NYT bestselling author and queen of thrills, Freida McFadden's (fav author) THE LOCKED DOOR, is a twisty psychological thriller of a creepy locked room basement when the past meets the present with a twist.

Some doors are locked for a reason…

Nora Davis's father is a murderer. As a young eleven-year-old girl, while she was in her bedroom doing homework, little did she know her father was in the basement murdering women. She wondered why the cellar was always locked. She thought he was into woodworking in his workshop. She even wanted to help him, but the door was always locked.

Twenty-six years ago, Aaron Nierling, charming and charismatic, was arrested in his Oregon home. He was known to everyone as an upstanding citizen with a good job and a family man—a dedicated father and husband. A phlebotomist. A narcissist and psychopath who likely killed more than thirty women. A monster.

Someone made an anonymous tip, and the cops showed up and found the remains of many women murdered over time. Now he is in prison. He is serving eighteen years in a maximum security prison. His wife was charged with accessory to murder and killed herself in jail before the trial.

Years later, Nora is an adult and has changed her name to hide her past. She is a successful surgeon and hides she is the daughter of a famous serial killer. She does not want to inherit her father's need to kill.

In the present, Nora discovers one of her female patients has been murdered. Someone is targeting her patents. Creepy, in the same way as her father when he murdered the women in the past.

From past to present, is there a copycat since her father is in prison? Or has someone found out and set her up to take the fall or worst of all, is she a killer like her father?

THE LOCKED DOOR is a wickedly twisted psychological thriller, and Freida keeps you entertained with twisty, short, action-filled chapters with the McFadden signature sinister twist that was unexpected. A lot of unlikeable characters here.

Check out the re-published version with an exclusive look at Freida's upcoming 2024 thriller, The Teacher!

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for a complimentary reading copy. I also purchased the audiobook narrated by Shaina Summerville for an engaging, fun performance.

Blog Review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: Oct 3, 2023
My Rating: 4 Stars
Oct 2023 Must-Read Books

Freida does it again, I absolutely love her books. Another page turner, I stay up all night to finish her books. This is another gripping read from her.

The Locked Door, my second Freida McFadden book, was a good read, but I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as The Housemaid. It had a great intro, and there were definitely some twists and turns! Despite how hard I tried, I didn’t guess the ending, so there was some unpredictability. The story line did feel a little rushed to me at times, especially at the end. Overall, it was a good thriller, but not the best I’ve read. Still, I can’t wait to read more books by this author!

OMGGG, this is my first Freida book and I'M OBSESSED, IT WAS AMAZING, the suspense, the questions, the WHO TF IS THE KILLER??? THE FUCKING PLOT TWIST, I'M DEAD, I'm pretty sure I won't be able to sleep tonight, and I LOVE THAT, this should definitely be A TOP TIER MYSTERY READ like I love when crime/thriller/mystery shows and movies keep me up at night and now books are added to that category too. A DEFINTE RECOMMENDATION.

• This was also a book which kept me invested all along, I was really glad to proven wrong about the plot twists I was guessing.

• I really liked the alternating timeline ~ present day and Nora's childhood, gave more depth to the thriller. This story gave me a bit of 'Dexter' vibes.

• I loved the inclusion of the cat 'Meowsie' in this fast-paced spooky thriller. You should definitely check this out.

Okay wow! I literally just finished and I’m shook! This was a really good one! I’m not going to lie, at first I thought I had the story all figured out but boy was I wrong. The twist left me agape! That’s why I love Freida’s books! They’re bingeworthy, fast paced, and leave you so satisfied. 5 stars for sure. Perfect book to read during spooky season!

Another fantastic psychological thriller from Freida McFadden. At this point she has become a must read author for me. This book will keep you up at night until you finish it. Hers are binge books for sure. Loved it.

Thank you to Netgalley, Freida Mcfadden, and Poisoned Pen Press for an advance copy of The Locked Door in exchange for an honest review. Im truly a Freida stan and this book did not disappoint! Per usual, Frieda sends her readers on a journey full of twists and turns that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the end. I was genuinely shocked with the ending and also very pleased with it. This one is out in paperback today so be sure to get your hands on a copy if your a suspense & thriller lover! 4,5 stars, rounded up to 5 for GR!

I am fan of Frieda's, I really am. However, some of the later books are starting to sound like she is running out of ideas. When I first started this one, I thought that I had already previously read it. Come to find out, it references a story line of another one of her books in where the main character's dad was killing women and cutting their hands off, while storing them in the basement of the family home.

Nora is a surgeon, who as the story progresses, we come to see that she her personality traits are more like her dad than she realizes. She starts sleeping with an ex boyfriend from college, and rightfully starts to worry about some of the things that she had a hunch about him on.

Overall, I would still recommend this one, and give it a solid 3/5.

