2021 AudioFile Best Audiobooks
2021 Washington Post Best Books of the Year
From Liane Moriarty, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, comes Apples Never Fall, an audiobook that looks at marriage, siblings, and how the people we love the most can hurt us the deepest.
The Delaney family love one another dearly—it's just that sometimes they want to murder each other . . .
If your mother was missing, would you tell the police? Even if the most obvious suspect was your father?
This is the dilemma facing the four grown Delaney siblings.
The Delaneys are fixtures in their community. The parents, Stan and Joy, are the envy of all of their friends. They're killers on the tennis court, and off it their chemistry is palpable. But after 50 years of marriage, they've finally sold their famed tennis academy and are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives. So why are Stan and Joy so miserable?
The four Delaney children—Amy, Logan, Troy, and Brooke—were tennis stars in their own right, yet as their father will tell you, none of them had what it took to go all the way. But that's okay, now that they're all successful grown-ups and there is the wonderful possibility of grandchildren on the horizon.
One night a stranger named Savannah knocks on Stan and Joy's door, bleeding after a fight with her boyfriend. The Delaneys are more than happy to give her the small kindness she sorely needs. If only that was all she wanted.
Later, when Joy goes missing, and Savannah is nowhere to be found, the police question the one person who remains: Stan. But for someone who claims to be innocent, he, like many spouses, seems to have a lot to hide. Two of the Delaney children think their father is innocent, two are not so sure—but as the two sides square off against each other in perhaps their biggest match ever, all of the Delaneys will start to reexamine their shared family history in a very new light.
A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company
2021 AudioFile Best Audiobooks
2021 Washington Post Best Books of the Year
From Liane Moriarty, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, comes Apples Never Fall, an audiobook that looks at marriage, siblings, and how the people we love the most can hurt us the deepest.
The Delaney family love one another dearly—it's just that sometimes they want to murder each other . . .
If your mother was missing, would you tell the police? Even if the most obvious suspect was your father?
This is the dilemma facing the four grown Delaney siblings.
The Delaneys are fixtures in their community. The parents, Stan and Joy, are the envy of all of their friends. They're killers on the tennis court, and off it their chemistry is palpable. But after 50 years of marriage, they've finally sold their famed tennis academy and are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives. So why are Stan and Joy so miserable?
The four Delaney children—Amy, Logan, Troy, and Brooke—were tennis stars in their own right, yet as their father will tell you, none of them had what it took to go all the way. But that's okay, now that they're all successful grown-ups and there is the wonderful possibility of grandchildren on the horizon.
One night a stranger named Savannah knocks on Stan and Joy's door, bleeding after a fight with her boyfriend. The Delaneys are more than happy to give her the small kindness she sorely needs. If only that was all she wanted.
Later, when Joy goes missing, and Savannah is nowhere to be found, the police question the one person who remains: Stan. But for someone who claims to be innocent, he, like many spouses, seems to have a lot to hide. Two of the Delaney children think their father is innocent, two are not so sure—but as the two sides square off against each other in perhaps their biggest match ever, all of the Delaneys will start to reexamine their shared family history in a very new light.
A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company
Reviews-
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July 26, 2021
Set in Sydney, Australia, this engrossing psychological thriller from bestseller Moriarty (Nine Perfect Strangers) centers on Joy and Stan Delaney, who have been married for 50 years and are discontented in their retirement. Joy often fantasizes about their four grown children giving them grandchildren to help them out of their rut. One night, a young woman appears at the Delaneys’ door. Introducing herself as Savannah, she claims she’s a victim of domestic abuse and has the injuries to show for it. The couple welcome Savannah into their home, where she soon becomes a permanent guest. Eventually, the Delaney children notice oddities in Savannah’s behavior and suggest it may be time for her to leave. Tension builds between Joy and Stan, and suddenly she vanishes. The police and two of the Delaney children believe Stan is responsible for her disappearance as he won’t talk about it. Moriarty expertly delves into the innermost thoughts of each of the children, exposing secrets unbeknownst to each other; artfully balances the present-day plot with revealing backstory; and offers several different possibilities for what happened to Joy. Only the overlong conclusion disappoints. Moriarty’s superb storytelling continues to shine. -
The Delaneys are not an ordinary family, and Joy and Stan, well-respected retired tennis coaches and parents of four near-pros, find themselves immersed in the mystery of a lifetime. Australian narrator Caroline Lee is an amazing performer who digs so deeply into her characters' personas that listeners will become addicted to each witty, insightful, and gutsy one. Lee's captivating dialogue reveals Joy's frustration with her adult children, her husband's lament for what could have been, and the tedium of retirement, setting the stage for uncharacteristic behavior. Chaos strikes when Joy and Stan's boredom leads to a random knock on their door, and the diabolical Savannah enters, ultimately causing the Delaney family to search for their missing mother while facing their imperfections and interrelationships. B.J.P. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
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Starred review from November 1, 2021
Set in Sydney, Australia, Moriarty's (Nine Perfect Strangers) latest novel traces the mysterious vanishing of 69-year-old Joy Delaney. Joy and her husband Stan have a loving marriage, a well-deserved retirement, and four remarkable children, but Joy's disappearance uncovers a stash of secrets and betrayals under the family's shiny veneer. Over the course of a nonlinear timeline that creates an increasingly unsettling picture, the Delaneys' backstories and secrets are revealed: failed relationships; the family's fierce competitiveness; and most intriguing of all, a stranger named Savannah, whose relationship with the Delaneys is not as innocent as it first seems. Narrator Caroline Lee brings her full talents to bear here; with careful characterizations and responsive pacing, she indicates the smallest but most telling emotions and nuances. Listeners will feel the novel's unspoken emotional undercurrents of heartbreaking need, barely restrained fury, and miserable insecurity. VERDICT Moriarty's engrossing novel is made all the more compelling by Lee's skillful narration. Highly recommended for all collections.--Sarah Hashimoto, Jackson Dist. Lib., MI
Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
