"The Inmate" by Freida McFadden is a gripping and chilling psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The story follows Brooke, a single mom and nurse practitioner who returns to her hometown with her son, only to find herself working as a nurse at a men's maximum-security prison. Her life takes a dark turn when she comes face to face with an inmate she knows all too well - Shane, her high school sweetheart whom she helped put behind bars.

McFadden expertly weaves together mystery, suspense, crime, and thrilling twists that will leave you in suspense from start to finish. The writing delivers spine-tingling moments and heart-racing excitement, making it difficult to put the book down.

The narrative skillfully alternates between the present and events from ten years ago, keeping readers engaged as chilling details and secrets slowly emerge. As Brooke's past collides with her present, the tension and confusion mount, making it difficult to discern who can be trusted.

"The Inmate" explores the complexities of relationships and the haunting impact of the past on the present. With a well-crafted plot and multi-dimensional characters, McFadden creates a riveting read that will leave you guessing until the very end. Prepare to be consumed by this enthralling tale and its dark and twisted secrets!

Overall, "The Inmate" is a thrilling and captivating psychological thriller that will keep readers hooked from beginning to end. McFadden's skilled storytelling and ability to create suspense make this book a must-read for fans of the genre.

Freida McFadden is the queen of suspense. I enjoy her books and look forward to when a new one is released. The Inmate kept you on the edge of your seat although the fear of falling off was very real as you proceeded through all the twists and turns. I did find Brooke to be pretty gullible which made her character come off as weak. She did experience a horrific event that almost took her life when she was in high school so having PTSD was inevitable. It just seemed that she lived her life in a vacuum and was easily manipulated. I absolutely loved the ending and hope that we see more of Josh. The whole nurture vs nature comes into play, and you can't help but wonder what kind of man he will become. He definitely has a lot of his father's traits even though he never knew him growing up. I can't wait to continue to work my way through McFadden's books as they are so enjoyable to read.

Usually I’m not a fan of the then and now back and forth, but the way this book had it set up was done perfectly well. With little confusion between the two different times. A book with suspicion, kept wanting me to read more. And although most of it was predictable, it was still incredible to see the way it all played out with the twists that left your jaw dropped until the very last page.

This book started out failry slow, but I know Freida McFadden books and that what kept me hooked and it definitely deliver. The book starts with Brooke starting her job as a nurse practitioner in a maximum security prison. Little do the people know that she has a history with one of the inmates, Shane Nelson.

What I love about this book was the back and forth from the past to the future and vice versa. Because of this, you start do distrust everyone in this book. And honestly halfway through I literally thought I knew what the twist was going to be, this was also the reason I couldn't put the book down anymore as I wanted to see if my conclusion was right. But I WAS NOT RIGHT! The twist in this book had me in a chokehold and it was so well done that you truly didn't saw this one coming.

Freida McFadden did it again, what an amazing fast paced psychological thriller this was. I highly recommend this book as I read all of it in one sitting and honestly couldn't put this down. There is something in the writing style of Freida that is so addicting, normally I take a few days to read a book but this is not the case with this book,

I want to thank Freida McFadden and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity of reading this ARC. It was an amazing ride and cannot wait for the next book!

No matter what book Freida McFadden writes.... i continue to find myself thinking about it even after I finished! such a good book that left me sitting on the edge of my seat with every page.

