I could not put this book down... Brooke moves back to town 10 years after the most horrible night of her life. Her high school boyfriend attempted to murder her (or so she thinks) and when she gets a nursing job at the jail where he is, everything she thought starts to change. I don't want to give anything away, but I read this book in 24 hours- could not put down. And what a twist at the end!! So good.

I love Freida McFadden books and this one did not disappoint! This book had me hooked (like all of her books) and I couldn't put it down. If you like books with lots if twists and turns you'll love this one.

Thank you to the Author, Publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to review this book.

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

There are three rules Brooke Sullivan must follow as a new nurse practitioner at a men’s maximum-security prison:

1) Treat all prisoners with respect.

2) Never reveal any personal information.

3) Never EVER become too friendly with the inmates.

But none of the staff at the prison knows 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.

And they certainly don’t know that Shane was Brooke’s high school sweetheart—the star quarterback who is now spending the rest of his life in prison for a series of grisly murders. Or that Brooke's testimony was what put him there.

But Shane knows.

And he will never forget.

• Thanks Netgalley & publisher for the ARC •

While this book wasn't badly written, the story didn't cut it for me. As a seasoned thriller reader, I spot the twist-untwist a mile away, and that soured my reading experience.

Another problem I personally had with the story is that the main character isn't a complex, realistic person. That, paired with the unrealistic decisions made by the other characters, turned reading this book into a chore for me. I could spot the "Scream" and "Friday the 13th" rehashed, re-cooked references a mile away.

Hopefully, other people with fewer expectations might enjoy it more than I did.

Brooke is nearly murdered by her high school boyfriend. Fast forward 10 years her parents are killed and she moves back to her hometown with her son. She wants a fresh start and her parents left her their house. Unable to find work as a nurse practitioner in the area she takes the only job she can find. This happens to be working the jail where the x boyfriend is incarcerated. She’s forced to see him again. Another old friend comes back into her life. It’s unclear who’s manipulating her and what really happened all those years ago. It takes a very unexpected turn. I love her books as always. Very fun, easy read. I really wanted to get to the bottom of what happened to Brooke and who was really the bad guy here!

I feel like the very beginning of this was a bit of a slow starter; however it very quickly picked up pace! after a bit of a slump I managed to read the last two thirds of this in one sitting!

I questioned every single character multiple times, changing my mind about who did what. I definitely didn't see a couple of the twists coming - and there were a lot of twists! Kept me gripped.

I really enjoyed this book. This book was impossible to put down, I had to read to know who the killer was. Did not expect that it would Shane's mother at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

This was a rollicking thriller and it kept me gripped from the first page. The story was great, and I really did think that I picked the twist from that first bit of the book, but I was pleasantly surprised. It took a turn that I don't think anyone would have expected, and I really enjoyed the approach that the author took to the whole story.

The characters could have been a little bit better, particularly the main character as her voice was a little off-kilter. I expected her to be a bit more assertive, a little more sure of herself, and I was disappointed that that wasn't the case. There was no real motivation given throughout for her to be moving home, and I was a bit disappointed by that side of things.

With all that said though, this was a definite page-turner, with highs and lows, and a thrilling ride throughout. It's definitely one of those excellent thrillers to curl up with a cuppa for on a rainy day and get stuck right into it.

The last chapter and the epilogue of this book, produced a true jaw-dropping gob-smacked exclamation of “WOW” from my lips. I’m not kidding.

The story goes back and forth from 10 yrs past to the present, and repeats that cycle throughout the book as details and conversations emerge. Six teenagers got together at Brooke’s boyfriend Brandon’s house, to spend the night (3 boys - 3 girls) on this particular night. It was dark and stormy, terrible rain, no electricity, no phone service, and then…there were 3 murders with an attempt on Brooke’s life that someone tried strangling her with her necklace, but she got away from the attacker. The other 2 victims of this party were injured too, one clobbered in the head with a baseball bat, the other stabbed with a knife in the stomach.

Fast forward 10 yrs. On that night, Brooke conceived a child, a son named Josh from Brandon. Brandon happens to be the boy she put in prison by aid of her testimony. She believed Brandon committed this horrendous crime of 10 yrs ago and was the one who tried to kill her too. She has never told Josh who his father was.

So now, the 3 lives of the “survivors” intersect in the present. Brooke is a nurse practitioner who is desperate for work and can only find a job in a all men’s penitentiary, the exact same one where Brandon is. Tim who was present also on that fatal night, and who was her childhood best friend, her first practice kiss, and now her son’s school principal, renews his friendship with Brooke and the more than casual interest that he had in her…( he claims he has always loved her).

Fingers are pointing galore! The two men hate each other and each tells her to be weary of the other. Along the lines, Brooke really gets confused. She begins to wonder if her testimony put the right man in jail. She’s sure of it, and then she’s not. She never did saw the actual face of the one who tried to kill her all those years ago! She never saw the murderer that night at all, the one who killed her friends. Was she right about Brandon? Wrong about Tim? Things are really confusing about both their present behaviors and the details of their personalities and present actions.

I so thought I had this figured out. (I’m usually not wrong very often), but I was so wrong - hence refer to my first sentence.

Kudo’s to the author for writing a brilliant story WITHOUT foul-language. 👍👍 I found some of the story a little repetitive through parts, but the story itself was overall fascinating and engaging and I needed to see this confusion resolved.

