Freida did it again! This was one of her best. This book has great character development and I did not expect so many aspects of this book, especially the ending! This book took on two main perspectives, Natalie and Dawn. The way they were each depicted was truly captivating, it was easy to take sides! Thank you so much for this advanced copy, truly another amazing book by Freida McFadden!

Just wow. I couldn’t stop reading this book. I love Freida McFadden and this book is one of her best.

Dawn and Natalie work in the same office. Dawn exhibits traits of autism spectrum although that is never defined in the book. When she doesn’t show up for work one day, Natalie is concerned. Dawn never muses work and is always on time. When she discovers Dawn is missing, suddenly eyes are on Natalie.

I loved the way this book was written. I don’t want to give too many specifics because I’m afraid to leak spoilers, but this was another Freida book with tons of twists that you can’t predict. I will say the first big twist that was revealed wasn’t a huge shock, but after that, I had no idea what was coming! Well done.

Thank you to the author, Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley for the advance reader copy. This is my honest review. Publication date Aug 29, 2023.

OK so Seth and Natalie, Natalie and Caleb, Natalie and Dawn, Dawn and Seth and Dawn and Caleb so many interactions between these people and what is the plan that they all have? Freida McFadden is a master at bringing all different types of people together and having a sub story that is driving them.
We know as we start reading that these people will be interacting whether it be in the office, on a date or just talking to each other. Dawn is the odd man out as she is really strange. The fact is though, that she is not strange at all but Autistic, she is on the autism spectrum but defiantly would have been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. She has to have everything just in the right order is OCD and likes to work with numbers as they always work out in sequence. She also can not eat from different color foods or use different colors in items around the house.
She tries desperately to make friends but has trouble reading facial expressions, understanding humor, or just understanding people in general. So she tries too hard, talks to much and gets upset when things get mixed up. When she does make a friends she is loyal to the end and that is where her trouble started with Natalie.
Natalie doesn't remember the past but Dawn remembers every second, every word and every thing that Natalie has done and how it hurt people.
Natalie is top salesperson in the company, can become the type of person or reflect how the person she is dealing with is. So everyone loves her and easily becomes friends with her. BUT, Natalie has so many skeletons in her closet and they are starting to come out.
The story between Dawn and Natalie is fascinating with appearances by Caleb and Seth inter twined in the story.
Don't start reading this if you don't have time to finish you won't want to put it down.

I received this book from NetGalley to read and give my honest opinion. My opinion it is a fantastic book and Freida McFadden is a fantastic author.

This was a fast-paced thriller that I ate up so quickly. I just had to know what happened. I did not expect the twists and was left with that uncomfortable yet satisfied feeling at the end of a good thriller book. Definitely recommend if you want a fast-paced thriller!

The Co-Worker by Freida McFadden is an adult fiction psychological thriller. Freida McFadden is the author of 18 psychological thrillers and three women’s fiction novels.

Dawn Schiff works in an office as an accountant. She is always punctual, dependable, and efficient at her job. Dawn is considered strange by many in the office. She is socially awkward and some of the employees make fun of her including Natalie who sits in the cubicle next to Dawn. Natalie is a top sales person in the office and is beautiful, popular, and sociable.

One day Dawn doesn’t show up to work and that is unheard of. Dawn is always at work by 0845 every morning. Natalie becomes concerned. It’s starts to look like something has happened to Dawn. Is Dawn dead? What happened to her? Who’s responsible?

Things I loved about this book:
-Fast paced
-Short chapters that keep you wanting more
-Twists and turns galore
-Characters you could relate to
-Unpredictable ending

Things that could be improved:
-Some parts of the story are told via email. This didn’t bother me at all but I felt like the email formatting could have been spaced better on the page. This is super minor. For the record, I read an ARC kindle version so the final or book version may be different.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the wild ride of The Co-Worker. I recommend to anyone who likes a great popcorn thriller with lots of twists and turns.

Thank you so much to Freida McFadden and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Ms. McFadden hits it out of the park again!! Characters that you love to hate, and just enough trickery to keep you guessing. I always enjoy the twists and turns! A great read, highly recommend!!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book.

