#BookReview The Favor by Nora Murphy @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #TheFavorBook #MinotaurBooks #NoraMurphyBooks #FavorForAFriend #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: The Favor

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.

 

About Nora Murphy

NORA MURPHY attended law school in Washington, D.C., then worked as a judicial law clerk before transitioning to private practice. During law school, she participated in two clinics through which she represented and studied the issues facing survivors of intimate partner violence. A practicing attorney, Nora writes as much as she can, usually long before the sunrise or on her phone for brief moments when the inspiration strikes. Nora resides in Maryland with her husband, young son, and five rescue pets. When she’s not working, writing, or chasing her toddler, Nora can be found contemplating her next ice cream run or reading. The Favor is her first novel.

Photo by Crystal Tseng Photography.