Thank you Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for this ARC, 10 years after Brooke was nearly murdered she’s back in her hometown working in the prison her attacker is housed in. This book flips between the present and the night 10 years ago that Brooke was attacked. Can your memory play tricks on you in the moment you nearly die? What really happened that night and can anyone around Brook be trusted? This was a great who done it that kept me engaged and couldn’t wait to see how this all unfolded! Great twists!

Brooke Sullivan is a new nurse practitioner at a maximum security prison, trying to keep secret that the boyfriend (Shane) who tried to kill her ten years ago is an inmate there for life. He also doesn’t know he’s the father of her ten year old son. Past and present timelines weave the story forward where we discover what happened in a farmhouse many years ago. Brooke and Shane interact in the present whenever he is in a prison fight. Brooke’s neighbor Tim was also involved at the farmhouse and now is a love interest for Brooke. Rounding out the characters are her young son and the elderly babysitter. Shane still claims his innocence and blames Tim. Brooke is easily swayed back and forth, and she is a frustrating main character. Still there are many twists and turns and red herrings in this fun and entertaining book. I continue to read and enjoy Freida McFadden books! With thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC. My opinions are my own. Susanh_bookreviews

So I am a Freida fanatic! But no lie its not just because of that that I absolutely loved this book. It has all of the FM markers of the good twists and the great concept. The characters all leave you wondering because it's a FM book. It was just great.

This one was full of twists and turns!! It was so engaging throughout and I absolutely did not guess the full twist. Also that epilogue had me!

If its Freida McFadden, then its a yes! I discovered this author last year, and I am totally enjoying her books. It is well written and with perfect twists! This book left me sitting on the edge of my seat

Thank you NetGalley and Poisened Pen Press for a Copy of The Inmate in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited to read The Inmate as I've read a few of McFadden's books before and was always blown away by the twists (coming from someone who can generally guess the ending of most thrillers). Unfortunately, The Inmates conclusion just did not have the oomph I have grown to expect from the queen of twisty twists.

As always, fast paced and easy to read. I throughly enjoyed the book, it was intense and I did enjoy the time jumps.

I gave The Inmate three stars mainly due to the ending (except for the Epilogue...wow) and some key aspects of the book were unbelievable and felt a little more research could have gone into it.

Aside from that, I will continue to read McFadden's books, I'm a sucker for a good thriller.

I'm aware that Freida McFadden is a very popular psychological thriller author, but somehow I had never actually picked up one of her books before. It seemed like a sign that just when I promised to myself to change this in 2024, an ARC of previously published The Inmate popped up on Netgalley. Of course I couldn't resist this opportunity, and especially since I always love a good thriller with a prison angle... And I definitely understand why so many people seem to enjoy her books now!

The Inmate uses a dual timeline structure, where we switch between the present and eleven years earlier when the murders happened. As often with dual timeline structures, I did prefer one over the other, as the flashbacks just had a bit too much teenage drama for me. That said, once Brooke and the rest are at the farmhouse, things get intense enough to keep your attention. The present timeline is mainly your typical psychological thriller with a main character with unreliable narrator vibes... The last especially once she starts questioning her own memories. It was this present timeline that kept me on my toes, as I was fully invested in discovering the whole truth about both past and present events.

This story is definitely more character driven, and the main characters are all flawed. I had mixed feelings about Brooke, who could behave in an incredibly stupid way in parts... But I can't deny that the manipulation, gaslighting and building up of doubt and confusion are really well done. This is one of those stories that makes you think you have everything figured out, only to drop a plot twist bomb on you that makes you question everything... Not every twist is completely credible, but it does make for a very engaging story. And that ending! I definitely didn't see that last chapter coming, and it was a great way to end things on a high note.

I'm keeping this review short to avoid possible spoilers, because The Inmate will have so much more impact if you go in blind. While this story is mainly a character driven psychological thriller, there are also plenty of moments of tension and things can get pretty graphic especially in the flashbacks. I enjoyed the prison scenes, and I loved how this book made me doubt everything I thought was a given fact. Recommended if you enjoy the genre! I will definitely be diving into Freida McFadden's backlist ASAP.

