SEPTEMBER 2020 - AudioFile
Think of a mash-up of GONE GIRL and MISERY. Listeners may suspect this mystery has an unreliable narrator due to the mismatch between the voice introducing the story and their assumptions about who is speaking. Revealing more would spoil the experience. Hang in there for this wild ride of a psychological thriller with expertly crafted twists and turns. Narrators Val Toomey, George Newbern, Marin Ireland, and Joel Froomkin masterfully perform their characters in individual chapters. Listeners will follow the story of newlyweds Sam Statler and Annie Potter, who move to Sam’s hometown in upstate New York in search of a simpler life and to care for Sam’s ailing mother. Sam, a psychologist, thinks he has found the perfect office in which to set up his private practice. That’s when the fun begins. E.Q. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
08/03/2020
It’s no accident that more than one character is reading Stephen King’s Misery in this crafty page-turner from bestseller Molloy (The Perfect Mother). For starters, plenty of it—misery, that is—awaits newlyweds Sam Statler and Annie Potter after their move from Manhattan to Sam’s upstate hometown of Chestnut Hill, N.Y., to be closer to his ailing mother. After a heady first few weeks during which Sam’s therapy practice explodes with women eager for face time with the studly psychologist, he disappears—shaking Annie to the core. But, in the absence of clear indications of foul play, his disappearance is a low priority for the local police, especially once they get anonymous tips about his major debts and possible affair with a patient of his. After some accomplished misdirection, Molloy flips the story on its head. The surprising revelations compensate for the book’s major weakness—readers not getting to know the most appealing character, spunky Annie, until late in the plot when she’s forced to turn detective to search for the husband she still loves despite his considerable flaws. Psychological thriller fans won’t want to miss this one. Agent: Elisabeth Weed, Weed Literary. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
Constructed with house-of-cards precision, this cunning story surges forward as though powered by outboard motor. But Molloy proves equally skilled in the elusive arts of character and dialogue: 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.” — AJ Finn, author of The Woman in the Window
“Deliciously twisty. . . . The author has fun toying with the conventions of gender in pop culture, and the assumptions we make. It adds up to a book you’ll read late into the night, trying to figure out where the next twist will take you.” — Associated Press
“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, author of Girls Like Us
“A tense read that expertly employs misdirection and multiple points of view to create some truly surprising twists à la Gone Girl. The first of these twists is shocking enough to make you question everything you just read. At the same time, Goodnight Beautiful subverts gender norms and flips the trope of the unreliable female narrator on its head.” — Buzzfeed
"This is a psychological thriller you’ll think you have all figured out—but I promise you, you don’t." — Parade
“Molloy employs some of the most believable and jaw-dropping narrative twists since Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl in this smart, single-sitting read. Readers will be flipping back to see just how she performed the sleight of hand right in front of their eyes. Along with a rip-roaring suspense plot, Molloy adds depth with critiques of gender conventions that causes readers to investigate the assumptions they bring to the text. She breathes new life into the unreliable narrator thriller genre in a book everyone will be talking about.” — Library Journal
“Thriller fans love ‘twists’ that make them think ‘wow, didn’t see that coming.’… Molloy sends readers on a whiplashing mystery ride that turns that whole convention inside out… What distinguishes Goodnight Beautiful is Molloy’s spectacular feat of misdirection and uncanny success in unfolding revelations that are surprising yet believable from the early pages until the very last.” — New York Journal of Books
“[A] crafty page-turner…. Psychological thriller fans won’t want to miss this one.” — Publishers Weekly
“A domestic thriller with bite.” — Popsugar
"A remarkable and groundbreaking thriller. Molloy grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go until the final mind-bending, utterly astounding twist.” — Liv Constantine, author of The Last Mrs. Parrish
"When I tell you I couldn’t predict the ending of this one, that should say something. This novel had at least three twists that caught me completely off-guard…. Just when you think you’ve got this book figured out, it will throw another curveball at you, and even the most avid thriller readers won’t predict these surprises." — Betches
“Aimee Molloy is a master of deception and Goodnight Beautiful is a thrill-ride packed with twists. Enthralling, sharp, and clever, this book will keep you guessing.” — Samantha Downing, author of My Lovely Wife
AJ Finn
Constructed with house-of-cards precision, this cunning story surges forward as though powered by outboard motor. But Molloy proves equally skilled in the elusive arts of character and dialogue: 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.
