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.
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Haunting. Captivating.
I saw the movie when it came out in 2018 with a friend. I loved the movie. I had no idea that it was based on the book until recently. How did I not know that there was a book? I was looking for an audiobook I could listen to while running and came across A Simple Favor , and that’s how I discovered that there was a book. I remember how much I loved the movie and felt the same about the book. I loved the authors who did voices for Emily, Stephanie, and Sean; they brought the characters to life for me. I felt I shouldn’t like Emily, yet I did. She was the most interesting character out of the three characters. Emily was confident and determined and didn’t give up until she got what she wanted. She had everyone wrapped around her finger, especially Stephanie. I didn’t blame Sean for being afraid of her once he found out how she was. I would be frightened too and run far away if it were me. I am surprised he didn’t try to escape her when he discovered she stole his mother’s ring. He loved her that much or feared what she might do.
I have read multiple books about best friends through the years. A Simple Favor wasn’t anything like the other friendship books I have read. Stephanie thought of Emily as best friend, but that’s not the same feeling that Emily shared. I felt bad for Stephanie; she had no idea that Emily was using her. Stephanie did become suspicious not long after Emily disappeared and even after a body was discovered. It was as Stephanie believed that there was more to the story, that Emily wasn’t dead. I had a feeling that there was the reason that Emily went missing; she wouldn’t leave her son like that. Nicky seemed to be the one person that she cared about the most. I couldn’t get enough of the story, and I kept listening before bed, wanting to see what happened. The ending was…unbelievable, and I wondered what happened to her after, to Stephanie, to Sean.
One of my favorite parts of the book was Stephanie’s blog and all the updates she posted there. I saw the books had mixed reviews, but I thought the book was terrific. I was on the edge of my seat from the start until the end. One of the best psychological thrillers in my opinion. If you love mysteries, thrillers, I would highly recommend checking out A Simple Favor .
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