This book started out so intriguing when Jude’s old boyfriend, who she hasn’t heard from in many years, contacts her for a favor. Jude is a doctor and in many ways an intelligent woman. However, when she becomes the prime suspect in Liam’s murder, she makes one foolish decsion after the other which make her look even more guilty and put her life in danger. The middle of the book seems to go in circles for a bit and I guessed one of the plots twists very early on. There are several very unlikable side characters in this book, but for some reason Jude seems to be drawn to these horrible people. Although I didn’t care for a lot of the characters, the vivid descriptions of the characters are very well done. For this reason, I did become engrossed in the story, even when I became frustrated with Jude. I am still a fan of Nicci French even though I preferred other books she has written more than this one, which I would rate 3.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Scene of the Crime Early Reads for this ebook. An advance copy was provided to me at no cost, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.

The Favor
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 10/18/22
Author: Nicci French
Publisher: William Morrow
Pages: 432
GR: 3.35

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and William Morrow and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

My Thoughts: This book is labeled as a thriller, but I feel like it is more like fiction with an element of mystery, this is not a bad thing, as I throughly enjoyed this book. The author does an amazing job at simplifying the descriptions, not over indulgent, but perfect as you can be there in the moment. Jude is a complex character that is independent and strong, yet brilliant. Liam’s world was woven as this strange world that brings more questions than answers initially. The supporting characters really add that extra element to the storyline. The life lesson Jude had to learn was heartbreaking, but at some point in our lives, we all have hard lessons to learn. The experience grew her character expeditiously. The characters were well developed, fleshed out, were mysterious, and creatively inspired. The author’s writing was complex, poignant, an element of suspense, and the flow/pace was brilliantly done. This book publishes next Tuesday and I would highly recommend picking up. Having said that, I know this will not be a book for everyone, I may be in the minority on this one, but I did love the storyline.

Ugh, Jude. I already didn't like her 10% in and it just kept going downhill. I don't understand how we're supposed to believe she's so smart when she makes dumb choices and doesn't ask any of the questions a normal person would. And what was her obsession with the people living at Liam's house? Just no. Get back to your normal life. Ending felt blah too and I didn't really care by that point who did it or why.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Picking up an old friend from the train station. That’s an easy enough favor to grant, right? Wrong. Jude was so wrong for agreeing to pick up her ex-boyfriend from years ago at the train station. Now she is a murder suspect & right in the middle of whatever bad stuff Liam had piled up.

The Favor was a bit slow for me, but I think it’s because I went into this book expecting a thriller. If I had expected a mystery, I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more. The writing and storylines and good. I liked reading The Favor. It just falls a bit flat as a thriller.

3.5 star

The Favor by Nikki French

This book shot out like a rocket! The beginning was so intriguing and immediately grabbed my attention. I was so invested in Jude and her terrible decisions. Honesty was heart was pounding in the first few chapters! But then… things took a nose dive. The story slowed down tremendously and that momentum vanished. I found myself trying to talk myself into picked this back up. I wanted to know the ending- what was the favor and why.. but it was painful. I did finish it but was very disappointed.

This story had such potential but it fell flat.

This book had some interesting parts, but ultimately felt more like a collection of plot points in a dust cover than an actual novel. The main character's naivete strained credulity, the plot dragged yet also contained large holes, the characters were not particularly interesting or likeable, and the resolution was not very satisfying. This author has written much better books; this one is not amongst them.

This book really sucked me in and grabbed my attention. I read it in just a few days. Jude is asked by a former boyfriend to do her a favor--and it upsets her entire life. All of the characters were intriguing with their quirks and secrets. The plot moved along fairly quickly. Though I kept shouting at Jude to "Just stop it! Get on with your life!" She didn't listen to me and the novel went on. The character of Jude was not believable in most of the things that she did--but without that--we would not have had the novel. Enjoy this for what it is--a fun mystery.

