This is my first book of Freida McFadden, and it was an entertainer! It has the usual cocktail one would expect in a psychological thriller (starting off with a crime) – decent character development, engaging character interplay, average procedural work, unreliable narrators & twists.

Dawn is very regular and sincere at work. She had asked for a meeting with her boss Seth Hoffman about something important the previous day. Natalie is a coworker and Dawn had also mailed her asking to speak about an important matter. But Natalie was busy in sales calls and could not meet her. Dawn does not come in to work one day. Natalie is surprised and goes over to her place. She finds a scene which is concerning – a broken glass on the floor and some blood. Natalie calls the cops and Detective Sentora investigates the case, digging into Dawn’s relationships at work and circumstances of her disappearance. The other characters who figure in the story are – Caleb, colleague who Natalie is dating; Kim, Natalie’s friend who together have joked about Dawn being odd; Seth’s wife Melanie who is set to separate from him.

The story alternates between events in the past, starting 6 months prior and now. It is told through the viewpoints of Natalie & Dawn. Dawn is suggested to be on the autism spectrum – most find her odd and she has a love of collecting objects with turtle images/shapes. A lot is gradually revealed on her relationships at work, a tragedy from the past and her confiding her current frustrations with a friend Mia. There is a major twist around half way in the story and some more in the later sections. Lot of this is theatrical and the procedural aspect of the investigation is expectedly average (though much better than most in this genre). I found the letter writing Dawn indulges in to be silly – obvious at the end that it was more for the reader rather than the story. I liked how the characters of Natalie & Dawn were developed, though some of the backstory is sketchy, lacking depth. The interactions between Natalie & Dawn were very good – building a nuanced, complex relationship.

The story overall packs great entertainment – keeping you engrossed. I liked the audiobook narration by Alyson Krawchuk.

Recommended as a good relaxing read!

My rating: 3.5 / 5.

This is a quick read with some twists and turns. The narrative goes back and forth between Natalie and Dawn. Colleagues at Vixen with many secrets. Thank you to the publisher for a copy.

I had to DNF this one. The story wasn't drawing me in and the narrators voice was not working for me.

This book was very easy to get into. The story is told through two POV's. Both women seem to be unreliable narrators. At times I became frustrated and bored. I felt the pacing needed to be a little faster.

Thanks to Dreamscape & NetGalley for providing an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is my second foray into the world of Freida McFadden. This one is better than the last, NEVER LIE, which was a bit ridiculous. Not that this story isn't ridiculous, because it 100% is, but this one was more entertaining.

I can understand why McFadden is so popular: her books are engaging and very readable. There's *always* a twist, and even if you see it coming from miles away (you will), it's still enjoyable. But her stories seem to rely on a weird system of mutually assured destruction at the close, possibly because she wants to revisit the story later for a sequel? Anyway, it's annoying. If she were smart she'd put together a Tom Ripley-esque character and just have that person cut a swathe through various suspense stories.

This time we have Natalie "Nat" Farrell, leader in sales at Vixed, a snake oil vitamin/supplement company. Natalie is loved by everyone with her blonde hair and friendly personality. Too bad she's truly awful and a bully, having pushed a girl to suicide in high school and currently on a hate campaign to destroy ...

Dawn "Dawn Schiff" Schiff, new accountant for Vixed and clearly high-functioning autistic, although that is never mentioned. Dawn is good at her job (perhaps a little too good), obsessed with turtles, with short brown hair (!!). Dawn is bullied on the daily by Natalie; it's actually kind of tough to read.

Now that we have established our protagonists according to John Hughes movie stereotypes, we can talk about plot quality. Freida has taken pains, it's clear, to up her game now that she's signed with Poisoned Pen. The writing is better, smoother, more subtle, but it's still like a chainsaw in a church alongside the best thriller writers. Characters who are not Dawn & Natalie don't get much in the way of fleshing out, and really just serve to move plot points. Natalie does some things that are quite out-of-character considering what we come to know of her behavior, and it's all in aid of moving the plot to where McFadden wants it to go. Clunky, to my mind.

If you want a fast-paced thriller with all the twists, and you're unfussy about plot holes (and you don't mind the otherwise capable voice actor mispronouncing words), then this is a book for you. I admit, it kept me coming back, but I was left a bit unsatisfied by the ending.

🌟🌟🌟🌟.5
I’ve read several books by Freida McFadden and they’ve all been so twisted, I’m never able to predict any of them! THE COWORKER is another maze of secrets and lies that shot ahead and left me scrambling to catch up.