Brooke Sullivan, a nurse practitioner, who recently moved back into her childhood home after the death of her parents and took a new position at a maximum-security prison. Within the walls of this prison is her past and she is on a mission to determine the truth. Shane Nelson, Brooke’s ex-boyfriend and father of her 10-year-old son, Josh. When Brooke was seventeen, she and her best friend, Tim, were the determining factors to Shane’s incarceration for life when they testified against him for the murder of their three friends and attempted homicide of Brooke herself. Shane insists that he is innocent, and he declares that Tim is not who he seems to be. Brooke is now dating her childhood best friend and neighbor, Tim. Who can she trust and believe? Should she tell her son about his dad? Was Brooke wrong in testimony of events, did she sentence an innocent man to life in prison?
I have read several Freida McFadden books, and this one did not disappoint. The events of this story had me going back and forth on my prediction of who the real killer was. My initial prediction was accurate but despite this, the twists and turns kept me in suspense the whole way through. Brooke was like a character from a horror movie, where you find yourself yelling at the television, “don’t go in there,” “why are you doing that,” and “just, WHY?” A bit cliché in some areas and Brooke’s naivety was a tad annoying at points but all in all, a solid 4-stars for me. The ending was totally unpredicted and blew my mind. This mystery/suspense/thriller is a must read and will get you hooked from page one. Freida wins the award for head spinning plot twists that just aren’t expected.
Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest opinion.

I really loved this book. There were lots of twists and surprises. The ending was a complete surprise! Not even a hint! I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Poison Pen Press and NetGalley for this book.

As always, Freida is simply the Queen and King of plot twists. It doesn’t matter if you think you’ve guessed the ending. You haven’t.
Slowly working my way through all of her books and then I guess I have to quit reading until she writes another book.

It’s like driving up a dark mountain road in a snow storm. Do you know where the road is? Maybe. Do you think you’ll fall off the cliff? Maybe. This is the suspense feeling during any of her books.

The book follow Brooke, a nurse in a maximum security prison. The rules are to never become too friendly with the inmates. But what happens if one of the inmates was your high school sweetheart? And what happens if it was your testimony that put him in that maximum security prison? And what happens when he becomes one of you patients?
Guess you’ll have to read and find out!

Another great book by Freida McFadden. I was hooked from the Housemaid and Never Lie. (Never Lie being my favorite). This book lives up to her previous works in the shock value and twist that are here.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for a review. All of these opinions are my own!

4,5 ⭐

Not my first Freida McFadden book, but certainly also not my last. I had such a good time with this book, many edge-of-my-seat moments and overall a very good and entertaining story. And that finale! I definitely did not guess all of the twists and turns, and I gasped multiple times. After reading both the Housemaid and the Housemaid's Secret, I really couldn't believe that this book did exactly the same as that duology. A very nice reading experience, but honestly, Freida McFadden can't do wrong, I DEVOUR her thrillers and can't wait to read even more.

Little synopsis for those of you who don't know what it's about:
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.

* Let's be honest, that synopsis alone should definitely get you excited! :)

A note for the publisher - for accessibility purposes I strongly encourage you to provide readers with epub files rather than PDFs. On Kobos, you can change the text size and font of an epub but not a PDF. The text on PDFs on computers and on the NetGalley app cannot be modified either, and instead the reader must zoom in on every page. then zoom out before turning the page. By preventing readers from modifying the text size to their needs you are not accommodating all abilities and readers.

I have read and enjoyed other books by this author but was disappointed in this one - I correctly predicted the plot twist 10% in so the rest of the book really dragged for me.

If you love Frienda McFadden like I do then you already know this is a good book!! As always this was a fast paced book that will have you hooked from start to finish. I didn't see the twists coming at the end which is always refreshing. This wasn't my favorite book of hers but it was still entertaining and I can't wait to read more of her books. I would HIGHLY recommend this book.


Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest opinion.

This is my 4th Freida McFadden book and I loved it!

I did think this was kind of a romance at first but its more of a side plot psychological romance. Needless to say, don't read just for the "romance", you need to be reading for the thrill/ mystery aspect.

I loved each and every twist and turn. I thought I knew what the big twist was going to be, but I got it wrong. (again lol) I consider this and every other Freida book I read to be page turning and something you can read in one sitting. You can't put this book down or you'll be thinking about the mystery until you return to reading. I also fell in love with the unique setting. I feel like I don't read a lot of thriller books set in a prison type situation so this was definitely refreshing!

Thank you so much Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC copy! I can't wait to read more of Freida's books!