The Favor
by Nicci French
Pub Date: October 18, 2022
William Morrow and Company
Thanks to the authors, publisher, and Net Galley for the ARC of this book. All these years I did not know that Nicci French is a pseudonym for the writing partnership of journalists Nicci Gerrard and Sean French. The couple is married and lives in London and Suffolk.
This twisty stand-alone novel is a great read! I recommend it! This is not my favorite book by the couple, however.
3 stars

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

When I saw that Nicci French had a new book out, I knew I had to read it right away! The Favor by Nicci French is an unputdownable thriller with an intriguing premise. Jude hasn't seen her ex-boyfriend in years. One day, he shows up out of the blue and asks her for a favor. Jude agrees to do it. She even agrees not to tell her fiance and lies to him about where she is going. But why does she agree so readily? And what will she do when Liam disappears, making her the last person to see him alive?

Here is a captivating excerpt from Chapter 1:

"‘You look different,’ said a voice. ‘But you also look exactly the same.’
Jude had forgotten that someone was waiting to see her.
She turned her head and there he was: he was tall, about her own age, dark tangled hair, bearded, eyes that were almost black. He was dressed in jeans and a battered grey jacket. He had a richly patterned cotton scarf knotted around his neck.
‘You’re hard to track down,’ he said.
She didn’t recognise him.
And then she recognised him.
‘You’re kidding,’ she said, a smile forming.
It was Liam."

Overall, The Favor is an engrossing thriller that you won't be able to put down! I could not stop reading and devoured it in a day. One highlight of this book is the mystery. What was the favor? Why did Liam ask Jude when they hadn't been in touch for so long? I couldn't wait to find out. If I had to complain about 1 thing, I would say that I enjoyed some of the author's previous works better - like House of Correction and The Lying Room. This was still an enjoyable book though and better than 90% of the thrillers out there. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of thrillers in general, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in October!

Dr. Jude Winter hasn’t seen her high school boyfriend in over a decade, since that one heady summer night when a car crash changed everything. She’s never forgotten her first love, and when he suddenly reappears after all these years asking for a favor, she finds herself not only saying yes but also lying about it to her fiancé. When Liam is murdered, Jude finds herself in a tangled web that seems to pull more tightly around her at every turn.

I think other types of readers will like this book, but sadly it wasn’t for me. Rather than the twisty thriller that I was expecting, “The Favor” is a character-driven story with a slightly sinister edge but a pretty thin plot. The entire premise hinges on the reader believing that this intelligent young woman (a doctor!) would continually put herself in peril for a high school boyfriend. When Jude’s motivation is revealed, it makes sense that she might have felt compelled to do the initial favor, but it was unbelievable to me that she would keep going down a path where she is likely to end up behind bars or even dead. The ending is quite good and makes up for the fact that both Jude and the plot meander around for far too long.

The writing quality is excellent and atmospheric, so if you don’t mind suspending disbelief (a lot!), then give this one a try. Many thanks to Scene of the Crime and William Morrow via NetGalley for providing me an advance copy of this book.

I really enjoy the books by these authors. The favor did not disappoint. It was intriguing from the first page. Couldn’t put it down. Thanks for the preview read!!

The Favor by Nicci French is an odd story with a large cast of characters. The plot is a little unbelievable and the solution is a bit contrived.
Jude is annoying and, for being a doctor, not that bright. She goes from being a respected physician to a naive teenager in a matter of minutes, just by running into her first love. She makes the most ridiculous and unbelievable decisions based on zero thought or rationale. I cannot, personally, understand how her character makes sense.
The rest of the cast of characters seem like characterizations of people but not real people. The house filled with a bunch of stereotypical hippies and their quirks. It's almost like they added every strange character that has every been developed and heaped them together to say, hey aren't we odd.
I wanted to like this book but it was not for me. Although it kept my interest, I thought the whole thing was hard to swallow as a believable premise. It was all a bit strange to me.
Thanks to Netgalley, William Morrow, and the Scene of the Crime Early Reads for the advanced copy of the book. The opinions are my own.

A compulsive read - I felt like I was reading in a dream state all the way through with this one. Perfect for fall reading!

Jude makes her living as a geriatric nurse working the night shift. One day, as she's getting ready to leave, she's informed that she has a guest waiting for her in the lobby. Imagine her surprise when she see's that it's Liam, her boyfriend for a summer when she was 18 years old, the one she has thought of often throughout the years wondering what happened to him.

It's been eleven years since they last saw each other but Liam has come to ask a favor and Jude agrees, how could she not? Part of this favor has her lying to her fiancé so she can travel for hours to a cottage to await Liam's arrival and this is when and where he'll explain more.

