{"product_id":"the-good-ones-a-novel-isbn-9780063234154","title":"The Good Ones: A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“Polly Stewart's \u003cem\u003eThe Good Ones\u003c\/em\u003e is a fantastic achievement. A classic Southern Gothic tale told through the prism of modern-day sensibilities. Not to be missed.”—S. A. Cosby, \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eRazorblade Tears\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“A riveting, unflinching exploration of adolescent female friendships, small-town pressures to conform, and the true crime lover’s tendency to conflate empathy and voyeurism, \u003cem\u003eThe Good Ones\u003c\/em\u003e drew me in from the first lines and still hasn’t released me, days after finishing.”—Katie Gutierrez, nationally bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eMore Than You’ll Ever Know\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAn engrossing work of literary suspense that illuminates the push and pull of female friendship and the costs of being good when the rules for women begin to chafe.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe last time Nicola Bennett saw Lauren Ballard she was scraping a key along the side of a new cherry-red Chevy Silverado. That was the night before her friend mysteriously vanished from her home, leaving a bloodstained washcloth and signs of a struggle—as well as her grieving husband and young daughter—behind.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow, nearly twenty years later, Nicola, newly unemployed and still haunted by the disappearance of her childhood friend, is returning to her Appalachian hometown. For Nicola, Tyndall County has remained frozen in time. Everywhere she turns she’s reminded of Lauren. Yet shockingly, her former friends and neighbors have all moved on. Drawn to stories of missing girls, Nicola obsessively searches the internet, hoping to discover a clue to Lauren’s ultimate fate.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDriven by a desperate need to know what happened to her friend, Nicola takes a job in her hometown, determined to uncover any bit of information, any small clue, that can help. Deep down she knows the answers are tucked in the hollows and valleys of this small Blue Ridge county. As secrets come to light and the truth begins to unravel, will Nicola finally find release and break free of the past—or lose herself completely to unanswered questions from her adolescence?\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e\"Polly Stewart's \u003cem\u003eThe Good Ones\u003c\/em\u003e is a fantastic achievement. A classic Southern Gothic tale told through the prism of modern-day sensibilities. Not to be missed.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eS. A. Cosby, author of Razorblade Tears\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Polly Stewart buoys \u003cem\u003eThe Good Ones \u003c\/em\u003e. . . with finely drawn characters who harbor a pleasing passel of secrets.”  - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Stewart’s debut is a powerful novel about a woman, recently returned to her Appalachian hometown, who grows obsessed with a friend’s disappearance twenty years prior, and with other cases of missing women. What emerges is a sprawling tale about a town’s secrets and lingering traumas, as well as one woman’s reckoning with life’s darkest turns. Stewart is a writer to watch.”  - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCrimeReads\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I just finished debut author Polly Stewart’s \u003cem\u003eThe Good Ones\u003c\/em\u003e, a wild Southern noir with a brilliant and bold voice and one hell of a twist. - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGarden \u0026amp; Gun Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Fans of Emma Cline’s \u003cem\u003eThe Girls\u003c\/em\u003e and Gillian Flynn’s\u003cem\u003e Sharp Objects\u003c\/em\u003e will devour Stewart’s unnerving examination of the tangled bonds between teenage girls and the suffocating constraints of womanhood. A hometown mystery with a plot twist that will blow your flip-flops off.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eOprah Daily\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Polly Stewart’s \u003cem\u003eThe Good Ones \u003c\/em\u003eis a Southern Gothic page-turner that’s as thoughtful as it is suspenseful. . . . In this haunting crime novel, even the smallest details are steeped in Southern Gothic beauty. \u003cem\u003eThe Good Ones \u003c\/em\u003eis not content merely to thrill, but asks the reader probing questions about womanhood that will linger long after its startling twist of an ending.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eChapter 16\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A promising slice of psychological suspense . . .[Stewart’s] messy, endearing lead and swift pacing make for a . . . thrilling ride. This should please fans of Megan Miranda and Megan Abbott.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"With writing that stands out in the genre, Polly Stewart creates a true page-turner that has both atmosphere and depth.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMosaic Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“[Polly Stewart] is a master of creating a compelling narrative. \u003cem\u003eThe Good Ones\u003c\/em\u003e is a complex and engrossing story. Filled with secrets, surprises, and a shocking twist, this book is well worth reading. Highly recommended.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFresh Fiction\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This book kept me guessing to the end. Just when I figured out who was responsible for the disappearance, [Stewart] would throw in something that made me completely change my mind. The ending was perfect and answered all of the questions that existed throughout the book. . . . The entire mystery around Lauren's disappearance makes this book an interesting read.