Leah and McKenna have very similar lives: they are professionals married to professionals (one a lawyer and the other a doctor). They haven’t been married more than a couple of years. They live in big, tasteful homes in upscale neighborhoods.
And their husbands showed their true colors of being controlling and abusive not very long into their marriages.
Both are trapped.
They don’t know each other, despite not living too far apart. But when Leah sees McKenna in a store, she somehow just recognizes someone much like herself. She follows her home and returns to watch her covertly. And then one night, she intervenes to save the woman who is going through what she herself is experiencing. She can rescue her, do for her what she can’t do for herself.
After the crime is committed, the police can’t work out who the perpetrator is. McKenna had motive, but there’s no evidence, no proof that she could have done it. She just knows she’s finally, gloriously, free. And very grateful.
And maybe she can return the favor.
The Favor is a riveting thriller book that explores how two successful women become victims of abusers. It shows their thoughts, behaviors and experiences. It’s a crime novel, and it brings in the point of view of a sharp detective working the case. It’s impossible for the reader not to empathize with Leah and McKenna and want these two women to be free and stay that way. It’s tightly paced and an excellent read. Bonus is that it could quite easily be one of those books that contains a lot of harsh content, but much like the plot and the pacing, it reins in any excess.
Rated: Moderate. Profanity includes 3 uses of strong language, fewer than 10 instances of moderate profanity, 10 uses of mild language, and a few instances of the name of Deity in vain. One character has a drinking problem. There’s no sexual content. Violence includes emotional and some physical domestic abuse, with a few scenes alluding to hitting or pushing, and two murders committed with guns, with some brief details of blood.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
