Goodnight, Beautiful: The utterly gripping psychological thriller full of suspense

by Aimee Molloy

George Newbern (Narrator), Joel Froomkin (Narrator), Marin Ireland (Narrator), and Val Toomey (Narrator)

'Goodnight Beautiful isn't only the most suspenseful novel you'll read this year; it's likely to be the funniest, too. I wish that every book, in every genre, were as deeply imagined and fully inhabited as this one.' A. J. FINN, bestselling author of THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW

'Aimee Molloy is a magician. With Goodnight Beautiful, she will artfully deceive you while holding you firmly in her grasp...What begins as a sexy, smart domestic thriller turns out to be so much more. If you think you've figured this one out, think again: Molloy will be three steps ahead of you all the way through.' CRISTINA ALGER

'Psychological thriller fans won't want to miss this one.' - PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY



From 'master of clever misdirection' (Kirkus Reviews) Aimee Molloy, author of the New York Times bestseller The Perfect Mother, comes an irresistible psychological thriller featuring a newly married woman whose life is turned upside down when her husband goes missing.

A HANDSOME PSYCHOTHERAPIST, HIS LONELY WIFE, AND IN HIS HOME OFFICE, A CEILING VENT. . . YOU'D LISTEN TOO, WOULDN'T YOU?

Newlyweds, Sam Statler and Annie Potter are ready to begin their lives together in a small town in upstate New York. Whilst Annie spends most of her time alone, Sam, her therapist husband, works long hours in his home office, tending to the egos of his mostly female clientele.

Little does Sam know that through a vent in the ceiling, every word of his sessions can be heard from the room upstairs. The pharmacist's wife, contemplating a divorce. The well-known painter whose boyfriend doesn't satisfy her in bed. Who could resist eavesdropping?

Everything is fine until the French girl in the green Mini Cooper shows up, and Sam disappears into thin air, throwing a wrench into Sam and Annie's happily ever after.

This is a brilliant story of a whirlwind marriage in which untold secrets and games threaten to destroy them both.

(P)2020 Harper Audio

• ISBN10: 152935482X
• ISBN13: 9781529354829
• Publish Date: 13 October 2020
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
• Imprint: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
• Edition: Unabridged edition
• Format: Audiobook (MP3)
• Duration: 7 hours and 56 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[Kim Deister]

My favorite kind of psychological thriller is one that takes me on a journey, twisting and turning my emotions until I don’t know which end is up. I love being surprised, of being certain I know the gist of things, and then having the rug pulled out from under me. Goodnight Beautiful gave me all of that and more! This review is going to be short and sweet. I’m not going to delve too much into the story itself, as that is a journey readers need to take for themselves. It’s the kind of book that you just need to go into blind and experience it for yourself. The author has done a brilliant job of creating a mood of anticipation, of giving the reader just enough to make assumptions about the course of the story. It was so well done that, when all was finally revealed, it made it so much more satisfying. This really was the perfect psychological thriller, and I loved the entire ride! 

My recommendation: If you love a great thriller that will keep you guessing, this is the one to read!

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of Little Cruelties in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Little Cruelties is the newest novel to come from Liz Nugent, famous for Lying in Wait and Skin Deep. It's one part family drama, and several parts psychological thriller.

This is the story of three brothers, and the trail of little hurts and cruelties they left in their wake. These three men, William, Brian, and Luke, couldn't have been more different if they had tried. Though each was born close together, and they all grew up in the same household.

William grew up to be a movie producer with a family. Brian a teacher first, then an agent, sometimes even for members of his family. Luke, the baby, went into music, becoming a pop star. All of them are broken in their own way.

“Three brothers are at the funeral. One lies in the coffin.”

Little Cruelties is perhaps the most accurate title I've seen in a long time. The amount of little mean-spirited things one family can do is astounding. This was a harrowing read, thanks to the progressing buildup of actions and pain.

I've never read anything by Liz Nugent before, if I'm being completely honest. So I was absolutely blown away by her writing in Little Cruelties. Part of me actually wanted to put the book down and walk away, even if just for a bit.

Not because of the writing – but because of how real it felt. I guess that does make it because of the writing, just not in the way one might expect. It was the writing itself, the way Nugent's words flowed across the page, that kept me from caving to that temptation.

“Three is an odd number so there had always been two against one, although we all switched sides regularly. Nobody would ever have described us as close.”

Let's be honest; how can you NOT be curious after a description and intro like that. Three brothers, one coffin. But who lived, and who died? What was the cause of death? These are just a couple of the dozens of questions that crossed my mind early on. All of which paled in comparison to the questions I wondered about over the course of the whole novel.

It's a book that'll make you think. It'll break your heart, put it back together with gum, and then break it again. Yet it's worth it. Little Cruelties was so human, with each action and portrayal of pain or violence feeling almost...every day. That's what made it feel so real, and so successful.

This is not a book I'll be forgetting anytime soon, I can tell you that much. I think it's safe to say that Liz Nugent is getting added to my 'automatic TBR list.'

Check out more reviews over a Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks