This was a fantastic debut by the author. This is a well written and plotted about 2 woman, 2 towns away, essentially living the same life. They meet by chance one afternoon at a liquor store. Leah and McKenna are alike in many ways. This is told in alternate POV's which I thoroughly enjoyed. I am still in awe that this was a debut. Nora Murphy will be an author to watch!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

𝘼 𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙚𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙥𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨.

📍 Read if you like:
• Domestic Suspense
• Strong Women
• Multiple Perspectives
• Unputdownable Reads

This was a fast-paced suspenseful novel about two women and the domestic abuse they’ve had to experience.

The beginning is a bit slow as it brings the stories of both women into focus: Leah and McKenna.

I do highly recommend going into this book not knowing too much. I had a great experience that way, it was sitting on my NetGalley TBR for quite a while to the point where I forgot what it was about. I just heard incredible things about it and I’m glad I ended up enjoying it too.

It’s always tough reading about domestic abuse in books, but I think it was done so well in this “thriller”. I loved how both women were portrayed and how they helped each other get out of those situations.

It’s your classic story, there are so many books and movies out there with a similar premise. However, I just had an entertaining time reading this book. There was so much tension.

The story expresses the thought of “nothing everything on the outside is the same as the inside”. Things happen behind closed doors that many people don’t see.

This was such a suspenseful novel and I’m glad I loved it as much as I did. Some themes were tougher to read about, but I loved both women in this story. Highly recommend!

Thank you so much NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!

•𝗧𝗪/𝗖𝗪: Domestic abuse, gaslighting, alcoholism, miscarriage

3.5 stars

Leah Dawson, a lawyer, and McKenna Hawkins, a pediatrician, are well-educated women who never imagined they would be the victims of domestic abuse. However both women find themselves in toxic marriages, and they don't see a way out.

Leah's husband Liam is a successful attorney, and McKenna's spouse Zackary is a flourishing psychiatrist. During the courtship period both men seem ideal: handsome, thoughtful, caring, successful; etc.

After Leah and Liam marry, however, Liam proceeds to isolate his wife from her family and friends; gets Leah fired from her job; relegates Leah to a locked bedroom in the basement; tracks Leah's activities; limits Leah's access to money; and finally becomes violent. To cope with the terrible situation Leah drinks vodka all day long, and there's barely a moment when she's completely sober.

McKenna and Zachary's union follows a similar path. After McKenna suffers a miscarriage early in the marriage, Zachary - whose self-image requires 'the perfect family' - segregates McKenna from her friends and relatives; makes McKenna quit her job; installs an app to track McKenna's phone; takes complete charge of the couple's finances; and so on - supposedly to insure a successful pregnancy next time.

Leah and McKenna each think about divorce, but they know their attractive, successful, husbands - who are well-liked in the outside world - can 'gaslight' people to make their wives look bad (if not crazy). Moreover, the men have the resources to make divorce proceedings extremely difficult. In addition, Liam shows his wife a gun, and threatens to kill Leah's mother if Leah leaves him.

Though both couples live in the same Maryland suburb, Leah and McKenna don't know each other. Serendipitously, however, Leah is making her usual liquor store run when she happens to see McKenna in the same shop. Leah - who's puffy and disheveled from drinking - notes that McKenna, who's svelte, well-dressed, blonde, and blue-eyed, looks like a previous incarnation of Leah herself.....in her happier days.

Leah impulsively decides to follow McKenna home, and she parks where she can see into McKenna's house. This activity becomes an obsession for Leah, and she repeatedly spies on the other woman. To make a long story short, Leah - who knows the signs of domestic abuse from her own sorry situation - notes that McKenna is being bullied by Zachary..... and Leah impetuously takes action.

That's all I can say without major spoilers.

At the end of the book the author Nora Murphy - who's a family law attorney - notes that domestic abuse is endemic, and not confined to people of low socioeconomic status. Murphy observes, "abuse also occurs in many relationships marked by high levels of education and affluence....For these types of relationships, financial and psychological abuse may be more common than physical abuse, sexual abuse, or stalking. Thus it may be more hidden, more difficult to prove." Thus springs the idea for this book.

The story is a fast-moving page-turner, recommended to fans of domestic thrillers.

Thanks to Netgalley, Nora Murphy, and Minotaur Books for a copy of the novel.

This story is very well written. Hard to believe this is Nora Murphy‘a debut novel.

Leah and McKenna are relatable and their husbands forgettable, but their actions are not. The story was smooth and flowing. A definite must read if you enjoy domestic thrillers.

The Favor takes a whole new twist to the concept "Strangers on the Train". The flashbacks, the build-up, and the despair were all written exceedingly well. I felt gripped the entire read and flew thru the book in two sittings. It's like Nora Murphy ropes you into the her character's drama and you can't tear your eyes away. She didn't shy from the topic of domestic gaslighting/abuse and I applaud her for that - she shone a light on the very ugly, the prisons of these women's lives, and how its scarily easy to get there but almost impossible to leave.
I like her writing style and will definitely read more of her books! I recommend picking this one up!

THE FAVOR is a good domestic suspense, but I found it hard to get through. It may be because I have read so many of these types of novels lately and I am sure others may rave about this one. However, for me, it just wasn't as filled with the tension level I was expecting.

