Beautiful Ugly: A Novel

by Alice Feeney Narrated by Richard Armitage, Tuppence Middleton

Overview

This program is read by actor Richard Armitage, best known for his role in The Hobbit film trilogy, and actress Tuppence Middleton, best known for her role in Downton Abbey.

Beautiful Ugly features sound design and special effects to enhance your listening enjoyment. Listen out for the sounds of the ocean surrounding the island and the tick tock of the metronome!

“Her best book yet.” -Harlan Coben

“Get ready for a bit of whiplash in mega-bestselling Feeney's seventh thriller, superbly read by British actors Armitage and Middleton.”-Booklist

The million-copy bestselling Queen of Twists Alice Feeney returns with a gripping and deliciously dark thriller about marriage. . .

. . . and revenge.

Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.

Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there. . . but his wife has disappeared.

A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can't sleep, and he can't write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible: a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.

Wives think their husbands will change but they don't.

Husbands think their wives won't change but they do.

“Magnetic and jaw-dropping.” -Mary Kubica, bestselling author

"Unforgettable." -Chris Whitaker, bestselling author

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

“I was consumed by this book. It’s her best ever, a work of genius.”

—Lisa Jewell, #1 bestselling author

“Alice Feeney is one of my favorite thriller writers and this is her best book yet. Highly addictive and beautifully written. Read Beautiful Ugly right now and thank me later.”

—Harlan Coben, #1 bestselling author

“Feeney is known for pulling jaw-dropping surprises on her readers. . . The book branches into unexpected directions on multiple fronts. . . just go with it.”

—New York Times Book Review

“Alice Feeney is back with another magnetic and jaw-dropping thriller. With a dreamlike quality and atmosphere that is off the charts, Beautiful Ugly takes readers into a world that is charming on the surface, but with danger, hatred and revenge lurking just beneath. Both witty and terrifying; I couldn't put it down!”

—Mary Kubica, bestselling author

“Wicked, wild, sinister and shocking. Alice Feeney rips up the rule book yet again. Beautiful Ugly is unpredictable and unforgettable.”

—Chris Whitaker, bestselling author

“A riveting, hypnotic thriller that begs to be read in one sitting. Beautiful Ugly is Alice Feeney at her twisty, unpredictable best!”

—Amy Tintera, bestselling author

“This may be Feeney’s most delightfully chilling thriller yet. . . Feeney mixes gothic atmosphere on a remote Scottish island; not one, but two possibly unreliable narrators; a woman who may or may not be dead; and a plot that delivers suspense like an IV drip. . . A completely immersive puzzle.

—Booklist (starred)

“The book’s slow unfolding of dread, mystery, and then truth is both creative and well-paced. . . Deeply satisfying.”

—Kirkus

“Feeney pens another superb domestic psychological thriller with plenty of twists, as her readers have come to expect.”

—Library Journal

“Alice Feeney’s thrillers are always such a fun time, filled with well-earned twists and surprises. And Beautiful Ugly might just be her best one yet.”

—BookRiot

“Be prepared to put your life on hold when you start this novel because there is a new twist on pretty much every page. Will you believe the husband or the wife’s story? As with every marriage, the truth is pretty murky right up to the very end. This is immersive and addictive storytelling.”

—Araminta Hall, bestselling author of One of the Good Guys

“When I started reading Beautiful Ugly I was not prepared to feel such joy in the writing, yet such terror in the story. A missing wife, a tortured couple and a lonely writer banished to a mysterious Scottish island, this exquisite novel is a relationship drama, a darkly twisting thriller and an examination of the fine line between isolation and loneliness. Alice Feeney has created a masterpiece, a riveting read, immaculately written.”

—Janice Hallett, bestselling author

“I’m a huge fan of Alice Feeney and Beautiful Ugly is an atmospheric gem of a thriller, weaving an unpredictable and clever plot that will keep you guessing until the very end. Brilliant and chilling, with an inspired setting, characters that jump off the page, and twists to give you whiplash. I loved every word.”

—Claire Douglas, bestselling author

Kirkus Reviews

2024-10-10
Following the mysterious disappearance of his wife, a struggling London novelist journeys to a remote Scottish island to try to get his mojo back—but all, of course, is not what it seems.

Grady Green hits the pinnacle of his publishing career on the same night that his life goes off the rails—first his book lands on theNew York Times bestseller list, and then his wife, Abby, goes missing on her way home. A year later, Grady is a mere shadow of his former self: out of money and out of ideas. So, when his agent, Abby’s godmother, suggests that he spend some time on the Isle of Amberly, in a log cabin left to her by one of her writers, it seems as good a plan as any. With free housing for himself and his dog and a beautiful, distraction-free environment, maybe he can finally complete the next novel. But from the very beginning, Grady’s experiences with Amberly seem weird, if not downright ominous: As a visitor, he’s not allowed to bring his car onto the island; the local businesses are only open for a few hours at a time; and there are no birds. At all. Not to mention the skeletal hand he finds buried under the floorboards of the cabin, the creepy harmonica music in the woods, and the occasional sighting of a woman in a red coat who’s a dead ringer for Abby. As Grady falls deeper and deeper into insomnia and alcoholism, he begins to realize his being on the island is no accident—and that should make him very afraid. Through occasional chapters from before Abby’s disappearance, told from her point of view, we learn that Grady is not necessarily a reliable narrator, and the book’s slow unfolding of dread, mystery, and then truth is both creative and well-paced. Every chapter heading is an oxymoron, like the title, reminding us of the contradictions at the heart of every story.

“Nasty little fellows…always get their comeuppance,” a movie character once said. Deeply satisfying.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940192401934
Publisher:	Macmillan Audio
Publication date:	01/14/2025
Edition description:	Unabridged

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