I thought I had this book all figured out, but I didn’t. 75% of the way in I was questioning if there was going to be a twist or turn, but the last few chapters were where everything went down and got real. There were a few things I could have suspected but just didn’t think about because I was so wrapped up in the plot. I didn’t really like Brooke, FMC, that much just because she seemed very naive and also she’s a nurse practitioner, like you should have a good judge of character at this point in my opinion. Brooke also was so quick to let her son, Josh, be around these men, Shane and Tim (MMCs), in her life which was so surprising to me after what she went through as a teenager. I will say that the epilogue had me all types of way and I really wasn’t expecting it to be in Josh’s POV, that I really enjoyed.

4 things you should know about Brooke:

- She has a son
- She just moved back to her home town to take a job as a nurse inside a prison
- her ex boyfriend is an inmate at said prison, for murdering her friends when they were 16.
- Brooke was the one to send him to prison.

This book has the classic Freida feel. Lots of misdirection, twists and clues dropped that will make you second guess yourself.

The pacing is nice and fast, the chapters are short, you can definitely speed through this book and finish it in one sitting.

I’m a huge Freida fan and personally obsessed with all of her work. I highly recommend all of her books, ESPECIALLY her new book The Teacher that released on Feb 6, it’s available along with all of her other books on KU.

Thank you to Freida, poisoned pen press and NetGalley for a copy of the Inmate.

I didn't even know what to think about the events of this book. I didn't know who to trust and Brooke was just trusting everybody. Brooke should've listened to Hunt and Tim, but who really shocked me was Shane's mother and the epilogue with Josh.

Tim is better than me because ain’t no way somebody gon send me to jail after I have warned them about this other person since we were damn kids, and I forgive them. And the fact that Shane and his damn mommy went after Brooke all because her father cheated on her mom with Shane’s mom but decided to stay with Brooke’s mom. No wonder they kept warning her against him.

And Josh??? He’s going to end up like his daddy especially after killing him the way he did.

This book had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Freida’s books are all so thrilling and make you want to keep on reading. I finished this in one sitting.
We follow Brooke as she does her first shift at a men’s prison. Brooke got hired and no one knows, she has a past with one of the inmates. The book follows Brooke in the present as well as she recounts what happened in the past.

Frieda McFadden's books all seem to follow the same recipe. Distract, mislead, and then TWIST! This was no different. I kept waiting for the twist, but this was one I definitely did not see coming. McFadden has been my go-to leisure read author lately, and this was enjoyable. Nothing spectacular, and not as good as The Housemaid, but enjoyable nonetheless. Perfect for fans of thrillers who can enjoy a quick read without taking the literature too seriously.

I get excited everytime I find a new one by Freida McFadden! I love her thrillers. Brooke is a nurse who moves back to her hometown with her son. She finds a job at a maximum security prison. This happens to be the same prison where her former boyfriend, Shane, is serving time for attempting to kill her. Of course she can't tell anyone this though or let it affect her ability to remain professional. If I say much more, I'll give away all the twists and turns that I've come to expect from Freida! There were certainly some elements that were not realistic, but made for a great story. I kept thinking that I knew the ending and then I would be hit with a new twist. I will definitely keep reading anything by her!

4.5 stars ⭐️

Wow I devoured this book in a whole day and almost the whole thing in just one sitting. This story was wild and every time I thought I knew where it was going it that I solved something there would be another twist. I love when a thriller can surprise me and keep me guessing. I thought this was a very interesting premise for a book and while it may be a little far fetched it was so entertaining I don’t even care. It has been a while since I read such a captivating and quick moving adult thriller, so I am very impressed with this one. I do have to say the main character in this book is way too trusting and so stupid lol. But it made for some great entertainment. I am so excited to read the rest of Freida McFadden books and I think this book may have just jump started a thriller phase. I would definitely recommend this book if you are looking for a book with lots of twists where you can’t trust anyone.