The Favour: The gripping new thriller from an author 'at the top of British psychological suspense writing' (Observer)

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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. 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! In 1989 she became acting literary editor at the New Statesman, before moving to the Observer, where she was deputy literary editor for five years, and then a feature writer and executive editor. In this twisty new stand-alone novel from internationally bestselling author Nicci French, a young woman agrees to do a favor for her first love—but when things go horribly wrong, one small task turns into a murder investigation that completely upends her life, ensnaring her in a deadly web of secrets and lies.

In 1995 Nicci and Sean began work on their first joint novel and adopted the pseudonym of Nicci French. The Memory Game was published to great acclaim in 1997 followed by The Safe House (1998), Killing Me Softly (1999), Beneath the Skin (2000), The Red Room (2001), Land of the Living (2002), Secret Smile (2003), Catch Me When I Fall (2005), Losing You (2006) and Until It's Over (2008). Their latest novel together is What To Do When Someone Dies (2009). Sean French was born in May 1959 in Bristol, to a British father and Swedish mother. He too studied English Literature at Oxford University at the same time as Nicci, also graduating with a first class degree, but their paths didn't cross until 1990. In 1981 he won Vogue magazine's Writing Talent Contest, and from 1981 to 1986 he was their theatre critic. During that time he also worked at the Sunday Times as deputy literary editor and television critic, and was the film critic for Marie Claire and deputy editor of New Society. 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. 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. 🥣 = 😡I consumed The Favour in two sittings, fascinated by the ambivalence of many of the characters, Liam's housemates in particular. They are a colourful and unconventional bunch but perhaps not quite as unconventional as they believe themselves to be. Jude agrees. She goes along with his plan without asking too many questions, and without telling her fiancé. She follows Liam’s instructions, and waits. And then the police turn up, telling her that Liam has been found dead, in London. Why does Jude have his car, his bag, his wallet, his mobile phone, in a cottage in Norfolk? Jude’s explanation doesn’t really satisfy DI Leila Fox. The life lesson Jude learned is sad. We've all been there. We wear rose-tinted nostalgia glasses and then realize the prince is actually an ogre. That said, THE FAVOUR unfortunately turned out to be one of my least favourite books by the author team, partly because believing the main character’s actions and motivations stretched my ability to suspend disbelief way past its limits. Maybe it would have worked better for me had Jude not been a doctor. How did this indecisive, insecure and naïve person ever get through medical school? Medicine is a science, it’s about trouble shooting and problem solving, and it involves logical thought processes. But here is Jude, bumbling her way from one disaster into the next and making one terrible decision after another. I think the only way I could have believed Jude’s actions would have been either a) if there was an implicit threat to Jude if she didn’t agree to the “favour”; or b) if Jude was a totally different personality type (i.e. an arty / spiritual person believing in karma or a person undergoing a deep personal crisis such as substance addiction / bereavement etc). I always seem to have an unpopular opinion, but this time it's because I seemed to enjoy the book more than the other reviewers.

Jude is een succesvolle arts en is gelukkig met haar verloofde Nat. Maar dan duikt opeens haar eerste liefde, Liam, op in het ziekenhuis waar ze werkt. Hun relatie was, jaren eerder, op dramatische wijze beëindigd en sindsdien hebben ze elkaar niet meer gezien. Liam vraagt haar om een bijzondere gunst: zou ze hem in het weekend willen ontmoeten in een cottage in Norfolk? De gunst' is het nieuwe verhaal van dit bekende schrijversduo en ik was zeer benieuwd. De proloog begint met een fragment dat elf jaar geleden plaatsvond. Daarna springen we naar het heden en lees je vanuit Jude. Ze is arts in een ziekenhuis en op een dag staat Liam in de hal op haar te wachten. Niet veel later vraagt hij haar om een bijzondere gunst. Jude twijfelt, maar stemt dan toch toe. Ze verzwijgt dit echter wel voor haar verloofde. Maar als het zover is, komt Liam niet opdagen... Jude besluit te wachten en niet veel later krijgt ze een telefoontje van de politie. Dit zet haar leven totaal op zijn kop.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.

In the early eighties she taught English Literature in Sheffield, London and Los Angeles, but moved into publishing in 1985 with the launch of Women's Review, a magazine for women on art, literature and female issues. Then, out of the blue, after an absence of eleven years, her first serious boyfriend, Liam Birch turns up to meet her with a strange request. He wants her to drive up to a remote cottage on the Norfolk coast, using his car and paying with his credit card, and then wait for him to arrive by train the following evening. For some reason we are not initially aware of, Jude agrees to this suspicious proposition.

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Toch ben ik niet super enthousiast over dit verhaal. Het ging een hele andere richting op dan dat ik had gehoopt en ook vond ik sommige keuzes een beetje vergezocht en raar. Desondanks is het geen onaardig verhaal en zeker leuk om eens gelezen te hebben. In this twisty new stand-alone novel from internationally bestselling author Nicci French, a young woman agrees to do a favor for an estranged former boyfriend—but when things go horribly wrong, one small task turns into a murder investigation that completely upends her life, ensnaring her in a deadly web of secrets and lies.

BRINGING DANGER CLOSE TO HOME . . . THE GRIPPING NEW THRILLER FROM BESTSELLING AUTHOR NICCI FRENCH,** shortlisted for the 2023 Ned Kelly Awards for Best International Crime FictionThis is my first book from best selling British authors Nicci French (Nicci Gerard and Sean French). I enjoyed the writing and The Favor started out with a bang - literally a car crash involving four teens and with the driver Liam under the influence suffering much of the blame and affecting the course of his life. Jude in the other hand became a successful doctor, and soon to be married. Eleven years later, Liam appears at the hospital asking Jude for a favor. Given their history Jude really feels she owes Liam at least this favor that is simple enough and involves no illegal activity. Except things didn’t work out as planned and Liam is dead, and now Jude is in the middle of a murder investigation. As Jude gets herself more and more enmeshed in what was Liam’s bohemian life, do her choices stretch the bounds of credibility? Most decidedly. But, a bit like a train crash, it’s hard to look away.