Rating: ***
Tags: Fiction, Thrillers, Psychological, Suspense, Domestic, Lang:en
Summary
Soon to be a major motion picture from Lionsgate starring
Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively and Henry Golding, and directed
by Paul Feig
"Riveting and brilliantly structured,
A Simple Favor is an edge-of-your seat domestic
thriller about a missing wife and mother that relies on a
rotating cast of unreliable narrators to ingeniously
examine the cost of competitive mom-friends, the toll of
ordinary marital discontent and the fallacy of the
picture-perfect, suburban family."—Kimberly
McCreight,
New York Times bestselling author
She’s your best friend.
She knows all your secrets.
That’s why she’s so dangerous.
A single mother's life is turned upside down when her best
friend vanishes in this chilling debut thriller in the vein
of
Gone Girl and
The Girl on the Train.
It starts with a simple favor—an ordinary kindness
mothers do for one another. When her best friend, Emily, asks
Stephanie to pick up her son Nicky after school, she happily
says yes. Nicky and her son, Miles, are classmates and best
friends, and the five-year-olds love being
together—just like she and Emily. A widow and
stay-at-home mommy blogger living in woodsy suburban
Connecticut, Stephanie was lonely until she met Emily, a
sophisticated PR executive whose job in Manhattan demands so
much of her time. But Emily doesn’t come back. She doesn’t
answer calls or return texts. Stephanie knows something is
terribly wrong—Emily would never leave Nicky, no matter
what the police say. Terrified, she reaches out to her blog
readers for help. She also reaches out to Emily’s
husband, the handsome, reticent Sean, offering emotional
support. It’s the least she can do for her best friend.
Then, she and Sean receive shocking news. Emily is dead. The
nightmare of her disappearance is over. Or is it? Because soon, Stephanie will begin to see that
nothing—not friendship, love, or even an ordinary
favor—is as simple as it seems.
A Simple Favor is a remarkable tale of psychological
suspense—a clever and twisting free-fall of a ride
filled with betrayals and reversals, twists and turns,
secrets and revelations, love and loyalty, murder and
revenge. Darcey Bell masterfully ratchets up the tension in a
taut, unsettling, and completely absorbing story that holds
you in its grip until the final page. ** ''Debut-novelist Bell ramps up suspense with authority in
this domestic thriller, in which actions seem as inevitable
as they are chilling. The audience that made GONE GIRL a
publishing sensation is likely to take to this one, too.'' (
Booklist (starred review)) ''Bell's edgy first novel is chock-full of dirty little
secrets, lies, and manipulations.
Gone Girl devotees should reserve an advance copy
and carve out uninterrupted time for this juicy read.'' (
Library Journal) ''Riveting and brilliantly structured, A SIMPLE FAVOR is
an edge-of-your seat domestic thriller about a missing wife
and mother that relies on a rotating cast of unreliable
narrators to ingeniously examine the cost of competitive
mom-friends, the toll of ordinary marital discontent and the
fallacy of the picture-perfect, suburban family.'' (
Kimberly McCreight, New York Times bestselling author
of RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA and THE OUTLIERS) ''This is a psychological thriller that is as hip and
relevant as it is gripping. Darcey Bell somehow manages to
satirize, hilariously, the ghastly self-righteousness of the
online 'Mommy Bloggers' while at the same time pulling off a
suburban mystery that ends with a twist that is as horridly
satisfying as it is completely unexpected. I couldn't stop
reading about these two truly terrifying moms!'' --(
Plum Sykes, author of BERGDORF BLONDES) ''Sly, satirical, subversive: a deliciously poisoned
cupcake of a story.'' --(
L.S. Hilton, author of MAESTRA) ''What a wonderfully absorbing, unremittingly intense,
endlessly surprising novel Darcey Bell has written. Her
characters -- in the worst way -- never know what's going to
happen next and nor in the best way -- does her reader. A
SIMPLE FAVOR yields very complicated pleasures.'' --(
Margot Livesey, author of MERCURY and THE FLIGHT OF
GEMMA HARDY) It starts with a simple favor—an ordinary kindness
mothers do for one another. When glamorous Emily asks
Stephanie to pick up her son after school, Stephanie happily
says yes. Emily has a life that would make any woman jealous.
She is the perfect mother with a dazzling career working for
a famous fashion designer in Manhattan. Stephanie, a widow
with a son in kindergarten, lonely in their Connecticut
suburb, turns to her daily blog for connection and
validation. Stephanie imagines Emily to be her new confidante
and is shocked when Emily suddenly disappears without a
trace, leaving her son and husband with no warning. Stephanie knows something is terribly wrong. Unable to
keep away from the grieving family, she soon finds herself
entangled with Sean, Emily’s handsome, reticent British
husband. But she can’t ignore the nagging feeling that
he’s not being honest with her about Emily’s
disappearance. Is Stephanie imagining things? How well did
she really know her “best” friend? Stephanie begins to see that nothing—not friendship,
love, or even an ordinary favor—is as simple as it
seems.Review
From the Back Cover