Freida is the queen of twisty thrillers! Like all of her previous books, I couldn’t put The Inmate down! So many twists and turns! Read in one sitting!

Brooke Sullivan takes the only job she can find, a nurse practitioner job at a maximum security prison. The very prison where Shane the man Brooke helped put behind bars is serving out his life sentence.
The book is a typical psychological thriller, or is it? I had it figured out a third of the way in, but then I didn’t. The twists in the story are so unpredictable. You will stay up late reading trying to figure out who is innocent and who is truly guilty.
Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for my ARC.

This book is in my top 5 Freida McFadden books. I realized once I got it I have actually read it before, maybe it was published previously on kindle unlimited? I think it had great mystery with twists and turns! I didn't see the ending coming at all and the story kept me engaged the whole time. 4.5/5 stars

Jaw. Drop. From start to finish in one setting, I was hooked. Frieda is one of the best psychological thriller authors I have read. I counted 5 twists and turns in this book. Each one more shocking than the last. Goosebumps at the epilogue.

So...this book is ridiculous.

It is HIGHLY entertaining. It is also HIGHLY illogical. I mean, if you added even a tiny bit of logic, the book would not exist.

Nothing in the real world works this way and the reasons behind everything are really banal.

3 stars for entertainment value alone, but turn off your brain before reading.

I’m a big fan of Freida! I’ve all of her books and I’ve enjoyed them all. I always know I’ll be on the edge of my seat and guessing until. This book had the perfect amount of twists and turns. I can’t recommend Freida’s books enough!
Thank you NetGalley, Freida and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC!

This was my first book of Freida McFaddens but it definitely won’t be my last! This book kept me on the edge of my seat and I couldn’t put it down! I absolutely needed to know what happened next! There were so many plot twists, some that I kind of anticipated but others completely shocked me! BRB while I go add all of Freida’s other books to my TBR!

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with a copy to read in exchange for an honest review!

Very fast-paced and suspenseful read. So many twists and turns I never truly guessed what was about to happen and that made the reading experience very engaging. Although the plot was very intriguing, I found it hard to connect to our main characters. I didn’t have any emotional investment to any of them and therefore lacked any concern for them at all. Wasn’t much that truly stood out about this book, but it was a enjoyable thriller.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an early copy of The Inmate. It’s very hard to get an early copy of Freida McFaddens books so I was very excited to get this one and I appreciate it. She NEVER disappoints!!!! Of course I had it figured out early on ……… WRONG!!!! Her twists are like no other authors. All I can think of when this book ended was the apple doesn’t fall from the tree.

Throughout this thriller, there was one thing that was certain: there was always a new plot twist or clue to keep you interested and reading.

Brooke Sullivan is now a nurse practitioner and single mom who is just trying to make a better for her only son, Josh. While her motivation is pure, her method is questionable because she ends up as the nurse for the prison that her high school ex-boyfriend is in for a mass murder of their classmates. He also happens to be Josh’s father, but neither father nor son knows this truth. When Brooke reconnects with Tim, her childhood best friend and fellow survivor of the crime that Shane is in prison for, she starts to question if Shane is guilty or if he’s innocent. The book is split between the present day and the day of the crime.

Warning: there are spoilers ahead in this review.

Brooke’s profession and the setting of the book were unusual, which is to say, I haven’t read many, if any, thriller books that are based in prison. It allows the reader to see her compassion for the prisoners, even though they did not entirely deserve it, because Shane manipulates her into thinking he is innocent.

While this book has everything I typically look for in a thriller (lots of twists and turns, a few clues, and a plot that makes me unable to put the book down), it will not stick with me, nor is it groundbreaking in its genre.

