The Inmate by Freida McFadden is a psychological thriller where the main character, Brooke Sullivan, has returned to her childhood home with her ten year old son after the sudden death of her parents. Brooke is a nurse practitioner, and she’s having trouble finding a job, but one comes up in the men’s maximum security prison. The issue is, her ex-boyfriend, Shane Nelson, is incarcerated in that jail for life. And Brooke is the one that put him there, and never told him they have a son together. Eleven years ago, Brooke and her friends, Tim and Chelsea, had a weekend planned at Shane’s house without any parents knowing. The weekend starts with six seventeen year olds, and ends with half of them dead.

When Brooke moves into her parents house, she meets up with her best friend from years ago, Tim Reese. Tim gets along great with her son Josh, and soon Tim and Brooke start dating. But as she starts thinking about what happened that night eleven years ago, she starts doubting what really happened and who killed her friends. Did she get it wrong? Was Shane, her baby-daddy, innocent?

This was predictable. I thought the main character, Brooke, wasn’t really well developed. She’s a hot mess, but an unlikeable one. I understand she went through a lot as a teenager, but as a nurse practitioner she should have been a little ‘smarter’? The back and forth of who did it was confusing the heck out of me, and I couldn’t understand how she could have trusted Shane when she was so certain he was a killer? It really baffled me. I know a lot of people love Frieda McFadden, but I struggle with her books. I am giving this 3 solid stars, cause the ending was good and twisty, I just didn’t love the rest of the story and how it played out.

I would like to thank Netgalley, Hollywood Upstairs Press and Frieda McFadden for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Inmate

Freida McFadden

Another solid book by Freida McFadden! This was quick read. Suspenseful. I was shocked at the ending!! Who else didn’t see that coming?!

✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ / 5

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I received a complimentary copy from the publisher and all opinions expressed are mine.

Freida McFadden excuse you ma'am what a way to represent guilt. Guilt looks different and those who are guilty are always not found. The book follows Brooke a nurse practitioner at a maximum-security prison that also contains her ex-boyfriend Shane. It was great exploring how far people will go to hide their guilt and the weight of guilt.

I’m more of a fantasy reader but I wanted to give this book a try. I never realized I would fall in love with it. I was constantly on my toes and was wrapped up in this book entirely.

Brooke is a single mum, a nurse practitioner, she has a ten year old son Josh, they have just moved back to her home town, the only job she could get is at a men’s maximum security prison. Brook is determined this is their fresh start.
Brooke did not reveal at her interview that she knows one of the inmates, Shane, her son’s father, and the person who tried to kill her, her evidence helped put him in prison and Brooke doesn’t have to wait long until their paths cross. Shane has always claimed he is innocent..
A fast paced read, past and present timelines, full of suspense, intrigue, obsession, dark secrets from the past, well plotted twists to keep the reader guessing. Great epilogue!
This is my first book by this author but I will definitely be reading more. 4.5 stars.
Many thanks to Net Galley and Poisoned Pen Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.

Loved the synopsis of this book and i will say that if you love thrillers or books by Freida McFadden, you'll like this book. I do think the cover could have been different than it is

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.

This was hard for me because although I was entertained, it’s not a good book. The weak plot at times felt like good twists, but it’s actually just confusing. The reason for the murders(s) is really dumb. The protagonist’s motivations are incredibly unrealistic. The best part of the book was the last line.

A page-turner! In true Freida McFashion, this book delivers! Filled with all the jaw-dropping twists she’s known for, The Inmate does not disappoint. If you think you’ve got this story figured out, rest assured, you don’t. This might be one of her best yet.

Rating: soft 4
Genre: thriller, mystery, childhood lovers, love triangle

Honestly Freida McFadden was my intro to thriller and mysteries, and I am forever grateful for that introduction. She is such an amazing writer and her stories never fail to amuse.

With The Inmate specifically, McFadden once again delivers a great story through her amazing storytelling. The way she flips back and forth between past and present to prolong suspense is masterful. My only slight issues with this story was the pacing (I found that the reveal was a little too quick and not enough background, reasoning, psychology was used)

I was hoping for more. Freida McFadden has become very popular in my circle lately and this was my first book of hers. It had twists and turns, but they weren't twisty enough for me. It was more like "oh, yeah, ok. it's like that. makes sense" Nothing came out of the blue and smacked me in the head. I wanted to spin like the teacups and it was more like a carousel. Quick read, entertaining, but doesn't make me want to read more of her novels.

I love Freida McFadden's dark and twisty books so I was super excited for this one and it did not disappoint. I found this to be very fast-paced and the twists totally kept me hooked, I really enjoyed this one and highly recommend it to thriller lovers!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The premise of a nurse coming back to her hometown and getting a job in a prison where she was bound to have to care for her first love, but also the same person who tried to kill her and who she testified against to land him in prison sounded like a recipe for fiction disaster. McFadden definitely did her thing and this book was one that was hard to put down. The tension that was felt throughout because it was hard to place trust in anyone was a page turner. As much as I wanted to believe who the person was terrorizing Brooke, I uncharacteristically welcomed the twists offered throughout and settled right into this book telling me the story. Definitely a recommended read for a quick thriller.