Thanks to #netgalley for this #arc

Freida McFadden can always keep you turning the pages! After her father, “The Handyman” was arrested and locked away for brutally murdering young women is man the basement of her childhood home, Nora grows up to become a surgeon with a successful career. She lives a quiet life and wants to keep it that way. One day a young patient is found murdered and all signs point to her father. But that’s impossible, right? Why does it feel like the police suspect Nora? And what is she hiding in HER basement?
You won’t be able to put this thriller down and the ending is a shocker!

⭐️ BOOK REVIEW ⭐️
The Locked Door by Freida McFadden
My Rating: 3⭐️

Review: Most know I’m a HUGE @fmcfaddenauthor fan! This book was good but I wanted to know more about everything and everyone! I wanted more from the back story of Marjorie and the psychology of Nora as a young girl. I was hooked on the “26 year earlier” chapters but I felt a little unsatisfied at the end. With all that said, if you’re a Frieda fan, you will like this book! And if you’re not a Freida fan…what is wrong with you?! 😂 Thank you @netgalley for the gifted copy of this book.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy of The Locked Door by Freida McFadden. This book! No one does thrillers like Freida McFadden. I absolutely ate this book up in one sitting. I have loved and devoured all of her books. If she writes it, I’m reading it.

This was SUCH a fast-paced, fun read. I’ve been loving reading Freida’s backlist recently and was super excited when I was granted an early copy of this latest release on Netgalley.

Twisty, dark + disturbing, with complex family dynamics, an unreliable narrator and an engaging writing style, this grabbed my attention from the first chapter and I couldn’t put it down! The copycat killer/serial killer premise was on the predictable side but having said that, I didn’t anticipate the killer! I questioned a good few characters along the way, kept changing my mind and thought I had it down but was completely shocked! 👏🏽

[𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 @𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 (𝘐𝘎), 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩.] —— 𝑬𝒇𝒇𝒚 @𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 🦇

The Locked Door by Freida McFadden
4 stars

Nora Davis's father is a notorious serial killer, best known for keeping his victims in the basement of their family home. Now as an adult, Nora discovers one of her female patients has been killed by a copycat.

In typical Freida style, this psychological thriller was full of exciting twists and turns! Short chapters made this a real page-turner and a quick read. The then/now timelines were engaging. Overall, this was a solid thriller.

WOW!
That is pretty much how I feel about this entire book.

This psychological thriller is about a prominent surgeon who happens to be the daughter of a notorious serial killer... and when her previous patients start dying, she becomes a suspect.

Is she her REALLY father's daughter, or is there more going on than meets the eye?

The timeline alternates between the present and Nora's childhood.

Both timelines are crucial to understanding not only Nora's background but also to understand her personality and why she is so quick to defend that she and her father are NOT the same.

The tension and suspense develop as Nora's story progresses, and I was thrown by the twist…
I also definitely didn’t see the ending coming. Like AT ALL!

Can’t wait to read more of her books.

Nora's childhood home was like any other's... at least from the outside. The basement was where her dad spent all his time and the locked door leading down to it could be explained away as keeping his eleven-year-old daughter safe from the tools he housed there. But when the police knock on their front door and examine what dwells beyond this locked one, secret upon secret is unveiled.

Decades have past since then but the demons still haunt Nora, more so recently when her successful surgeries start to appear days later, dead and in a similar fashion to how her father would also leave his victims all those many years ago...

I love a split-timeline and how the reader has secrets to learn from both. Nora's adult and childhood self were as equally interesting to read about and I remained engaged in learning about what haunted her, right until the very end. She was a very interesting character to dissect and her past was just one of the many intriguing aspects about her.

I did, however, find my intrigue could not quite keep up with the relentless pacing. Reveals, shocks, twists, and new discoveries were thrust at the reader without pause for breath and I would have preferred a more underhanded way to deliver the thrills and chills that this book had to offer.

I did not guess at the final reveal but nor was I overly shocked by it, as I felt almost desensitised to any new information after the barrage that had come before it. This book will work well for many readers and, whilst I did enjoy my time with it, I'm not sure it was exactly suited to my specific reading tastes.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, Freida McFadden, and the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, for this opportunity.

I binge read this in a day, something I have not done in a while. I just had to know how it ended. There was quite a twist in the last couple pages that I never would’ve seen coming. Very similar to another story I read this year from NetGalley, The Quiet Dead.

Freida McFadden has done it again! Her books keep me on my toes the entire time with twists and turns I never see coming.

This books starts off with an innocent girl who's father commits horrible crimes, but is there more to the story? Read to find out!

Super quick read! I did not see the twist coming at all. You cannot go wrong with any of Freida’s books. Just when you think you know who done it, you’re wrong.

The Locked Door was a re-read for me. Somehow I can’t get enough of McFadden - each book is binge worthy and this one was no different.
Nora’s past is something she’s tried to forget - or has she? A seriel killer father put away for his crimes, yet somehow new deaths are happening. Has Nora subconsciously started her own killing spree, or has someone else been behind the crimes all along?
As a seasoned thriller reader, I sometimes feel like I can figure out the ending on my own. And this twist was NOT even in my radar.

If you binge thrillers - this one is for you.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this release in exchange for my honest review.