One relationship I would have liked to see more fleshed out was the one between Brooke and her parents, particularly after the crime and while she was pregnant or had Josh. This is explained in the book’s ending, but the clues could have been mixed more than the simple statement that her dad cheated on her mom often. While the reader’s opinion of Brooke’s parents is manipulated for most of the book, there isn’t much background on them or their actions. Hence, the revelation of Shane’s motivation felt as if it came out of left field.

The setting is unique, and the plot is a great concept; there were some plot and character holes. As a character, Brooke was a bit wishy-washy on the actual event, and she couldn’t hold a strong opinion in the present day. The conviction behind her actions was lacking; even when she suspected that Shane was innocent and Tim was the perpetrator, she was in and out of that. Even certain events that were pertinent to the story were wishy-washy. For example, the girl who had been murdered earlier in the school year, it turns out Shane is responsible because he needed to practice. There was no way for Shane to be linked to her, so it felt more like a red herring.

The ending also seems unrealistic since Tim, despite Brooke sending him, an innocent man, to jail, he took her back and is still in love with her. Another problem with Tim and the ending is that it was tied up quickly in a bow. As Shane’s mother was dying from Brooke’s gunshot, she confessed everything to the authorities, which made sure Tim got out of prison pretty quickly afterward. This is nowhere realistic to what happens in the real world. Even with a confession of guilt from a deathbed, or just in general, if there is an innocent person incarcerated but the case is closed, it will typically not get reopened or happen so quickly. Shane was released so soon because Tim was found with a body in his basement.

The most significant complication with the ending is perhaps part of the intrigue since the reader gets some confirmation that Josh killed Shane, his dad, to protect his mother to show that the cycle of maternal protection murders was repeating.

The inmate was a pretty interesting read. I will say I felt like I had to kind of suspend belief to get the full enjoyment. First of all Brooke was annoying, second I find it hard to believe the prison where her attempted murder was jailed would hire her, third why would she not feel immediate revulsion and fear when in the infirmary with the man she was so sure tried to strangle her that she testified against him?! But if you can rationalize those things in your mind then you can enjoy the story. I do think it was kind of predictable but that didn’t take away from the story for me. I do recommend you read it for yourself!

This is my second time reading this book. I'm not sure how I got the copy about a year ago, but apparently I did. This time I felt about the same as the previous time when reading this one. It had a lot of holes in it and I found it hard to believe. Having Brooke actually getting a job at the same prison was just too unbelievable for me. It was a bit more predictable than most of the books Frieda McFadden writes. I did like the little twist at the end with Josh was a great twist.
Thanks NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC.

Brooke Sullivan was a normal teenager. She was a cheerleader, had a group of friends, and she was madly in love with her boyfriend Shane Nelson. When Shane's mom goes out of town, Brooke and her friends have a sleepover at his house. It seemed like it was going to be a normal night of drinking and pizza, it was going to be the first time that Brooke and Shane sleep together. Everything was perfect until one of her friends turns up dead, then another, and soon someone attacks Brooke. She manages to escape and her testimony of that night lands Shane in jail for killing the others.

Ten years later, she is the new nurse practitioner at a maximum security men's prison. She recently moved back to her hometown with her 10 year old son Josh, into the house that she grew up in. Brooke had been estranged from her family for years but when both of her parents died, instead of selling their house she moved into it. When Brooke takes the job at the prison, she keeps one critical piece of information to herself. Shane is an inmate at the prison, locked away for life because of her testimony. When she gave her testimony, she was so sure that Shane was the one who killed their friends and attacked her but 10 years later she isn't so sure. Brooke is about to find about what really happened that night, and it's not at all what she had thought.

I didn't want to give away the spoiler of who done it, so I will leave it on that cliffhanger for you to read. The thing about Freida is that she writes books that have a twist that you never see coming. When I read The Housemaid and The Housemaid's Secret, I was so impressed when I was actually surprised at the ending. It was the same with this book. Just when you think you have it all figured out, something unexpected happens that you never saw coming. This book did not disappoint and it was a really exciting thriller.

Thank you so much NetGalley, Poison Pen Press, and Freida McFadden for the opportunity to read this book!