I thoroughly enjoyed this book and all books from Freida McFadden. The twists and turns kept me on my toes and had me wanting to keep saying “just one more chapter!”

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book.

Creepy in the best way possible! A little far-fetched but aren’t all the great thrillers?

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, Brooke ends up back in her hometown and her childhood home isn’t the only thing back from her past. When she takes a job as a nurse practitioner in very prison where her ex-boyfriend is serving a life sentence for trying to kill her, you just know it won’t be smooth sailing.

McFadden with another hit!

Another amazing book by the thriller queen herself! This was a very good book filled with twists and turns. I swore up and down I had it all figured out and then got smacked with even more twists. This was an easy read and very enjoyable! It will definitely keep you guessing!
Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to review this book.

THE INMATE – by Freida McFadden

3.5/5.0 Stars

‘The guiltiest people aren't always the ones behind bars…’

‘As a new nurse practitioner at a maximum-security prison, Brooke Sullivan is taught three crucial rules . . . . . But nobody knows that Brooke has already broken the rules. Nobody knows about her intimate connection to Shane Nelson, one of the penitentiary's most notorious and dangerous inmates. They certainly don't know that Shane was Brooke's high school sweetheart―the star quarterback, the golden boy who's serving a life sentence for a series of grisly murders. Or that Brooke's testimony was what put him there.’

My thoughts . . . Welp, there are several perceived twists to the storyline, one that may ring familiar, and others that made me want to Gibbs the main character a time or ten due to her naïveté as an adult, which, admittedly, makes for a frustratingly good read.

Overall, an engaging thriller, though there is unnecessary repetition in the narrative that may have been cut from this uncorrected proof before publication.

Thank you, NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press (Sourcebooks), for providing me with an eBook of THE INMATE at the request of an honest review.

Interesting book.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
The plot was good, but I didn’t love how the story ended up. I feel like there were a lot of twists at the end, but they didn’t necessarily make sense. I would have loved more clues dropped along the way.

Brooke was a great mom that would do anything for her son, Josh. She moved back to where she was from and worked at a prison so her son could grow up in a nice community. She deals with meeting Shane again at work, a man she put in prison for allegedly trying to murder her and her friends. Through out the novel, she begins to wonder is Shane innocent after all, did she put an innocent man in prison, if she did, who is the real murderer and where is he now?

Overall, this book was fine but I,be liked the other Freida McFadden books I’ve read more!

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Guilty pleasure for sure! Not the most well written mystery, but a super easy and quick read that kept me hooked.

"The Inmate” is a compelling read full of suspense and twists. However, while the plot is gripping, I found the protagonist, Brooke, lacking in assertiveness and common sense which made her character difficult to appreciate. Thank you NetGalley and Hollywood Upstairs Press for sending this ARC for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

INCREDIBLE. Truly incredible psychological ride, once again from the insanely talent Freida McFadden. This book was un-put-down-able. In every sense of the word, Freida smashed this one out of the park.

If you aren’t on the Freida bandwagon yet, please jump on. You won’t regret a single book of hers and any one you choose is set to be a fast paced emotional rollercoaster ride.

So.... The Inmate. Let's talk about it.
This book follows 28 year old Brooke (single mom) who returns to her hometown in the aftermath of her parent's death. She takes a job as a nurse practitioner at the local prison (where her baby daddy/attempted murdered "Shane" is incarcerated)
Eleven years ago, there was a party where Brooke and five of her friends spent the night at Shane's house.. only 3 of them made it out alive. Brooke (who escaped the killer), Shane (boyfriend at the time), and her best friend Tim who were knocked unconscious.
You follow her journey from present & past to figure out what exactly happened that night 11 years ago.
I think Brooke as a character overall is just very naive, there was so many red flags that she just refused to see. Tim was in love with her from the start of them being best friends. And there was so many parts to Shane that she didn't see.
The first part of this book had me HOOKED, from the start when she took the prison job. But okay first of all.. why would you take that job knowing he's there?! The middle is where it starts to get a little repetitive, but still bearable. But the last 20% is PLOT TWIST AFTER PLOT TWIST. Was Shane the killer? Tim? Did they work together? Was it someone else entirely? The last couple of chapters will have you question it all.
I throughly did enjoy this book. Just didn't lope it. Not as much as The Teacher, but good all the same.
I read this as on my kindle, so would I buy a physical copy?
Probably not. 🥲

Was I entertained? Yes. Was I impressed? Absolutely not. This is my first McFadden book and with all the praising surrounding the author I was honestly expecting a little more. I could not stand the main character and their lack of critical thinking regarding her and her son's safety because all she could think about was the person who she sent to prison for trying to kill her a decade before was hot. I didn't see the plot twist coming but I was not surprised by it either.