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGirl Who Reads\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"An unsettling mystery about a young mother’s disappearance and the cost of centering ourselves in someone else’s story. Dark, suspenseful, and thought-provoking, \u003cem\u003eThe Good Ones\u003c\/em\u003e kept me turning pages late into the night.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAllison Buccola, author of Catch Her When She Falls\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Bold, beautiful, savage and stunning. \u003cem\u003eThe Good Ones\u003c\/em\u003e is a taut thriller, an elegant exploration of loss and the haunt of past mistakes, and a true page-turning mystery. I adored it.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eChris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eThe Good Ones\u003c\/em\u003e by Polly Stewart is a riveting debut crime novel that’s loaded with elements that readers will love - powerful characters, a fraught homecoming, and twists galore.”  - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAlex Segura, bestselling author of Secret Identity\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"In Polly Stewart's bittersweet debut \u003cem\u003eThe Good Ones\u003c\/em\u003e, good girls lie and bad girls disappear. But which is which? With a compelling cast of suspects and twists that keep on coming, \u003cem\u003eThe Good Ones\u003c\/em\u003e delivers a moving portrait of complex and flawed women that will haunt the reader long after the last page.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAmy Gentry\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A startling, riveting tale about female friendship, past trauma, and the secrets we keep. Breathlessly entertaining and sharply incisive, Polly Stewart’s debut is a must read.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirstin Chen, New York Times bestselling author of Counterfeit\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The friendship at the heart of this gripping mystery is among the darkest and most complicated relationships I’ve read. \u003cem\u003eThe Good Ones\u003c\/em\u003e had me suspecting everyone in Tyndall County, only to be proven wrong by an ending I never saw coming. Polly Stewart is an author to watch.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAna Reyes, New York Times bestselling author of The House in the Pines\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A young mother vanishes from her Appalachian hometown leaving little more than rumors and blood-stained carpets in her wake. Her overeducated and true-crime obsessed childhood friend is left to uncover what really happened in this stylish and totally compelling mystery that is as concerned with finding a missing woman as it is with challenging our assumptions about motherhood. I loved it!” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDarcey Bell, author of A Simple Favor\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Sharp, smart and often sexy, \u003cem\u003eThe Good Ones\u003c\/em\u003e is a knockout. Lauren Ballard's disappearance may be the core of this story, but it's the many raw secrets of Tyndall County that make this novel unique, clever, and compelling.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAce Atkins, New York Times bestselling author The Revelators and The Heathens\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eThe Good Ones\u003c\/em\u003e by Polly Stewart is a stunning achievement. With gorgeous writing, a compelling, flawed protagonist whose journey is so authentic, and an intricate mystery in which everyone is a suspect, this debut is captivating. The twists and turns are seamless and subtle, fully immersing us in a world of wealth and power in a small town, where the line between love and hate closely bleeds together. And just when you think you've figured it all out, Stewart wallops you with a mind-blowing ending.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSamantha M. Bailey, national bestselling author of Woman on the Edge and Watch Out for Her\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eThe Good Ones\u003c\/em\u003e is a haunting, gorgeously rendered portrayal of the scar tissue that grows around ambiguous loss, and the ways our lives can be defined by a person’s absence as much as by their presence. A riveting, unflinching exploration of adolescent female friendships, small-town pressures to conform, and the true crime lover’s tendency to conflate empathy and voyeurism, \u003cem\u003eThe Good Ones\u003c\/em\u003e drew me in from the first lines and still hasn’t released me, days after finishing. I envy readers opening Polly Stewart’s beautiful, assured novel for the first time.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKatie Gutierrez, author of More Than You'll Ever Know\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"I can’t stop thinking about Polly Stewart’s \u003cem\u003eThe Good Ones\u003c\/em\u003e. Smartly suspenseful and knife-sharp, this thriller explores the way our mistakes refuse to stay confined to the past tense. Stewart upends our understanding of how we fit into the stories that surround us—both the ones we tell ourselves and the narratives others spin for us. In these pages, those who stay behind have as many secrets as those who go missing, and I couldn’t stop reading until I'd untangled every mystery.\"  - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSara Flannery Murphy, author of Girl One\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This book dives straight into the heart of Appalachia, unearthing teenage tensions and full-grown fears that connect in ways I never saw coming. Fans of Megan Abbott will rejoice in this intricately textured addition to the rural noir canon.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEli Cranor, author of Don't Know Tough and Ozark Dogs\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44890422673637,"sku":"NP9780063234154","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780063234154.jpg?v=1730233252","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-good-ones-a-novel-isbn-9780063234154","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}