First time reading this author, but won’t be the last.

This gets 5 shiny STARS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I've read a couple of other Frieda McFadden books and am a big big fan of her writing, so when this book came out on Netgalley I knew I had to request it.

Something I absolutely loved about this book was the flashbacks that constantly showed us a little bit more about what happened previously in Brooke's (the fmc) life.

Halfway through the book I called out—full of certainty—who the killer was, and was completely flabbergasted when it turned out I was wrong. Now, I love being proven wrong when it comes to mystery/thriller books, so I was happy with this.

BUT the twist at the end that showed us who the actual killer was, didn't have quite the big impact on me that it needed to have. We, as the reader, also didn't get any hints that this could've been the killer, which is a real bummer.

Definitely a nice, fast-paced and suspenseful book though, so I'm very happy I read it.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC

This was entertaining but overall it felt silly. Really unbelievable plot which I could overlook if the protagonist wasn’t so horribly dense. I rolled my eyes a lot while reading this one.

“𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒅𝒐 𝒆𝒙𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖.”
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Thanks #NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review
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This is my first Freida McFadden's book and I'm so excited when I received an e-mail where my request was approved bcs I keep hearing her books are good and were recommended by my moots.

The book follows Brooke who went through a traumatic event at the past and she has returned to the town and work as a nurse in prison, where she meet her first love, Shane, who got jailed bcs of her.

Soon Shane confess to Brooke that he didn't commit the crime he was accused of.
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The book is page turning, I devoured the book on my five and a half-hours journey on the train..

This book has dual timeline, present day and 11 years ago, when Brooke's trauma happens, it makes me guessing the theories that can possibly happen & its correlation of present day.

Idk if I like the characters lol the protagonist is sooo unreliable and it frustated me. Instead of the protagonist, I like the protagonist's son, Josh, a lil bit more bcs he's cute and innocent.

The twist and turn is pretty good, especially the twist in the epilogue, it's way more unexpected.
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Overall, it's pretty good start to know Freida McFadden's book. I think I'll check another book by her. I heard her other books are no less awesome.

Thank you NetGalley and Frieda McFadden for the eARC!

HOLY COW! Freida McFadden does it again. This woman cannot write a book that I won’t absolutely DEVOUR. My heart was RACING as I read this book. Not to mention staying up way too late to finish it 🫣 This was so freaking good. I enjoyed every bit of it. I honestly kept going back and forth in my head about who actually did it, but oh my gosh, I could not have predicted that ending. And THEN in comes the epilogue! Holy cow. Read this book. That’s all I have to say.

The setup of this one was interesting. Told through the POV of Brooke Sullivan in the past and the present, this story is ripe with clues and red herrings, leaving you questioning what really happened the night Brooke was almost murdered as a teenager. As per usual for Freida, this book was filled with twists and turns and the last two I definitely didn't predict but loved. I can see why this book has a high overall rating. I really enjoyed it,

One of my favorite FM books! So many twists with this story. I enjoyed from start to finish. It was an easy quick ready. It was dark but not too dark that it makes you not want to read it. I recommend FA to most friends who want a fun and easy psychological thriller!

Freida McFadden has me in a chokehold. I was so invested the whole time I read this book. I tried to guess the ending and I never do. One point I was believing it was Shane, the next I was thinking it was Tim. I even thought it was both of them. Then, I got to the last chapter! Was not expecting that. Five star read!

Thank you NetGalley, and Hollywood Upstairs Press for the free arc in exchange for my review.

I enjoyed the book overall. Although the main character bothered me with by being rather stupid. The ending did tie everything together nicely, especially the epilogue

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Plot:
Brooke Sullivan, a nurse practitioner, moves back to her hometown with her child and lands a new job at a men's maximum-security prison. Accidentally, she ends up solving a murder case from 10 years ago.

My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed the story; it gave me Lifetime Movie vibes. I found myself searching for clues throughout, thinking I had the plot figured out within the first few chapters, and boy was I wrong! The twists and turns surprised me and kept me on the edge of my seat. The ending and plot were mind-blowing—my jaw was on the floor. Though I found Brooke to be a frustrating character at times.
overall this was great. I highly recommend it if you love fast-paced thrillers

I really, really liked The Inmate by Freida McFadden. This is my second book by this author, and once again, I was captivated the entire time and blown away by the ending!

Here are a few things I enjoyed about The Inmate: (1) a dual timeline bringing the story together, (2) a strong female main character, (3) unreliable characters, (4) plot twists I didn't see coming (one I did... I was so proud of myself!) and (5) THAT EPILOGUE! OH MY GOSH!! I will be recommending this book to all of my friends. It was that good. Frieda McFadden is quickly becoming one of my auto-buy authors!!

Many thanks to #NetGalley and @poisonedpenpress for the eARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

This was an entertaining and fast read, but I felt the twists at the end came too late and didn’t get the full share of voice they deserved. The end also seemed a little far fetched but could’ve been more believable had it been spread out. Overall the story was easy to follow and makes you wonder… I think the reader catches onto the killer before our main character Brooke. Would recommend for a flight or beach read.

Another 5star review for Frieda! There hasn’t been a book of hers I haven’t loved yet. Read this in a day and couldn’t put it down. Just when you think you have it figured out she comes in with a surprise! Highly recommend!!