This story was a bit over the top. The husbands were terrible, but the intimidated wives took to guns easily. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

After reading the book blurb, I thought this would be a unique thriller but I ended up being a bit disappointed by the end. Two women, living in the same city, have a lot in common but they don't know it. Both are married to "perfect" husbands or are they really? There were some pretty implausible aspects in the book that were hard to ignore. The ending also just fell a bit flat for me. All in all, this was just another average domestic thriller with not a lot of thrill in it.

writing style is evocative and immersive, making the characters feel real and relatable. The novel's themes of loyalty and betrayal are explored in a nuanced and thought-provoking way, making readers question their own values and relationships.

Trigger warnings ahoy for emotional and physical abuse in this EXTREMELY high tension ride. I can't believe this is the author's debut.

Two women, utter strangers to each other. Pediatrician and lawyer. Both excelled in school, excellent in their fields, married to other successful members of their field. Beautiful, intelligent. Actually almost clones of each other. Blonde, fit, well put together.

So much in common!

Including their douchebag husbands!

And then the much needed trope of Women Supporting Women goes one step too far, and things get VERY interesting.

To be fair, though, this isn't too far. It's actually just right?

The TENSION in this book is so amped. I read other reviews where people said it had too slow of a start to get to the action. I saw reviews where only one character's POV was interesting.

I'm utterly confused by both of those.

The mystery starts on the first page, with our cliche'd character at the liquor store, discussing how she has to rotate through several stores so they don't realize how much she drinks. Ah, I see, the ol' alcoholic woman trope, how boring.

Of course, then we find out she must use cash, can only use her debit card at the allowed stores, and she can't be caught drunk driving or she'll be murdered.

Hunh. That's intriguing.

Then she finds herself drawn to another woman who is a clone of her former self, and her interest? Jealousy? Drunken haze? Inspires her to follow closely behind her car, just to see what life is like. And as she watches, she sees something a little too familiar in the couple's body language.

As the layers of this story peel back, the tension NEVER lets up. Even when you think there's going to be a tension release, the POV switches and you're ratcheted back up again. Then we introduce a detective far too good at his job, and you're waiting. Waiting. Waiting. Will we get a satisfying ending? Will this be frustrating to the nth degree?

So good. So little wasted space on the page.

Wow! I can honestly say I've never read a book with this kind of plot. Such an imaginative and cool way to write a book. I can't say the other part I love, I don't want to give away the plot. I highly recommend this book.
Thanks to netgalley, the publisher and mostly the author for such an entertaining advanced copy.

This book had me hooked from the beginning. A fast paced read that I would highly recommend. I look forward to more titles by this author.

I loved this thriller! It kept me interested the whole time & I couldn’t wait to see how it ended! Great plot & characters that I was invested in.

Thank you NetGalley and Nora Murphy for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my gosh where to start with this one.. this was just perfect.. and THE ENDING! Poetic.

Leah and McKenna are both strong empowered women. Or they were, until they got married.

Leah is in a store one day when she notices McKenna and sees a younger version of herself in her. So Leah follows her only to find that they live very similar lives. She then wants to help McKenna not end up like herself. With one sentence, “I am someone like you.” They are connected. McKenna now wants to know who Leah is and what she means by that phrase. The way that this book flipped to help both women out of their situations was written in such perfect detail that I couldn’t stop reading.

The investigator being one of the point of views you read from was the icing on the cake. You knew what he did not but it was written so that you were able to see how he put the pieces together and figured it out. Even though he does figure it out, it doesn’t end like you think it would.

I did find it difficult to keep the men separate, but understandably, they don’t particularly matter in this story. Only the women and their fight to take their lives back matter and it was done so perfectly. So thankful to have been chosen to review this ARC.

This was a fantastic debut thriller from Nora Murphy. Her writing gripped me right from the start and I was frantically flipping pages to find out where the story went. Reminded me a little bit if Behind Closed Doors from B. A. Paris, which I loved! It does deal with abusive relationships but it very well done.

I can't wait to read more from Nora Murphy.

"Leah and McKenna have never met. But they will"
This one is really hard to review without giving away spoilers. What I will say is it was suspenseful, a quick read and in my opinion a pretty unique storyline. It wasn't your typical "do this for me and I will do this for you" plot it was much more impulsive and bazar but in a good way.
We get three POVs, Leah, McKenna and then Detective Jordan Harrison. I think his POV was my favorite. You also get a bit of the past timeline from Leah's POV.
There are some trigger warning about abuse some physical, emotional, and mental and a little bit of gas lighting. I think the author did a great job without it Getting to uncomfortable.

A domestic thriller. A new author for me. Both make for a good read. Just the kind I like.

Two women who have never met. Both in abusive relationships. What can they do to help each other. How can they escape alive. These are the things that will keep you wanting more. Keep you turning the pages.

A fairly well written debut novel. I look forward to more by this author.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

I was very surprised to find out that The Favor was the author's debut novel. Honestly, I thought it was part of a series with the same detective. The Favor really helped me get out of my book slump. McKenna and Leah were great narrators and I loved that the story is told mostly through their POVs. I found their past and present very engaging and interesting. Midway, it becomes part police procedural and I mostly skimmed those chapters. I did find a lot of the book reminding me of past novels I read such as Girl on the Train and The Housemaid, but the author did bring some new twists to the table.

A relatively well-written thriller that uses domestic abuse as a plot line. There was a lot of promise to the story that didn’t get matched. Interesting characters but not very compelling.

Two women who don't know one another, but lead similar lives in similar neighborhoods. Leah and McKenna know that they are both in marriages that are not only unhealthy but risk their lives. So how can they help one another out? This domestic thriller answers the question of how far would you be willing to go for someone you'll never meet.

I am a big fan of domestic thrillers and blew through this one because I needed to know what would happen with Leah and McKenna. I'm looking forward to more from Nora Murphy!