The Coworker by Frieda McFadden is an excellent fast paced thriller that I really enjoyed.
I have read many of this author's books and its safe to say I am fan!

This book hit different though, and I really liked how it was separated into two parts.

There are topics of bullying in the corporate world which I can totally relate to, but without the murder, HA HA .

I enjoyed the two unreliable characters as the story unfolded.

The twists I never saw coming really enhanced the reading experience.

Another hit from Freida!

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and the author for an early copy. All thoughts are my own.

Freida McFadden has done it again with this thrilling, twisty and shocking book! My jaw was on the floor the last 30% of the book, I was genuinely shocked!! Freida really knows how to write a shocking ending because oh my gosh!!

I’m a huge Freida fan and was so excited to receive this ARC. In true Freida fashion, this was another bingeable thriller, with another great premise! I love the mental health representation and autism representation (not explicitly said, but apparent and appreciated.) The story about how Dawn wasn’t really dead to the cops is the only thing that felt off, surely it wasn’t that easy or believable?

Thank you to Freida McFadden, Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC of The Coworker.

Personally this was not my favorite Freida book. I feel like the book lacked depth and character development. The format between the story and emails was also a bit odd to me. There were some twists I didn't figure out at the end but I just was not as invested in this book as I was with some of her others.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Dawn is unconventional in her mannerisms, her love of turtles, and her extreme punctuality. She has trouble making friends at the office. One day, she is missing without explanation and her coworker Natalie is concerned. Where is Dawn? How is Natalie connected? Everyone at the office could be a suspect and no one can be trusted.

Freida McFadden is the undeniable queen of writing page turning thrillers that I’m guaranteed to binge in a day. This was no exception! However, I was very proud of myself for figuring out the major twist ahead of time in this one. Even though I figured it out, there were still missing pieces to fill in. I definitely recommend reading this (and other thrillers) by Freida McFadden because they are so addictive, captivating, and filled with plot twists.

Thank you to Freida McFadden, Poisoned Pen Press, and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

WOW! The second half of the book came completely out of left field, in a good way! And the ending!!! Oh my gosh, I was speechless reading the last few pages. It was unexpected. Just when you think you have an idea of where Freida is going with her twists, she proves you wrong entirely. Amazing book!

Summery:
Dawn is always on time. Like clock work she she arrives at her desk, her lunch times , even her personal breaks are at the same time every day. When nat noticed her coworker dawn is not only late but never shows up she KNOWS something is wrong.

No one gets along 100% with their coworkers and when you seem to be the odd ball out more times than not it can hurt you… dawn was always punctual but never popular. While nat may not be her best friend will she be the one to find dawn? Or is nat the reason dawns missing. ..

Thoughts: over all thoughts I think this is a very new setting for freida McFadden. Most of her books have the same “feel” to them. Something secluded or creepy by nature. Hotels, prisons, hospitals. But this one takes an every day office and turns it into a setting where deadly deals and stomach turning secrets are being traded. Fans of Gillian Flynn will definitely feel at home in this mystery. As always she wrote incredibly in depth characters, and a fast paced story beginning to end! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love Freida McFadden's books! The Coworker was another binge worthy thriller that I couldn't put down. It is gripping, entertaining, and shocking. Absolutely loved!

Before writing my review, I want to extend a huge thank you to NetGalley, Freida McFadden, and Poisoned Pen Press for gifting me the ARC of this book! I appreciate you trusting me with an honest review!! It was a privilege to be able to read THE COWORKER before publication.

As soon as I saw this book by Freida Mcfadden available on NetGalley, I requested it. And when I got approval for THE COWORKER, I was over the moon. I started reading at that very moment, not wanting to waste any time!

THE COWORKER is a splendid psychological thriller with multiple layers intertwined with different POVs, unreliable narrators, and twists to keep your head spinning until you turn the last page. The story grabbed me from the very first page. Our two female leads, Dawn and Natalie, are developed so incredibly well— and couldn’t be more different from one another. I especially loved the way Dawn was written, both thoughtfully and cleverly. She’s a fantastic character!