Popsugar
A domestic thriller with bite.
Buzzfeed
A tense read that expertly employs misdirection and multiple points of view to create some truly surprising twists à la Gone Girl. The first of these twists is shocking enough to make you question everything you just read. At the same time, Goodnight Beautiful subverts gender norms and flips the trope of the unreliable female narrator on its head.
Associated Press
Deliciously twisty. . . . The author has fun toying with the conventions of gender in pop culture, and the assumptions we make. It adds up to a book you’ll read late into the night, trying to figure out where the next twist will take you.
Liv Constantine
"A remarkable and groundbreaking thriller. Molloy grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go until the final mind-bending, utterly astounding twist.
Cristina Alger
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.
Parade
"This is a psychological thriller you’ll think you have all figured out—but I promise you, you don’t."
New York Journal of Books
Thriller fans love ‘twists’ that make them think ‘wow, didn’t see that coming.’… Molloy sends readers on a whiplashing mystery ride that turns that whole convention inside out… What distinguishes Goodnight Beautiful is Molloy’s spectacular feat of misdirection and uncanny success in unfolding revelations that are surprising yet believable from the early pages until the very last.
Samantha Downing
Aimee Molloy is a master of deception and Goodnight Beautiful is a thrill-ride packed with twists. Enthralling, sharp, and clever, this book will keep you guessing.
Betches
"When I tell you I couldn’t predict the ending of this one, that should say something. This novel had at least three twists that caught me completely off-guard…. Just when you think you’ve got this book figured out, it will throw another curveball at you, and even the most avid thriller readers won’t predict these surprises."
Fall Reading List Betches
"Just when you think you’ve got this book figured out, it will throw another curveball at you—even the most avid thriller readers won’t predict these surprises."
Library Journal
09/04/2020
Molloy (The Good Mother) opens her new thriller with the disappearance of Dr. Sam Statler, a psychologist who recently moved back to his small hometown with a new wife to be close to his mother, who's living in a care center with dementia. Statler has model good looks, professional success, and a ladies' man reputation from high school that has made his return the talk of the town. Through shifting narrative perspectives we learn more about secrets in the seemingly storybook Statler marriage that complicate the missing-person case and raise questions about whether Sam willingly disappeared. Molloy employs some of the most believable and jaw-dropping narrative twists since Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl in this smart, single-sitting read. Readers will be flipping back to see just how she performed the sleight of hand right in front of their eyes. VERDICT Along with a rip-roaring suspense plot, Molloy adds depth with critiques of gender conventions that causes readers to investigate the assumptions they bring to the text. She breathes new life into the unreliable narrator thriller genre in a book everyone will be talking about.—Jon Jeffryes, Grand Valley State Univ., MI
SEPTEMBER 2020 - AudioFile
Think of a mash-up of GONE GIRL and MISERY. Listeners may suspect this mystery has an unreliable narrator due to the mismatch between the voice introducing the story and their assumptions about who is speaking. Revealing more would spoil the experience. Hang in there for this wild ride of a psychological thriller with expertly crafted twists and turns. Narrators Val Toomey, George Newbern, Marin Ireland, and Joel Froomkin masterfully perform their characters in individual chapters. Listeners will follow the story of newlyweds Sam Statler and Annie Potter, who move to Sam’s hometown in upstate New York in search of a simpler life and to care for Sam’s ailing mother. Sam, a psychologist, thinks he has found the perfect office in which to set up his private practice. That’s when the fun begins. E.Q. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
