3/5

This book was not my favorite from Freida. Freida is my girl, and everyone loved this book, so I was really excited to read it. I thought the ending was predictable, and I think she could have made it so
much better. I think this book will be easily forgettable because there is nothing that stands out in it that will make me think about it over and over. I also hated all the characters except for the kid.

Publication date: June 13th, 2022
Page count: 388
Genre: domestic thriller
Setting: men’s maximum security prison

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. What a great ride! What an ending! There are a lot of synopses out there- but what I can add is my criteria (for a rarely given a 5 star review)- I am engaged throughout the book, I think that it is well written, clever, with unexpected twists, and I am disappointed when it is over. Also, it must be a book that I would read again.

Enjoy!


Thank you to author, publisher, NetGalley for advanced copy. This is an honest voluntary review.

Freida is the queen of twisty thrillers and this did not disappoint. The Inmate follows Brooke as she moves back to her home town with her 10 year old son and endsup working in the same prison that her son's father is serving a life sentence for murder. Did he really do it though? Or could it be someone else that she trusts. Halfway through this book I thought that perhaps this one was going to have a more straightforward conclusion but I couldn't have been more wrong. Fantastic read with chapter endings that make it hard to put down.

Whelp, I almost pulled an all-nighter to finish this book in one day. 2 a.m. people! That's how invested I was in this book!

Freida McFadden, your writing is so twisted - in a good way, lol!

The book alternates between Brooke's current situation (nurse in a penitentiary with a 10 year old son) and a night 10 years ago when she and her friends spent the night in a farmhouse belonging to her boyfriend.

SPOILER ALERT: I loved the nod to Rumplestiltskin near the end!

It's definitely not hype: McFadden writes twisty-turny stories that will keep you up until the wee hours of the morning - I should know, lol!

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advance reader's copy.

This book was okay but honestly nowhere near as good as The Housemaid series. The main character Brooke and her boyfriend were very cliche'. The plot was predictable and it read very much like a YA novel. Not that there is anything wrong with a YA book. I read them often and they have their place but this one just fell flat for me because I had such high expectations.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review. I always enjoy a Freida McFadden book and this was no exception. A really good psychological thriller that was fast paced, interesting and kept me turning the pages as fast as possible. The author’s plot twists are always really good and sharp and this book had some brilliant twists that I never saw coming. Highly recommended. 5 stars from me.

Just like all Freida McFadden books, I could not put this one down. I was hooked from page one. Brooke attends a gathering with friends in high school. When friends are killed she is certain she knows who did it. Years later when paths cross again she wonders, did I really know who did this? Full of twists and turns this book sucks you in…. Who really killed everyone all those years ago?

Gosh I love Frieda McFadden so much. Her books are always quick and enticing. It’s what I love most about thrillers is fast paced, dramatic, realistic — and Frieda hit each and every mark.

4.5 Stars

Holy Moly! This book was BANANAS! This was my second Freida McFadden book, and boy it did not disappoint. I thought I had this one all figured out… but man was I wrong. AND that ending OMG so crazy! If you liked The Housemaid definitely check this out, I even think this one might be better. 2024 is the year of Freida McFadden!

Entertaining per usual!!
Completely bonkers, off the wall, and far fetched for the plot? Yep! Per usual!

When Brooke Sullivan starts a new job as a nurse practioner at a maximum-security prison, we know from the start that there is a back story we need to discover. Brooke has a connection to one of the prisoners, but what is the truth behind there back story? And does Brooke herself even know it?

I have seen a lot of people rave about Freida McFadden, but this has been the first book of hers I've read. I can definitely see why people love her. Her story telling skills are second to none. The way we are slowly drip fed the back story, keeps the reader hooked throughout. The twists and turns keep on coming. I changed my mind so many times about how I thought it was going to end, and I didn't come anywhere close to getting it right.

I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a real twisty page turner. Thank you very much to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for proving me with a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The Inmate
4

When Brooke returns to her hometown, with her 10-year-old son, she finds herself working at the maximum security prison as a nurse practitioner. The secret she's hiding? Her high school sweetheart is an inmate there, serving a life sentence for a series of murders - as well as the attempted murder of Brooke herself.

Freida is the queen of thrillers. I said it. I don't know how she keeps coming up with this stuff, but keep it coming!

The Inmate had me hooked from the beginning. A nurse practitioner at a maximum-security prison with a history with one of the inmates?! How can that not grab your attention immediately?

