
Author: Nora Murphy
Published by: Minotaur Books on May 31, 2022
Genres: Mystery/Thriller
Pages: 288
Format: ARC, Paperback
Source: Minotaur Books
Book Rating: 8.5/10
Staying is dangerous. Leaving could be worse.
Leah and McKenna have never met, though they have parallel lives.
They don’t—ever—find themselves in the same train carriage or meet accidentally at the gym or the coffee shop. They don’t—ever—discuss their problems and find common ground. They don’t—ever—acknowledge to each other that although their lives have all the trappings of success, wealth and happiness, they are, in fact, trapped.
Because Leah understands that what’s inside a home can be more dangerous than what’s outside. Driving past McKenna’s house one night, she sees what she knows only too well herself from her own marriage: McKenna’s “perfect” husband is not what he seems. She decides to keep an eye out for McKenna, until one night, she intervenes.
Leah and McKenna have never met. But they will.
Review:
Devious, alluring, and intense!
The Favor is a riveting, character-driven thriller that immerses you into the lives of two strangers, Leah and McKenna, as their eerily similar worlds intersect, unravel, and collide while anxiously surviving day-by-day dangerous, controlling, troubling marriages.
The writing is brisk and precise. The characters are complex, troubled, and resolved. And the plot unravels quickly into an unnerving tale of secrets, power, control, deception, jealousy, obsession, domestic abuse, unlikely friendships, and murder.
Overall, The Favor is an addictive, twisty, brilliant debut by Murphy that delves into all the emotional and psychological damage caused by domestic abuse and highlights just how easily intimidation, manipulation, and dominance can often be masked as love.
This novel is available May 31, 2022.
Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.