Freida McFadden NEVER lets me down! Another fast paced thriller to keep me on the edge of my seat. So many twists and turns - you think you know where the story is leading and when you are nice and comfortable -it takes you in a different direction! Loved this book. Her writing style is definitely my happy place. 😊

★ 3.5 stars

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

McFadden writes a gripping psychological thriller, focusing on Brooke Sullivan, a nurse at men's maximum-security prison. What Brooke failed to disclose when applying for the job, is that her ex childhood sweetheart, Shane Nelson is serving a lifelong sentence at the prison and she is responsible for his conviction. The story is told in dual timelines, flashing back to the night of the murders and the current tense.

This book is riddled with red flags, but the one thing about Freida's books is, the twist is never the obvious choice. The red herrings made me second guess myself constantly and while I did predict part of the story, the epilogue had my jaw on the floor. I did not see that coming at all.

The only reason my rating isn't higher is because I didn't care for the FMC. She consistently made terrible decisions and was delusional. Every time she was told not to do something or given a warning, she did the opposite. Especially when something suspicious would happen, her inner monologue justifying it was senseless.

I understand the nature of thrillers, but it's just frustrating when the female lead is portrayed as daft. I found myself yelling at various points based on some of her decisions. Sometimes I found her decisions humorous (like her lack of self awareness when the murders were taking place) but overall, she just got on my nerves.

Despite this, I was invested in the story and it was a fun, fast pace read. I devoured this in two sittings and struggled to put it down. The last 10 chapters especially, made my head spin. I will definitely be continuing with her other books as she writes twists like no other!

10 years ago, Brooke and her friends were having an intimate party that ended with 3 murders and 3 survivors. Brooke not only lost her virginity, but also lost her boyfriend who she testified against in court for the murders. Her parents move her away from her hometown of Raker and life then went on.

10 years later, Brooke returns to Raker with her son after the death of her parents. She falls back into her old routine by meeting up with her neighbor Tim, who was also a survivor of that deadly party. He is nice to her and her son, but is it for a reason? She hires a babysitter that treats her son like her own child while Brooke is at work as a Nurse Practitioner at the same prison where her boyfriend is incarcerated. When bad things start happening, like prison fights including her ex and Tim being suspicious, Brooke begins to wonder if she got the events of that fateful party misconstrued. Did she get the wrong guy locked up with her testimony?

With more twists and turns than a rollercoaster, The Inmate shows Freida McFadden's style of writing that makes you question your instincts at times. You think you have figured something out only to have your mind completely blown. This book was hard to put down and the epilogue was as sweet tie-in to show the love of a boy for his mother.

Thanks to #NetGalley, #HollywoodUpstairsPress, and #FreidaMcFadden for allowing me to read this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for early access to the new cover of this book in exchange for my honest review!
4.5 stars
I read this book last year and it was my 2nd Freida McFadden book and this one definitely left me speechless. I couldn’t stop talking about this book and I couldn’t stop recommending it to anyone who was in the market for a good mystery/thriller.
Freida has the magic touch of plot twists. Every chapter had believing someone new was the real culprit!

No one does a thriller with a surprise twist quite like Freida McFadden, just when you think you have the book figured out another twist comes. This book kept me on the edge of my seat and eager to find out how it ends. This was a one sitting read for me.

This is a really hard review to write because I loved 80% of this book. I mean I devoured it. Yes, there were ridiculous parts, and yes, Brooke made some very questionable choices, but I loved it. I could look past all that, but the ending was just so silly. It made me question why I was reading the book. There were also some weird holes/questions I was left with. I still gave this book 3 stars because it grabbed my attention and I did enjoy most of it.

As usual, Freida’s book The Inmate doesn’t disappoint! It’s a quick paced read where we follow our protagonist into her new job as a correctional facility nurse where she learns that man she dated years ago, that she testified of him attempting to kill her, serves his sentence. Theres twists and turns within the story as we’re learning the facts about the night it happened and when she has interactions with him at the jail. Theres moments I didn’t even trust my own judgement on who the guilty party was in this book. So good!

𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 :
Years after a horrible tragedy changed the trajectory of Brooke Sullivan's life, she finds herself back in the town she never thought she would come back to. What's worse, she's assigned to the same prison where someone she knows very well, is held captive. And now she must learn to ✨ survive.

𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 :
📖 The circumstances leading upto the whole situation seemed a little forced. Working at the same jail, going to the same school, etc, it feels a bit too convenient when it happens multiple times.
📖 Not enough attention was paid to the sandalwood scent being discovered on Tim. And Brooke immediately making out with him after that was rather odd at best. In general, I did not like Brooke's characterization much, there seemed to be a plethora of oddities in the way her opinions swayed at every chance.
📖 Shane seemed to be released too soon. The judicial nuances throughout the book seemed a bit off, with tremendously circumstantial evidences being deemed conclusive for convicting/arresting the men as and when her confession changed.
📖 The plot twist with Margie tied the story together. It got better from that point, and coupled with the ending note from the child, the book managed to leave an impactful effect even through the minor hiccups.
📖 It's an easy-to-read thriller that you can bring with you on travels, perfect to get you out of reading slumps.