Goodnight Beautiful

A Novel

By: Aimee Molloy

Narrated by: Val Toomey, George Newbern, Marin Ireland, Joel Froomkin

Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's Summary

Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award

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

Newlyweds Sam Statler and Annie Potter are head over heels, and excited to say goodbye to New York city and start a life together in Sam's sleepy hometown upstate. Or, it turns out, a life where Annie spends most of her time alone while Sam, her therapist husband, works long hours in his downstairs office, tending to the egos of his (mostly female) clientele. 

Little does Sam know that through a vent in his 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 listening? Everything is fine until the French girl in the green mini Cooper shows up, and Sam decides to go to work and not come home, throwing a wrench into Sam and Annie's happily ever after. 

Showcasing Molloy’s deft ability to subvert norms and culminating in the kind of stunning twist that is becoming her trademark, Goodnight Beautiful is a thrilling tale of domestic suspense that not only questions assumptions but defies expectations.

©2020 Aimee Molloy (P)2020 HarperAudio

Book you will not be able to put down!

I am an avid listener to psychological thrillers and pride myself on figuring out the ending. I usually take my time listening to my book and it takes me about a week or so to finish, BUT this one had so many twist and turns that I just could not stop and finished in 2 days! Great author and witty! Highly recommend this book. I think I may listen again from the beginning since I know some of the twists and I want to see how I missed them.

Copy Cat

Spoiler Alert Warning... When I first started reading, I was intrigued. The moment the Misery re-write began, I should have just quit. I don't know if the author feels that actually mentioning Misery absolves her from the fact that she stole the plot and paralleled the book, by Stephen King.

fantastic audio suspense story

“Good Night Beautiful” by Aimee Molloy is one of those character-driven thrillers that leave the reader to piece together the real story. And, as with most great thrillers, there seems to be an unreliable narrator….or at least a narrator who misdirects.

An attractive psychotherapist returns to his childhood town in upstate New York when his mom has dementia and needs more care. He uproots his new marriage from NYC where his wife enjoyed a fulfilling career. The story opens with this Doctor, Sam Statler, reported missing after a disastrous windstorm. From the start, we know that Sam is missing. Part 1 provides the backstory to Sam and his life. His chapters are alternated with another voice who supplies clues to Sam’s life in his new town. Also, we learn that there is a vent that allows the person upstairs to listen in on therapy sessions.

One narrator, who is initially unnamed becomes creepier as the story unfolds. Initially, scant clues are provided as to who this narrator is which ups the creep meter.

In the second part we get more of the wife, Annie’s side in the story. Molloy plants some clues and some mis-directions that leaves the reader fully involved. There is some foreshadowing that is applied perfectly.

I listened to the audible production, narrated by Val Toomey, George Newbern, Marin Ireland, and Joel Froomkin. I do enjoy listening to thrillers with many voices. These narrators are perfect for the story,

Just not as good as I was hoping for.

I feel like I read a different book than all my goodreads friends. I was excited to listen to this book since everyone was loving it. It started off really well and I was into it. Didn't love the narrator though but got over it.

The first half had so much promise of an attention grabbing thriller but then took a turn to something that has famously been done already. It was still okay but just went downhill from there for me.

This is really Misery by S. King

I stopped at Chapter 31 - it had so much promise but then it was really Misery by King...I thought the other reviewer was mistaken but I agree....I felt like I was listening to Misery (movie) ... sad really had a lot of promise...started out great. Performance was awesome.

Not What I expected - In a negative way.

Just OK, do not know how it got such a high rating. I found the reader annoying.

WOOOOOOOOOOW!

I've been on a roll with finding great books to read and this title was no exception. I thought I knew what was going on then, I realize I had it all wrong. I wound up starting all over again, thinking I'd missed some key details but found I hadn't so, I continued to read. Whoa! That initial twist caught me off guard and I can't even say what it is because I will not be the one took Silk this awesome book for someone else. There were some jaw-dropping moments in this book and a very familiar aspect that pays homage to another popular title most of us are familiar with. This is another one of those titles I wouldn't mind watching play out on the big screen. Grab your copy now and enjoy the adventure!

Dazed and confused

I typed up a different review but I’m honestly confused about whether my opinions on the narration would be helpful or a spoiler. There were some interesting twists and it was overall an enjoyable story with a few tense moments. But it was really confusing at some points. I can’t help but wonder if reading the book rather than being influenced by one of the narrator’s voices would have been a less confusing and better experience. Or maybe the narration was absolutely brilliant and the story would’ve been ruined if it had been any different. I just don’t know.

Absolutely Excellent!

I'll be brief. This is a great book. I actually said "Oh My Goodness" or something similar out loud 5 times while listening to this tale.
The narration is perfect. The story will hold you in it's grip so that you want to stay up all night to finish listening.
A definite 5 star listen all around.

Book Club Must Read

Couldn't stop listening- HAD to know what came next! Great psychological thriller with all the twists and turns needed to keep you on your toes. Sending wrapped up very neatly, but sort of seemed expected to.