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A Simple Favor

By: Darcey Bell
Narrated by: Andi Arndt, Xe Sands, Matthew Waterson
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Publisher's summary

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's 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 freefall 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 minute.

©2017 Seven Acres, LLC (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers
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What listeners say about A Simple Favor

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Unfinished with Lots of Potential

This story had so much potential for a mind-blowing ending. I loved the insight from each main character. By the end, none had any redeaming qualities, which made for a good story of double-cross. Unfortunately, the ending left me as unsatisfied as finding that an amazing smelling pizza in the oven was made without cheese. Unless there is a sequel, there needed to be better closure, a better ending. Sadly, there was no ending.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Kept waiting for it to get good

I had high hopes for this but was ultimately disappointed. I loved the Mommy Blogger voice of the narrator, spot on! Her male voice, when speaking as Sean, was terrible.

But, the storyline fell flat for me. The characters felt contrived and not at all relatable. I prefer non-fiction and after listening to this, I'm going back. Fiction characters shaped poorly just aren't three dimensional. As the end neared, I just hoped to get it over with. The set up was better than the ending.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Just meh

It feels like either the twist happened too early (like 3 hours before the end!) or the author forgot to put one at the end. It wasn't horrible, but I don't think I'll listen to it again.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

fantastic!

absolutely loved this! pulled me in from the beginning and I couldn't stop listening. Completely took me by surprise.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good Read

It took me a bit to get into the book but I had heard good things so stuck with it. I am so glad I did! There were twists and turns all the way up until the last sentence.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Didnt like the ending

You get all of that and then boom. I would have loved for Stephanie to finally have some common fucking sense.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing

This was quite the book...I only wish that the movie was more like it

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    5 out of 5 stars
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headline

I'm so not happy with the ending I need to know what happens this wasn't enough

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

strangely demented

Each of the characters bring a very strange piece to the book. I did listen to the entire book but was very disappointed in the ending. A little too far fetched for me.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

I didn’t like the ending

I had some of the story figured out pretty early. I was not a big fan of the ending. I wasn’t a fan of the British guy voice.

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