But at the heart of the novel is a clever, suspenseful, and unique whodunit that keeps you guessing, often incorrectly—because nothing is as it seems and the story is totally unpredictable. Whom do you believe? Whom can you trust? As is a constant in Freida’s novels, the answers to questions like these are always beyond reach. It’s what keeps you reading well into the night, making this yet another book from Freida that I couldn’t put down. Kept me guessing the entire time!! For example, there are two big twists, only pages apart, creating an “oh my gosh, I can’t believe it” moment! Then there’s a final twist when you think there couldn’t possibly be anymore twists. Brilliant, brilliant writing! Freida offers lots of subtle humor, too, throughout the book to ease the intensity—I loved that.

THE COWORKER has lots of lessons to be learned, in addition to its entertaining value! Firstly, you can assume nothing while reading this book— just when you think you’ve got it figured out, there’s another twist to prove you were wrong! Secondly, once you start this one, you won’t want to stop for even a minute—maybe just for bathroom breaks. Thirdly, revenge is indeed a dish best served cold (as the saying goes). Fourthly, bullies are horrible human beings and never truly change. And finally, turtles are a lot faster than we realize!

Solid 5 stars!! Couldn’t recommend THE COWORKER more!!

*Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing me with a free ARC*

I am a huge Freida fan who has read most of her books- and has the rest patiently waiting in my Kindle library - so I was THRILLED to receive an ARC for The Coworker.

I’ll start with what I loved.
1. Freida’s stories are always easy to follow, relatively fast-paced, & accessible to readers. She does not over-complicate her writing. She writes exactly what is needed for the story to progress, and does it well.

2. The emails added a lot of dialogue & emotion that we wouldn’t have otherwise gotten. Not only did it paint a picture of who Dawn was, but it provided context for the case against Natalie.

3. I love reading about unhinged women.

While I enjoyed The Coworker, it was not my favorite of Freida’s books, for a few reasons.

1. Characters - I did not care for Natalie at all. She was not likable throughout the story, and that just grew the more we learned about her. The only ending I wanted for her was prison, which was the exact opposite of what she was fighting for.
Caleb needed more page time, in my opinion. He played so many different roles in the story, and I wish we had a glimpse into his thoughts.

2. The twists weren’t as twisty as usual. The major twist I didn’t see coming came at the end of Part 1. The twist in the last chapter was one I had picked up on much earlier in the story. I was just hoping to be as gobsmacked as I usually am with one of Freida’s thrillers.

Overall, this was a fun, quick read, and I did enjoy the journey. I know that not every book an author writes is going to please everyone. If you like simple thrillers with unhinged women, this might be the book for you!

*: 4/5- Freida does no wrong. I read this book in one sitting and was on the edge of my seat the entire time.
I also giggled constantly at the turtle obsession be of Freida's fl group. This book is the perfect psychological thriller because I was sucked in so quickly, was always wondering what was going to happen next, but I was never scared. So for me, it's perfect! I call her books cozy psychological thrillers because they are suspenseful, but not scary or gory. I gave this 4 ~ because Dawn reminded me of the main character for "The Maid" and that book made me really sad. I can't say more without spoilers @. The wife upstairs and The Inmate are still my favorite Freida thrillers. However; this takes the cake as tied for third.
If you liked The Maid, or the housemaid duo I think you'll really enjoy this one!
• : 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?

Loved this one!!! So good!

Freida McFadden has done it again! As an avid Freida Readah, I couldn't wait to get my eyeballs on her newest work, The Coworker! It was a rollercoaster of emotions for sure! My favorite book from her is Never Lie, but this is a close second. It gave me all the feels, all the twists, and all the fast heartbeats and audible gasps. I couldn't believe what I was reading! The ending was really cool and fitting. So many secrets to hide. If you're considering reading this, just jump on in. You WONT be disappointed.

Special thanks to Freida McFadden, NetGalley, and @poisonedpenpress for the ARC!

Freida has done it again. Once you start reading her books you are always trying to figure out who the villains are. With this book there is not just one but multiple. Just when you think you have it figured out, the story takes another turn. "DO NOT" start this book late at night because trust me you won't want to put the book down until you are totally finished.

Freida hits it out of the park once again! I have never read anything by her that has disappointed, and this book was no exception. A thriller filled with twists and turns, making it extremely hard to put down. If you love a good thriller, I highly recommend The Coworker!