The Good Ones: A Novel

Written by Polly Stewart

Narrated by Maggi-Meg Reed

“Polly Stewart's The Good Ones is a fantastic achievement. A classic Southern Gothic tale told through the prism of modern-day sensibilities. Not to be missed.”—S. A. Cosby, New York Times bestselling author of Razorblade Tears

“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, The Good Ones drew me in from the first lines and still hasn’t released me, days after finishing.”—Katie Gutierrez, nationally bestselling author of More Than You’ll Ever Know

An 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.

The 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.

Now, 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.

Driven 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?

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Jun 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9780063234185

Polly Stewart

Polly Stewart grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, where she still lives. She graduated from Hollins University and has an MFA in fiction and a PhD in British literature from Washington University in St. Louis. Her short fiction has appeared in literary collections and journals, including Best New American Voices, The Best American Mystery Stories, Epoch, and the Alaska Quarterly Review. Her nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times, Crime Reads, and Poets & Writers, among other publications.

Reviews for The Good Ones

[Bob Doop · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a very good book. I enjoyed it a whole lot thank you.

[Kandace Simpson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a good story but I feel like parts were left out. One minute she is searching a for a lighter in a purse and finds pictures that send her down a rabbit hole then suddenly having a conversation with someone in a different scenario. Main character dies a lot of reminiscing or daydreaming. The ending was not I expected and definitely not what should have happened. Narrator was good but really couldn’t define who was talking until the story said.

[Bekah Page Turner · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The narrator of this audio version nearly ruined it for me and I almost left after the first few minutes after I heard her butchering Southern accents of twenty-something girls. Sounded like Blanche from the Golden Girls only drunk. This did not improve for the duration of the book but the story was interesting enough and there was enough novel between direct quotes of he said she said to keep it from being totally cringe. The story was pretty interesting but it didn't leave me feeling good or sympathetic about ANY of the main characters.

[Kimberly Small-Jonas · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The two problems I had I saw in other reviews too. One, I felt like parts were missing. She would be doing one thing and then all of a sudden it jumped to something else. Two, the Southern accents were really bad.