Freida McFadden

I loved this one! I love this author, but I love her protagonists' random and neurotic thoughts-chatter, in particular.

I tittered at Tegan’s worries that the person malingering on her front stoop was there to mug her, that the baby she is carrying is or isn't moving, that the silent giant of a man with the long unkempt beard whom she has hailed down after crashing her car in a rural wilderness during a blizzard will instead kidnap her and keep her prisoner in his basement, that he is show more beating his wife, that they are trying to poison her, (you get it...there is a long list of fears that every neurotic screwball like me can relate to).

In fact, some of her neurotic chatter is grounded, but most of it is mistaken and she fails to see the real threats lurking in the background. The character of Pamela would be a hoot, if there wasn't some mental health issue attached. Pamela's inability to have a baby (having lost one) has driven her over the edge and has caused to her to do some crazy things to compensate. P's random and neurotic thoughts-chatter was nearly as hilarious as Tegan’s - in a dark sort of way.

Despite two "baddies", I loved the rest of the characters - warts and all!

Tegan is eight months pregnant and penniless after what she thought was a drunken, one-night stand. She remembers nothing of that night, but finding herself pregnant, decides she wants to keep the baby and raise it on her own. She works in a supermarket at minimum wage and has had to temporarily abandon her dreams of becoming a nurse as she is completely destitute and has no family other than her loving brother who has protected her and looked after her since their father died (what a "surprising" literary development).

One day Tegan sees a photo in a news article and recognizes the father of her baby. She contacts him and after taking a paternity test discovers that this once charming man is less than happy about the fact that the news could ruin his perfect family life and reputation. She must sign an NDA and he will provide a generous settlement. Although she could remember nothing at all of that fateful night, until she meets the creep, Simon, for the first time since, at the signing of the Agreement. His cologne suddenly produces a rush of memories….

That is all you get...if you want the twists, suspense, mystery and chase you will have to read on your own.

The crash is available on KU - but sadly without the audio, which is very good. The audio version is instantly available on Hoopla! if your library subscribes. show less

First of all, and most importantly: if you're sensitive to triggers, take the author's note at the beginning seriously and check out the Content Warnings on her website. Don't be that guy in the review section who complains about the content because he apparently ignored the warning at the start of the book yet obviously should have read them.

Secondly, I'm with Freida's mum; I love me a good revenge fiction. I support women's wrongs (in fiction, mostly)!

I had a hell of a good time reading show more this. Great entertainment!

Yes, it's mostly a brain-off-book (which doesn't mean it doesn't make sense, for the most parts, if you keep your brain running), but let's be honest, we all need a brain-off-book every now and then. That's fine. That's what fiction is for. It doesn't have to be a Noble-price-worthy piece of literature all the time. There's a time and place for either. There are days for Umberto Eco and days for Freida McFadden. I love them both. You're allowed to too. Diversity is great!

And for all those whinging about "this is unrealisitic yada yada yada": Yeah, no sheet, Sherlock - it's called fiction for a reason, you know. show less

DEAR DEBBIE by Freida McFadden
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Wow, this thriller is a riot. It’s wickedly funny, impossible to put down, and led by a character who is gloriously unhinged! “Dear Debbie” absolutely delivers.

Thanks to the author and Poisoned Pen Press for the #giftedARC delivered via #Edelweiss.

Five stars doesn’t feel like enough for this level of unhinged thrill. As someone who grew up devouring Dear Abby, the premise alone had me hooked. But Debbie? She is in a league of her own. show more Her advice isn’t just bold, it’s the kind of wickedly honest, laugh-out-loud truth you secretly wish you could blurt out at times. Debbie has no filter, and watching her spiral into increasingly wild territory is pure joy.

She may have lost her grip on reality, but she is so wildly entertaining that I was cheering her on every step of the way. Every letter she answers is a new opportunity for her to go off the rails in the most hilarious way. She’s one of my favorite unhinged characters, and this has officially become my top McFadden read.

The story races along, with thriller twists that catch you off guard in the most delicious way. And that ending? Pure perfection! I’m craving another thriller with this kind of deliciously dark humor.

#DearDebbie #PoisonedPenPress #Sourcebooks show less

Blake Porter is that guy — VP of marketing, Manhattan brownstone, beautiful fiancée Krista, a pet goldfish named Goldy that he and Krista are using to practice co-parenting (yes, really). Then his boss fires him for allegedly leaking a campaign to a competitor, something Blake insists he didn't do. Unable to make the mortgage, he and Krista decide to rent out a room. Enter Whitney — charming, beautiful, seemingly perfect. Almost immediately things start going wrong. Strange smells. show more Noises at night. A mysterious rash. His food disappearing. His phone turning up in Whitney's bed. His neighbors looking at him differently. The goldfish found dead in bleachy water. Blake becomes increasingly convinced Whitney is gaslighting him and systematically destroying his life — but every time he tries to call it out, he ends up looking unhinged while she looks perfectly reasonable. Told from Blake's paranoid, unraveling point of view. Notable for being a rare McFadden book with a male narrator, and reportedly her best use of that device.

[May contain spoilers]
The book has three parts and the second part is where everything flips. Krista's POV takes over — and she is Whitney. The real Whitney Cross. The woman living in their house is an imposter who stole her identity, and Krista has been orchestrating the entire psychological operation on Blake as revenge, because Blake has dark secrets of his own — including being responsible for getting the previous tenant of that brownstone killed, and his boss didn't fire him without reason. Krista has been running the whole gaslighting campaign from inside the relationship, using the fake Whitney as her instrument. Blake eventually murders the fake Whitney, which is exactly what Krista needed him to do — she's set up the perfect frame. The goldfish funeral, the maggots in Whitney's bed that he planted, the bleach in the fish tank — all of it gets weaponized against him. There's a final additional twist involving whether Krista completes her full plan, which some readers found satisfying and others felt was one layer too many.

Peak McFadden — compulsively readable, absolutely bonkers, the goldfish subplot will make you laugh out loud at how seriously everyone treats it. You'd finish it in a day, enjoy the twist, and immediately wonder how she keeps getting away with this. You might find Blake slightly more sympathetic than her usual protagonists which would throw you off. Solid 3.5 — fun, disposable, exactly what it's supposed to be. show less