I was immediately sucked into the audiobook of this intense psychological thriller that was narrated perfectly. And one of the quirky characters I love so much. Dawn is one of those awkward coworkers that don’t fit in. Her fascination with turtles is strange to everyone else and conversation is difficult for her. When she goes missing, office secrets begin to surface. Once the twists start, they hit fast and hard!

If you like fast-paced thrillers you can devour quickly, this one is for you.

Sincere thanks to Dreamscape Media for providing this complimentary audiobook through NetGalley. As always, all opinions are my own and left voluntarily.

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Another brilliant book from this fantastic author. It was so good I read it in two sittings. It was very cleverly written and kept my attention from start to finish. It was so twisted, intense and shocking. I loved it and would 100% recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

When turtle loving perpetually punctual Dawn Schiff doesn't show up to work one morning her over achieving co worker, Natalie Farrell, becomes concerned. More disturbing is the phone call Natalie answers with a woman screaming "help me". When Dawn still doesn't show by the end of the day Natalie drives to her house where she finds an obvious crime scene... but no Dawn. As detectives try to solve what happened to Dawn, Natalie quickly becomes the prime suspect in the disappearance and likely murder. The two women did not like each other but was it enough to kill for?

This is a good thriller with plenty of twists and turns...and turtle facts. It is told from the POV of the two main characters, Natalie in present day and Dawn's in a series of emails. I loved the use of email to show Dawn's story and to learn her personality quirks. Natalie was a hard character because I did not like her, which fed perfectly into the plot. I thought some of the side stories/plot lines were odd and not flushed out enough, like Seth's wife and Vixed client complaints. The twists were not that over the top surprising but a good thriller none the less. I had the audio version read by Alyson Krawchuk who does a nice job keeping the pace of the story and the characters interesting.

Freida McFadden books make excellent audiobook listens, so I was very excited to get an advance audio copy of The Coworker.

I've read a number of Freida McFadden books and my take on her books is that they are almost completely all plot. Very few characters, usually one narrator, straightforward timeline, and they do really keep you guessing. They are great for readers who just want a fast and fun read without a lot of authorial experimentation or narrative craziness.

The Coworker was not my favorite McFadden. I guessed the main reveal and didn't feel like this book had as many good twists and turns as there others I've read. But again, for a reader who likes a purely plot-driven book, and there are a lot of them out there, this is a perfect fit!

I am just not loving Freida's newer works.
The story was not too bad but i found this one to be kinda predictable and just wasn't a fan.

The audiobook narrator did not have enough voice distinction for me to easily separate each character either. So that definitely factors into my review as I only got the audiobook ARC.

This is my first book by Freida McFadden and it does not disappoint. Wow! The title was enough to make me want to read it. So many surprises that popped up and got me! I will be reading her other books soon. I love the excitement! The characters were given to us with so much detail and feeling behind them. I felt like a fly on the wall throughout the book watching the sinister actions embed themselves into my mind, keeping me on the edge of my seat.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC of this book.

Thank You to NetGalley for the free audiobook.

I have read Freida McFadden before and liked her books.v While he narrator does a wonderful job reading, the storyline feel a little flat and bleh. McFadden tells the story from different points of view, which I appreciated. I also liked that the chapters were short. There were a lot of twists and turns and although I did figure some out before they happened, it was still a pleasant read. The storyline is basically told backwards with the ending wrapping up everything.

One day at work, Natalie answers a coworker's phone and thinks she hears the word HELP. Thus starts the murder mystery, where is Dawn? Is she dead? Did Natalie do it? She is the main suspect, but something just doesn't feel right. Worth a read if you like Freida McFadden.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit/161380710

I always enjoy Freida McFadden books and this one is towards the top of my list. I love how the POV was structured and the separation of parts one and two. There was one twist that I was able to predict, but I still really enjoyed the book.

Dawn is a very peculiar coworker. She has a certain way of doing things, she’s extremely punctual and obedient, and has a strange obsession with turtles. Natalie gets a phone call that makes it seem like Dawn is in danger and goes to check on her at home. She finds that Dawn has been murdered, and she is the number one suspect after she becomes implicated due to some of her behaviour at the office.

McFadden delivers another entertaining read! I loved reading the dual perspectives between Dawn and Natalie. Dawn was such an interesting character and I loved how her personality was so unique. I loved some of the twists and the fast pace.

