lot more adventurous and interesting. But it was only a small part of the book. Not worth the time or $$$$$'s.

Once I overcame the suspension of disbelief, I plodded on thinking that this could be interesting. It was--I wanted to know what happened. The author writes well, although it could stand a good punctuation edit. That said, I did enjoy the book, and liked the main characters. I gave it three stars due to the editing, as mentioned, as well as the ending. It was rather abrupt, and I wanted more. I feel the author is a promising writer.

Ok, full disclosure: the author married my sister so I already knew he was a man of exquisite taste and high intelligence. What I didn't know was if he could write. I was thrilled for him when his book was published, and because he's family and I adore him, I decided to read iteven though I really don't care for thrillers. As far as I'm concerned, real life is stressful enough, why add more? I figured I'd slog through it, maybe over the course of a week. Less than 24 hours later, I'm blown away. Fantastic story! Lots of twists and turns, none of which I anticipated. Right through the ending, he kept surprising me. I LOVED this, and will read it all over again, once I take some ibuprofen and maybe a nap to get rid of the headache I got from sitting in the same position too long because I didn't want to take the time away from the story to adjust the pillows! Click "Buy this" and start reading right away on your Kindle; you're in for a deliciously wild ride!

It was well written and the charcters were likeable (except for the villan(ess), which was a nice twist. One thing I found improbable was that Tony would give up his young life knowingly for his friend. An effective and interesting thriller. Another thing I would mention is the author's use of the word "autistic" ("...terrified to the point of being autistic."). To me, it did not fit at all in the context and I found it jarring and a bit offensive, personally.

I liked it at first. Even though some things didn't seem right, I been reading books that have been really bad and I thought I finally found one that would be great. Then out of no where it just seemed like stuff wasn't really adding up and it was harder to just shrug off and then the end was just disappointing.

Wow! David Brown's style reminds me of John Grisham. This was an excellent book - well written, entertaining and I absolutely could not put it down. I'm always looking for new authors and I am so glad I found a good one. When reading thrillers like this, I always try to guess what's going to happen next and I was constantly surprised.

I was really enjoying this book. It kept my interest even if the plot was far fetched... I was curious how it would end as it seemed there was quite a bit of story left to unfold when it abruptly ended in a few pages and not chapters as I expected.... I would have given this a better rating if the ending made any sense... very glad it was a free book.

If you like suspense novels, you will love this book. Well written and very good story line, especially for a "fist time" author. The Georgia setting drew me in right from the beginning. Looking forward to his next book!

This book is a very well-written story. Someone should write a screenplay and turn it into a movie. With the action and locales it would make a very good movie. (I was thinking Ben Affleck as Richard and Michelle Williams as Julie, but couldn't decide on a Kranz :-) It took me about two weeks to get through this book (I typically have 2 or 3 books going at a time). The suspense had me so anxious at times that I had to put the book down. Something that speaks well about the writing is that if I put the book down and picked it back up a couple of days later, I never lost my place in the story. (Didn't have to back-track read)

The story is very action-packed and moves along quickly. If I could have stomached some of the drama I probably would have read it in two days instead of two weeks. Without giving anything away, it basically involves a happily married man pursuing the American dream and in doing so, puts himself and his family at risk. The story goes through several locales (the last one being my favorite) and has the protagonist teaming up with a rather shady character who redeems himself at the end.

There is also a very interesting twist at the end that I totally did not see coming. I agree with a previous reviewer who felt that could have been drawn out a bit more. All in all, I think it's a good read, and I hope David Brown writes some less-gruesome stories in the future, because he definitely knows how to tell a story.

Wow! This is one of the most exciting, well-written, and character-driven stories I've ever read, and I've read a bunch. David Brown's debut novel is clearly 'top shelf'. If you enjoy a creative plot with characters able to handle their task...well, "The Bet" is for you.
This one is written with excellent dialogue, pace, and an ending that will blow you away!
Brown adds every emotion, every aspect of greed and jealousy along with true love and friendship. As an author, I see talent and the storytelling skill with this new author. I sure hope to see more of Brown's work. "Well done, David! Keep writin' and smilin'..."

LeeCarey-author.com

The book started off with a premise that was interesting enough but then went downhill from there. The "bad guy" bugs the main characters so he can listen to everything and then misses the two important pay phone calls? He does thorough research on the whole family for years and misses the fact that Richard's roommate in college was a crime lord's son? It just doesn't add up. The author throws in a bizarre plot twist that makes no difference to the plot and could just as easily have been left out. Then the ending was just thrown together without much detail or plausibility. I would have liked to have known more about Tony's plan and about how Richard's grandfather fared after the ordeal. When I got to the end I felt as if I had wasted my time on this book.

Fast paced and suspenseful, this book was pretty good and a quick read. The ending was kind of a cop-out after setting up the rest of the story so nicely, so that's why I'm giving it only 4 stars instead of 5. I would read another book by this author

Enjoyed the sample, bought the book. The sample was, unfortunately, the best part of the book. The characters development at times is excruciating and the whole plot line pretty much calls for the suspension of belief. The hero is at least human and shows his failings. However, just too much mayhem performed by the various villains which apparently goes unnoticed by law enforcement. We are led to believe the villain just just kill with impunity and that his money truly buys absolution from any crime, no matter how heinous. All in all, a disappointing read of what could have been a good plot line.

I'm typically a slow reader, but finished The Bet in record time because I was so intrigued by the story. David Brown used to be my account representative, and I keep asking how did such a nice guy come up with such evil villains! Lots of twists and unexpected developments as the story progressed. Thanks, David! Give us more books, please.