Friend Request cover art

Friend Request

The utterly addictive psychological thriller with a twist you won't see coming!

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Friend Request

By: Laura Marshall
Narrated by: Elaine Caxton
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About this listen

 *** The Sunday Times bestseller ***

'A read-it-in-one-sitting thriller' Erin Kelly
'Intriguing . . . Compulsive' Louise Candlish
'Twisty and gripping' Emma Kavanagh

Maria Weston wants to be friends with me.

Maybe that had been the problem all along: Maria Weston had wanted to be friends with me, but I let her down.

She's been hovering at the edge of my consciousness for all of my adult life, although I've been good at keeping her out, just a blurred shadow in the corner of my eye, almost but not quite out of sight.

Maria Weston wants to be friends.

But Maria Weston has been dead for more than twenty-five years.©2017 Laura Marshall Crime Thrillers Domestic Thrillers Mystery Psychological Suspense Thriller & Suspense Exciting Scary

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Critic reviews

A read-it-in-one-sitting thriller . . . Twisty and gripping but always relatable, Friend Request is the ultimate it-could-happen-to-you read
Brilliant
Ramps up the tension page by page until it's impossible to know who to trust. It's a book that should make everybody realise how vulnerable social media can make them. I loved it!
Fabulous! Twisty and gripping . . . You must read this!
I couldn't put it down!
An incredible debut novel that's not to be missed! Fantastic writing that instantly drew me in. I simply couldn't put it down - such a fast-paced, exciting thriller with some unexpected twists and turns. I loved it!
Utterly gripping
A cleverly plotted, enticing mix of suspense, regret and redemption . . . After reading Friend Request, I will never look at social media the same way again
Intriguing and compulsive . . . I raced to the end
Sharp, relevant and tightly plotted, with a fabulous twist
Brilliantly tense, this is a devour-in-one-sitting must
A slick psychological thriller with a killer hook
A gripping read
An accomplished debut novel which not only boasts an engrossing storyline, but also perfectly captures teenage angst and the need to be accepted
PRAISE FOR LAURA MARSHALL
Funny, tense and insightful . . . with vivid characters and a compelling plot, this had me turning the pages until the wee hours. I loved it
Darkly hilarious and acutely observed
I laughed and gasped in equal measure
Gripping, funny, and brilliantly plotted
Gripping and ingenious!
One of the most engaging thrillers I've read in a while
Wonderfully engaging and unpredictable
I always drop everything to read a new Laura Marshall
Be prepared to be shocked and surprised with every turn of the page
All stars
Most relevant
Another audiobook review and this one made for uncomfortable listening. Returning visitors will perhaps know that I find stories about bullies hard to read. Well Friend Request looks at the impact of school-girl bullying as it occurs and the consequences of one prank going too far.

The blurb for this story sold it to me. A Facebook friend request from a long dead friend sends Louise Williams into a turmoil. Maria wants to be her friend. But Maria wanted to be friends with Louise in 1989 and Louise let her down and chose to hang around with the popular girl rather than the girls she could relax and enjoy spending time with. Then something really bad happened and Maria died – so how can she now want to be friends?

Readers know that Louise has done something terrible in her past and that it still haunts her. Over the course of the story we (through a number of flashback chapters) see how Louise conducted herself at school. It makes for awkward reading at times as Louise was no angel and some of the things that she agreed to do in order to retain her status among her friends made her cringe as she recalls them. Made me cringe hearing about them and I got really annoyed with her.

In the present day Louise is a single mum and her 4yo son is her world. Her best friend is determined that Louise should start dating again but she is equally determined that Louise keeps away from her ex. When you read a thriller and there is a young child so integral to the plot you cannot help but worry if something bad may happen – tension I could have done without while I tried to cope with my stress over the bullying!!!

I loved the balance of past and future and there are subtle clues over what may lie ahead but you want to keep reading to find out what went wrong in the past. You also want to know how Maria can suddenly have arrived back in Louise’s life and who else may have heard from her. With a School Reunion looming is it really a good idea for everyone to revisit memories of days best forgotten.

I did mention that this was an audiobook read for me so some thoughts from a listener…narration duties were well handled by Elaine Claxton. She was very listenable and brought the story to life, particularly when covering the chapters from 1989 and she makes her voice younger and softer which was particularly effective. At over 11 hours in length this was one of the longer stories I heard last month but it didn’t feel it – it zipped along at a good pace and I didn’t experience a feeling of padding or mid-story drop off as I have with some of my other recent audiobooks.

For this story of school days which may be best forgotten the report card is very positive. I thoroughly enjoyed having Friend Request for company and would not hesitate to recommend it.

Clever thriller with some unexpected twists

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Good story page turned couldn't wait to finish but felt they was some unanswered questions. Modern idea but needs to be expanded.

Good

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I felt it was a little slow to start but I couldn’t put it down once it got going. Great story

Well worth a listen

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I am currently doing a Thriller writing course and this was one of the recommended books. It lives up to the recommendation. This is a well written and observed story of a terrible school girl tragedy that haunts the characters subsequent lives. It twists and turns brilliantly and the scenes, especially of the tribal nature of school culture, in particular girls is brilliant. I especially liked the ending, it has a very chilling twist that I did not see coming.
Elaine Claxton's narration is faultless and he characterisations bring a clarity to a very complicated hugely enjoyable plot. I highly recommend this one.

A PERFECT THRILLER.

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It's definitely memorable and I couldn't turn it off. Some dark themes that definitely made me think, but great mystery trying to decide what was going on.

Loved it!

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