However, Liam never arrives because Liam has been murdered and Jude is now suspect numero uno.

Turns out shortly before his murder he chose Jude as the executor of his will which has everyone baffled including Jude herself. He also left her his favorite bowl. Yup, a bowl, and his girlfriend is not too pleased about this because she loves that bowl. 🥣 = 😡

It's implied that Jude is an incredibly intelligent woman though you'd never guess that by reading this book. First of all, YES you can say NO to this favor. I know as the novel progresses we do learn the reason as to why she helps him but even with this information I still think she should have walked away.

Then we're introduced to Liam's housemates, an eccentric cast of characters, and Jude is mesmerized by these lunatics. Like, what? She finds them all so mysterious and intriguing, and tall - apparently they are all so tall that they make her feel like a tiny little girl. I can't make this shit up. This is mentioned several times.

All of the housemates are beyond rude. To her and to one another and none of it makes even a little bit of sense. Yet, she returns time and time again. Then somewhere in the middle of the book, after attending the wake, she gets trapped in the house for no other reason except people keep calling her back - Just leave already. You are a grown woman that moves of her own volition. Tell these people to suck it and just get out. Seriously this was probably 100 pages long of her trying to get out of this house and guess what? Instead of leaving she sleeps with one of these weirdos and spends the night after all. Seemingly intelligent woman is mostly a huge idiot.

Can she say no to anyone ever? Nope! She'll help anyone that asks for no compelling reason whatsoever. The only person she doesn't help is herself.

The detective in charge was a hot mess too. She spoke and acted like no other detective ever and I'm a little surprised she carries a badge at all.

What's your plan? I don't know.

What are you up to? I don't know.

Why are you here? I don't know.

Why did Liam get ahold of you? I don't know.

Why do you keep showing up here? I don't know.

Those are not direct quotes per se but these same questions are asked of Jude by EVERYONE in the book. The same questions and the same answers over and over again. 😵

This was my first Nicci French novel and unfortunately it was not a success. Future readers, if you are okay with preposterous and illogical plots then you'll have a better time than I did. 2 stars!

Thank you to Scene of the Crime, NetGalley, and William Morrow for my complimentary copy.

Another page turner from Nicci French. The Favor is a recommended purchase for collections where thrillers and her previous titles are popular.

Liam was Jude’s first love when she was a teenager. He took responsibility for an automobile accident that wasn’t his fault. They hadn’t seen or contacted each other for 11 years. Liam finds Jude and asks for a favor which she can choose to accept or not. When he explains part of it to her, it sounds very suspicious to the reader, though Jude decides to follow through to help him. Liam is murdered the same time she is expecting to see him to learn what the favor entails. She is designated to be the executor of his estate and delves into his bizarre life to find answers.
This is story that includes an unusual lifestyle and there are several suspects.

I wanted to love it as I really enjoy this husband and wife duo’s previous work, but this one fell flat for me, and it was way too long in my opinion. It was a decent read, but definitely not one of my favorites by this author duo.

👍🏻𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕀 𝕃𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕕:

-The writing & the plot
-Character driven story
-The ending
-The amount of suspense is 👌🏻
-The complicated characters



👎🏻𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕀 𝔻𝕚𝕤𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕕:

-Lack of thrills (yet, it is advertised as a thriller)
-Unreliable narrators
-I felt like the story was too drawn out and too long (at almost 500 pages) it could have been shortened a lot.


✨𝕆𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕍𝕖𝕣𝕕𝕚𝕔𝕥: 𝔸-𝕆𝕂𝔸𝕐 & 𝕒 𝕗𝕦𝕟 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕝.

This book opens up a lot of areas of discussion. What are our perceptions of people and the past. What impact do our choices have, in this case, her choice as a teenager and her choice as an adult. Can we ever really know someone? She gets asked a strange favor by the one who got away when she was a teenager. She feels like she owes him so she agrees and that choice changes her life

Nicci French is such an amazing writer. I appreciate the way she weaves the story together and always keeps you guessing. Loved this book.

I have not read any works by Nicci French and The Favor was an excellent introduction. Jude appears to have a put together life until she makes a mistake granting a favor to an old boyfriend. What happens next turns her life upside down. I enjoyed the twists and turns and will definitely check out other books!