This was a twisty read with a now/then timeline. I loved how details about "that night" were revealed throughout, as we learned more and more about what happened to Brooke. I had lots of theories about how this might end, and none of them totally panned out.

There were a couple of skipped time periods, which I didn't love, resulting in my 4 star rating. Otherwise, this would have easily been a 5 star thriller. What more could you want in a thriller than twists, turns, and not being able to put it down?

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

Ok this was my first Freida McFadden book and I absolutely couldn’t put this down.

So many twists and turns I didn’t see coming, and one I did see coming.

Brooke lived through a nightmare when her friends were brutally murdered one night and she somehow survived. Now she is a nurse practitioner moving back to her hometown and takes a job at the local men’s prison! It happens to be the prison where the man who tried to murder her is being held.

But is the person who tried to kill her really behind bars or is the killer still out there?

This was my first read from Frieda McFadden and I was not disappointed. I found this book to be entertaining! I thought I knew what was going to happen and felt as though it was predictable, until it wasn’t. I enjoy books that jump between the past and the present; the author did a great job of helping us get to know the characters from both their past experiences and what was occurring in the present. This was an easy and fast paced book that I didn’t want to put down. Yes, it wasn’t a 5-star read, but I found it exciting enough that I would recommend it to others. 4/5 stars from me!

Freida McFadden!!! You did it again!!! Fast paced and keeps you guessing the whole time.. I love the flashbacks.. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, I was hit with so many unexpected twists, I have whiplash!!! And the final reveal.. When Brooke remembers it all!!! WOW oh WOW!!! And then the ending.. Loved it!!! Another book to add to the pile of great thrillers!!!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!!!

Fast -paced. A wild ride for sure. Reach for McFadden anytime you need a reliable thriller. Constantly kept me guessing until the very end. That epilogue… whew. Did not see that coming.

Thank you to Net Galley, Freida McFadden, and Poisoned Pen Press for a copy of this rerelease. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my e-ARC of The Inmate!

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔
🌪️ love a lot of good twists
👀 aren’t sure who to trust
👮🏻‍♂️ have ever worked at a prison
👩🏻 would do anything for your mother

• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓

As a new nurse practitioner at a maximum-security prison, Brooke Sullivan is taught three crucial rules: 

1. Treat all prisoners with respect.
2. Never reveal any personal information. 
3. Never EVER become too friendly with the inmates.

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.

But Shane knows. He knows more than anyone. And he will never forget.

• 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒

This was another excellent book from Freida! I love the short chapters and the fast paced action the book takes. We get two POVs from the MC, one in the present, and the other in the past. I wasn’t sure who to believe or trust, and I honestly thought I had it all figured out until I didn’t. The ending was a fun little twist too, that really brought everything together! There was just one thing that was never fully cleared up for me but I have a feeling I already know what happened. Overall, a great thriller to add to your list!

"As the prison doors shut behind me, I question every decision I've made in my life"

4.5✩
➸Thriller/Mystery/Crime, Adult

TW: Murder, Violence, Death, PTSD, Manipulation, Gaslighting

Short Summary:
This book follows our main character, Brooke, in her new nurse practitioner position at the men's maximum-security prison. In the same prison that now houses her ex-boyfriend, Shane, that attempted to murder her 10 years earlier. As Brooke interacts with Shane she is starting to question if Shane was truly innocent and was being framed.

My thoughts:

Wow, this was marvelous! I feel very proud of myself for predicting ALL of the plot twists🥳.

Anyways this was absolutely amazing and fascinating :0. I was on my toes the whole time! I woke up at 7 am on a Sunday to finish this, that's how determined I was 😌. The pacing was just *mwah*💋. I would definitely recommend this to everyone searching for a good and cozy thriller.

✨Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for proving me with an ARC of this awesome book ✨

Spine tingling. Twists. Turns. Propulsive. Addicting. I could not put this book down. Freida leaves you guessing until the very end. The epilogue is the best part of the whole book. This is a character driven book with all the elements of an epic thriller. A whodunnit that I could not see coming!

Finally jumped on the Frieda McFadden train and boy am I glad I did! This book was edge of your seat good. I was so excited each time I started reading it and was reading it anywhere and every I could.

Thank you to Frieda McFadden, NetGalley, and Poison Pen Press for giving me an eARC to the rerelease of this amazing book for my honest review.
Pub date: March 4th,2024 ✨
Full review available on 2/21/2024