I enjoyed this book. It had a classic Frieda feel to it. I thought the book was going one way, but it went another! This isn’t my favorite Frieda book I’ve read, but you won’t be disappointed!

The Crash was a great read! I was hoping that this book would reignite my love for Freida McFadden after a few releases that I didn't care for and it did not disappoint! The beginning of the book caught my attention and I was engrossed for most of it. Tegan, 8 months pregnant and headed to her brother's house in a snow storm, was a character that made me question her reliability. As the story unfolds it reveals more about how she came to be pregnant with bits of memories resurfacing. After crashing her car into a tree, Hank a large imposing man rescues Tegan and brings her to his home with his wife Polly. There she is taken care of by Polly, a former nurse, in a hospital bed in their basement. As Polly helps care for the pregnant Tegan and her broken ankle, the promises of a snow plow coming and a trip to the hospital seem to become increasingly unlikely. The characters kept me guessing--is Hank really that scary? Is Polly really that kind? What about this lawyer?

Towards the end it seemed to have a lot of repetition that could have been edited out. However, the actual ending of the story was a great twist. Even if you saw it coming, it is still a fantastic way to wrap up the story.

Title: The Crash
Author: Freida McFadden
Format: 🎧
Narrator: Leslie Holmes
Publisher: Dreamscape Select and Hollywood Upstairs Press
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Audiobook Pub Date: January 28, 2025
My Rating: 4.4 Stars!!
Pages: 338

Story is told from the POV of Tegan Warner and Polly Thompson.

Eight months ago, twenty-three Tegan and her friends went to Tegan’s brother’s ski resort. (Dennis had dreams of being a professions skier but was in a car crash and things changed- so he is happy that he can still ski every day). Tegan isn’t much of a skier but is good at bar hopping where she meets handsome Simon – although she claims she isn’t someone who does one-night stands - she does. Later finds out she is pregnant additionally discovers Simon is married with children and doesn’t want anything to do with this baby. He is wealthy so willing to buy her off to keep her quiet. She is okay with this as she actually cannot remember details about that night. However as she is about to sign - a memory comes to her about that night and she knows she cannot sign the agreement regarding the buyout.
Although close to delivery with no money her brother offers his extra bedroom for her to stay. He encourages her to make the 2 hour trip and decides he sounds like the best thing to do. She knows it is going to snow but was not prepared for a blizzard and sure enough she crashes.

After losing consciousness in the crash, she wakes to find herself stranded in rural Maine with a damaged vehicle and a broken ankle. With no cell service and no way to reach her brother, she's relieved when Hank a kindly man who stops and rescues her. Tegan figures he is taking her to the hospital only the weather is too bad and he tells her his wife Polly is a nurse and it would be best if his wife looks, at her injuries- they will call 911.
~ And so it begins. . . . .

Oh that Tegan – I nearly lost my voice from shouting at her!

I call myself a Freida fan - this is my eighteenth psychological thriller.
She does not disappoint! And once again delivers a story that kept me glued!

Additional narrator Leslie Holmes was great at performing these somewhat strange McFadden characters.

Want to thank NetGalley and Dreamscape Select-Hollywood Upstairs Press for granting me the pleasure of listening to this great thriller.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for January 28, 2025

Another absolute banger from Freida McFadden.

The narration was fantastic, it added a sense of suspense I believe that if I had read it would go over my head.

The writing is easy, nothing groundbreaking. However I do think it’s okay given that sometimes suspense/thriller novels don’t need any spectacular prose. If anything, I appreciate that McFadden doesn’t approach her novels thinking her readers are slow to catch on to the twists and turns.

I really don’t understand the love for this book; the plot holes are out of this world bad- this would’ve never actually happened. And if she called the baby Tuna one more time I was going to scream… Freida McFadden knows how to craft an interesting premise but I believe she should leave the writing to someone more skilled.; it doesn't feel edited at all. THE CRASH reads like a modern take on Stephen King’s Misery to me, without the writer stalker aspect: a woman crashes her car in the snow near a couples house and they keep her locked in their basement…. it was very predictable.

Short entertainment; despite the flaws with the narrative, excellent audiobook though; the actress did a wonderful job delivering the narration.