Title: The Favor
Author: Nora Murphy
Publisher: Minotaur Books Macmillan Audio
Release Date: May 31, 2022
A gripping debut domestic suspense novel, The Favor explores with compassion and depth what can happen when women pushed to the limit take matters into their own hands.
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.
Fantastic debut!
Even though I could guess where this was going, I couldn't stop myself from rooting for these women to succeed.
The book begins with Leah going on her regular alcohol shopping when she sees a woman that resembles an earlier version of herself. She is not sure why, but she decides to follow McKenna Hawkins to her home. When she gets there, she sees McKenna enjoying her time outside with friends until her husband shows up. Leah can tell that McKenna's body immediately stiffens. She knows why. She can recognize the signs after all Leah has been living the same nightmare since she married her successful husband.
Leah will return night after night to see McKenna until she can't avoid interfering.
I thought The Favor was captivating. I couldn't stop myself from wanting to read/listen to one more chapter. It's terribly sad that so many find themselves in a domestic abuse situation. In this case, both were very successful women, one a lawyer, the other a pediatrician who lost themselves by being first isolated and then told over and over how unworthy they were. Not many are as lucky as these were.
The narrators Dylan Moore, Leon Nixon, and Sarah Mollo-Christensen portrayed these characters just as interesting as the story was.
One more thing I should bring up is that I would be very interested in seeing Detective Jordan Harrison and his partner in a future book.
Cliffhanger: No
4/5 Fangs
A complimentary copy was provided by Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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