The Coworker
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Frieda McFadden

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Two women. An office filled with secrets. One terrible crime that can't be taken back. Dawn Schiff is strange. At least, everyone thinks so at Vixed, the nutritional supplement company where Dawn works as an accountant. She never says the right thing. She has no friends. And she is always at her desk at precisely 8:45 a.m. So when Dawn doesn't show up to the office one morning, her coworker Natalie Farrell—beautiful, popular, top sales rep five years running—is surprised. Then she receives an unsettling, anonymous phone call that changes everything…It turns out Dawn wasn't just an awkward outsider—she was being targeted by someone close. And now Natalie is irrevocably tied to Dawn as she finds herself caught in a twisted game of cat and mouse that leaves her wondering: who's the real victim? But one thing is incredibly clear: somebody hated Dawn Schiff. Enough to kill.

My Thoughts: I am a HUGE fan of McFadden. I adore her writing style and her ability to interweave sneaky twists throughout the story. This is a classic McFadden thriller with turtles! I know that there have been mixed reviews on the turtle, but I enjoyed it. Dawn is eccentric. Natalie is popular. When Dawn does not show up one morning, Natalie knows something is off. As Natalie starts to dig into Dawn’s disappearance, at the same time, she finds herself at the center of the police investigation, she finds herself entrapped in a dangerous cat and mouse game.

The story is narrated by Dawn and Natalie, in a dual perspective. Dawn is eccentric, does not make friends easily, LOVES turtles, and is possibly on the spectrum. Natalie is popular, attractive, and tends to come off as manipulative. Our MCs are unreliable and flawed, relatable, and will keep you guessing which is the true victim. The characters were well developed with depth, mystery, obsessive, and intriguing. The author’s writing style was complex, suspenseful, twisty, thought-provoking, and just brilliant. The author does an amazing job at building the characters, proving a detailed scene that immerses you into the story, builds the plot in twisty layers, and creates a fantastic unpredictable ending. There were no plot holes and the characters were really built so well, even showed some character growth throughout the novel.

This is a compelling, captivating, gripping fast paced psychological thriller that completely immerses you in the storyline and you will not want to put down. I personally will blindly read anything by McFadden and can’t wait until the next book in February, The Teacher. I highly recommend this story, and any of McFadden’s wonderful twisty thrillers. Go pick you your copy today! Also available in audiobook on Hoopla (library) or Audible (purchase).

This is a quick read with some twists and turns. The narrative goes back and forth between Natalie and Dawn. Colleagues at Vixen with many secrets. Thank you to the publisher for a copy.

What a ride! I was laughing some of the time, shaking my head, and wondering if someone is as weird as one of the characters!! 🐢

At times, some parts were long. I expected one of the twists but not two of the other main twists, in normal Frieda fashion!

I rated 4/5 stars because I thought some parts were dragged on too much, but I still enjoyed the book very much! Would definitely recommend anything by her!

Thank you, Frieda, for another great book:)

I recently finished "The Locked Door" and enjoyed it so much that I went straight into reading "The Coworker." I will say this book had an odd storyline, but I was intrigued by the two main characters, Natalie and Dawn. The two coworkers couldn't be more different from one another! Natalie Farrell is popular, beautiful and serves as the top sales rep for the company and Dawn Schiff is peculiar, socially awkward and has a strange obsession with turtles. The back and forth between the two characters and the sudden disappearance of Dawn Schiff kept my interest all the way through. Another book by Freida that you can't put down! An easy read with an ending you won't expect!

Thank you to Freida McFadden, Poisoned Pen Press and #NetGalley for the ARC and opportunity to read and review another book by one of my favorite authors!

I am a HUGE Frieda fan. I really enjoyed this book. It was fast paced and kept me second guessing myself throughout. Not my absolute favourite book of hers - but none the less an excellent read!

My thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of The Coworker in exchange for my honest review.

I would give this book 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars for sheer entertainment factor.

I am a huge Freida McFadden fan and I don't think there is a book of hers that I've read that I haven't liked. I did enjoy The Coworker, but it wasn't one of my favorites. The premise was so very intriguing, but I didn't love the execution. The beginning was a little slow, but I think that was because McFadden was laying the groundwork for the jaw dropping second part. The second part was definitely a wild ride! Although, I think McFadden tried to throw way too many twists at you at once and it just left the whole thing feeling a bit over the top, unbelievable. I fully understand that this is fiction and it isn't supposed to be believable, but entertaining, and this book was entertaining. This book is filled with characters you will loathe and distrust. You will question your own judgement and you will question each character in turn.