PLOT
Honestly, I haven’t read many thrillers, so I have little to compare it to, but I was pleasantly surprised by how gripping and engaging the plot was. From start to finish, I found myself eagerly turning the pages, completely immersed in the storyline. Despite the narrative jumping between present and past timelines, it never felt confusing. I was thoroughly impressed by a plot that kept me guessing until the very end.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
While the plot kept me hooked, I couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated with Brooke, the main character. Her decisions often left me shaking my head in disbelief, and I found it difficult to empathize with her. It's rare for me to describe a character as 'foolish,' but Brooke's choices tested my patience throughout the story.

PACING
Despite my frustrations with Brooke, I have to commend the author for maintaining a gripping pace throughout the story. The pacing was so effective that I found myself reading late into the night just to satisfy my curiosity and calm my racing heart.

TWISTS & REVEALS
Wow, the twists in this book were truly mind-blowing! I figured out NOTHING. lol. What's impressive is that these twists didn't feel forced or contrived. The epilogue, in particular, was a masterstroke, it caught me off guard in a good thrilling way.

IMPACT/RESOLUTION
In the end, the book's resolution managed to tie up loose ends. I was convinced I had the story figured out, only to be pleasantly surprised by its conclusion. This book has left a lasting impression on me when it comes to this genre and has definitely sparked my interest in reading more works by Freida McFadden.

AMAZING!! Thought I had the storyline absolutely sussed until the ending. So many twists and turns, such an easy read. Binged this book in 2 days!

Another excellent thriller from Freida! She never stops! I was hesitant to read this one (just for a second) only because I don't love prison as a setting but it was not the main location for the story anyway. Loved this one as much as her others!

Thank you Net Galley and publishers for letting me read an arc of this in return for my honest review.

I always love reading Freida's books. They're such great psychological thrillers that are easy and quick to read and I can't put them down. I always think I know who did it or how it's gonna end but then there's a plot twist and the most obvious choice is never who I thought it would be. In this one, Brooke gets a job as a nurse at the penitentiary where her boyfriend who tried to murder her 11yrs ago is being detained. She's the one who put him there but now she's having second thoughts if he was really the one who did it. This is probably my favorite so far of her books but there's many more I can't wait to read. Definitely my go to author for thrillers.

Wow...never seen that twist coming. Excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the floor! This book is top-notch full of everything a great thriller is--interesting characters, guilt, murder, twists, and deceit. I loved every minute of this book and it was a super quick read. A book you can quickly enjoy in a weekend.

Brooke takes a job back in her hometown as a nurse practitioner at the men's maximum security penitentiary, the same prison her ex-boyfriend and attempted murderer is housed in. This creates an interesting work dynamic for her and she turns to her best friend from childhood and neighbor Tim. She confides in Tim and lets him into her and her son's lives, however strange things start to happen and she gets to second guessing whether she testified to the correct murderer in the first place.

Great story, great characters, fast read. Loved every second of it!

I’m convinced that freedom McFadden can write anything. I love that her mysterious dark romance tin novels are so easily digested however, our complex enough to keep my interest. The characters are accessible, you know each and everyone of them you’ve met them before. So it’s so easy to relate Love this author and The Inmate is such a chilling thrill you’ll love it!

I received this e-book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the author/publisher for the copy!

Brooke Sullivan just started a new job as a Nurse Practitioner at a high-security men's prison. They are so desperate for somebody to fill the position, they don't realize that she has an intimate connection to one of the inmates there- Shane Nelson. Being high school sweethearts, Brooke starts to feel bad for Shane because he seems so sweet and keeps getting sent to her with injuries he's clearly suffering from by the other inmates. As she continues to work there, she also reconnects with her old best friend, Tim. After secrets are revealed and things start to get suspicious, Brooke starts to question some things.....will the truth of why Shane is in prison come to light?

Okay, I will say Freida is great at putting in some twists that I just didn't see coming- and there were a few in here! Although this all seems a little out there, this is fiction after all. If you're wanting a good thriller to keep you guessing, this is it! I thought I had it figured out several times and was shocked to find I was wrong each and every time, right up until the end.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing this this arc for review. First let me say Frieda McFadden is a new favorite author of mines I had read a few other of her novels and when u saw this new one I knew I had to read it. It's just something about the su she weaves s story.. it's a slow burn and about halfway through you think you know but then boom the twist you didn't see coming hits!

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me a digital copy for review. This is my first Freida McFadden book I have read. I really enjoyed the pace of the book with short chapters that made it a fast read. I knew based on reviews of her other books, that there are twists and turns, but I had no idea I was in for a roller coaster ride that didn't come to a stop until the last line of the book.... literally!

Short chapters make for a page turning read which McFadden always seems to deliver! Yet another twist I didn’t see coming, you think you know what’s coming through the majority of the book but the surprise was great! Not quite as gripping as The Housemaid for me, but still a good story worth a read.