I love this authors work. This book was no exception. It had me hooked from the very beginning. I thought the book was very well written.

I heard great things about Freida McFadden, so I was excited to dive into this audiobook. The narration was decent enough to stay interested in the story, but the story itself was frustrating. I didn't particularly appreciate how McFadden portrayed Dawn as an autistic woman. I was disgusted and appalled by how the author described the main character, and I cringed at every moment that they mocked her interest in turtles and how she ultimately approached the world. It did not add to the plot and I felt like it was encouraging people to make fun of people who view things differently than them. The big twist was also not very good. This book does not deter me from reading another book from the author, but this book was not for me.

Thank you to NetGallery and to Dreamscape Audio for giving me a copy of the book.

I generally tend to enjoy most of Freida McFadden’s work. Some more than others, naturally. Even if her actually writing isn’t the strongest, she always manages to come up intriguing storylines. I’m more than happy to say this one is a twisted delight. In fact it’s a wild one. There are some aspects of this story that reminded me of another blockbuster thriller, though I won’t say which as it might ruin a major twist for you. The book is a strange twisting tale of a toxic work environment and revenge. And the fact that for the majority of the book we get to know one of the main characters strictly via emails is wonderfully strange and yet works so well. And what a bizarre character Dawn is. I found myself just shaking my head at times, and I’ve no doubt other readers will too. I loved how your perceptions of all the characters are constantly changing throughout the story, how you begin to doubt everything you think you know about them. I love an unreliable narrator, but it’s rare to find it pulled off so well. I will say I had a small issue with the resolution but it didn’t really hurt my overall enjoyment of this twisted tale too badly. Alyson Krawchuk did a great job with the narration, I especially loved how she portrayed Dawn in the emails, I swear I could picture the character as a real person. Definitely another fun thriller. 4.5 stars I’d like to thank Dreamscape Media, Hollywood Upstairs Press, an NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advanced copy of the audio version of Frieda McFadden’s The Coworker.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R2ZC0ZZY2MAGKQ/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

In the book The Coworker, author Freida McFadden follows Natalie Farrell, the best sales person at the nutritional supplement company Vixed. But when Dawn Schiff, the new company accountant starts to work in the cubical next to Natalie’s, life begins to get weird. One day Dawn, who is always punctual, does not show up for work. The police find a body they assume is Dawn and Natalie is arrested for her murder. But nothing is as it seems. Who is Dawn? And is she really dead? And is Natalie a bully? A murderer?
This is a good fast pace psychological thriller. I did not like the ending but I would recommend this book. The audio-book narration was very good. I received a copy of this audio-book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Another great thriller by Freida McFadden, The Coworker was a fast-paced, dark but entertaining read. Dawn and Natalie are coworkers but are very different - Dawn is the oddball with no friends while Natalie is the pretty, popular girl. The book is written in two parts told by each woman's point of view and, as you can imagine, they have very different life experiences and perspectives. Both MCs are interesting and flawed and I like the way the author sprinkles little clues about the characters, revealing their motives, their pasts and their sincerity. Not everything is what it seems in this fun, twisty thriller but it's a fun ride to the end reveal.

YIKES BIKES!!!

Its Freida McFadden!!!!

If McFadden wrote a phonebook, I would read it. The depths of my love for this author are immeasurable and this book right here is everything my little heart could have desired and so much more.

In true McFadden fashion, you'll never figure out this twisted tale and when it smacks you right up in the face, you'll never know what hit you.

If you know anything about McFadden books you know not to spoil it for the next reader.

So, I will leave you with this. Read the Coworker, it will change the way you feel about the thriller genre and sets a whole new bar for authors to follow.

Check out this teaser :

Two women. An office filled with secrets. One terrible crime that can't be taken back.

Dawn Schiff is strange.

At least, everyone thinks so at Vixed, the nutritional supplement company where Dawn works as an accountant. She never says the right thing. She has no friends. And she is always at her desk at precisely 8:45 a.m.

So when Dawn doesn't show up to the office one morning, her coworker Natalie Farrell―beautiful, popular, top sales rep five years running―is surprised. Then she receives an unsettling, anonymous phone call that changes everything...

It turns out Dawn wasn't just an awkward outsider―she was being targeted by someone close. And now Natalie is irrevocably tied to Dawn as she finds herself caught in a twisted game of cat and mouse that leaves her wondering: who's the real victim?

But one thing is incredibly clear: somebody hated Dawn Schiff.

Enough to kill.