I read the kindle version as well as listened to the audiobook. I enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook, although I did not fully enjoy the way she read Dawn's parts. I do understand what she was going for with her character, but it just fell really flat in audio. Then again, maybe that was the point since the goal was to make Dawn as odd as possible. If you are a McFadden fan, I think you will mark this one down as another winner!

This is my first McFadden book and I am a fan for life!
This book starts with Natalie coming to office and realizing that her cubicle Neighbour Dawn isn’t in office yet and she is never late! Added to that, the phone in Dawns office rings which Natalie picks up to hear who she thinks is Dawn crying for help, This sets in motion Natalie trying to find Dawn.
We get to read both Natalie and Dawn’s POV’s in this book and it os so refreshing and little bit heart breaking too. To see the perspective of the popular person as well as the “weird” person from the office. And both are written so well. Also loved both the character. McFadden has this real great way to revealing each character layer by layer which I thoroughly enjoyed.
I read this book in a one sitting, I couldn’t put this down at all!! I’ve heard so much about McFaddens The Housemaid series but wasn’t expecting to be sucked into the plot so much so that I didnt get any work done lol.

Will definitely be adding more from this author!
Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an ArC of this book for my honest review!

I stopped reading this at 65% and skipped to the end to see what happened because I was getting bored and really disliked Natalie and the way she talked about Dawn. Clearly there is a big twist in the part I skipped because the ending was bananas. I've enjoyed many of her earlier books, but this one did not work for me.

Existing McFadden McFans will likely love this!

3 stars feels like too low of a rating but 4 feels too high. Honestly, was this a little bit ridiculous? Yes. Once the weekend hit did I fly though it? Also yes.

5 stars for The Coworker!!! Freida has been one of my favorite authors since her first release. Naturally I was excited for her newest release.

This book follows a woman who has a peculiar coworker. The book starts a tad bit slow but quickly picks up the pace and keeps you turning pages. I finished the book in one day because I couldn’t stop!

I’ve seen a lot of people complain about the amount of “turtle” information in the book. As someone in the mental health field, I think it was the correct amount of information, as it really allowed the reader to develop the character and her mindset.

You do not want to miss out on this one!!

I love Freida McFadden's Books!! This one just as great as the others I've read!! I was fortunate enough to read this as an ARC and was consumed from the first page to the last!! Twists twists twists!! I sooooo love FM's brain and these stories she puts to paper!! Keep em coming, Fan for Life!!
Don't walk, run and get your copy you will not be disappointed!!!

I enjoyed this novel but will admit it isn’t my favorite of hers. The writing style was different so perhaps that’s why I didn’t enjoy it as much as her others.
The storyline was good with good character development.
I would recommend this book especially if you like turtles! 😊

This got my out of a book slump!
I haven’t wanted to read in over a month now, but forced myself to get back into it (if I can spend hours on social media, I should channel that into a book, no? So I said goodbye to social (again) and dove right in!)!

It was good. It was a typical Freida book, which I appreciate. I don’t know. I don’t have much else to say. The ending was so far fetched for me. But it did keep me intrigued!

I am not a great writer. I am a Freida fan, or as we call ourselves A Freida Readar. This book did not disappoint. As you probably have seen there is a lot of turtle talk but it goes with the story. I loved this book. I am a good guesser because I have been reading who dunits for 30+ years so I guessed part of the twist but not all of it. Great book!!! You will not be disappointed.

absolutely loved it. Frieda never disappoints she is always the best for any thriller or mystery type vibe. The mind games and thinking you know what will happen just to be wrong is the best part of her books

This was an amazing book by Freida. The amazing twist and the ending was spectacular. I love the way Freida wrote from different points of view. One from Natalie, one from Dawn who wrote to her friend Mia and another when Mia wrote back to Dawn. This is a must read.

This was 3.5 star for me. I was a few chapters in and I had the story line figured out. Overall, this was an easy ready and fast paced.

I’m a big fan of Frieda McFadden but overall I was disappointed with this one. The characters weren’t really likeable and although it was an easy read, I wasn’t wowed by it. Overall it was ok but in my opinion not her best work.

I received an ARC of this as Freida is one of my favorite authors. Her books are easy reads so I finished in three days. The book opens with Natalie trying to find her coworker Dawn, who has not shown up at work, which is very out of character for her .
As usual, Freida takes you on a wild ride to get to the truth/solve the mystery. I was able to figure out one of the twists but in Freida books, there is never just one so it did keep me guessing.
I finished this in three days as I wanted to see the big reveal—would have finished sooner if I didn’t have to work.

I absolutely loved this book! I was ready for the twists but wasn’t ready for that twist!!! I love all of Frieda’s books and cannot wait for her next one!!!