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

The story starts with Brooke getting a job as a nurse practitioner at the maximum security prison in her hometown- a town she hasn't been back to in 10 years since someone attempted to murder her. & the person who is serving time for the attempt on her life, who also happens to be her baby daddy, is an Inmate at said prison.

Brooke was truly a moron from start to finish- ignoring red flags CONSTANTLY. But- the story wouldn't work if she had any common sense. I will say that I think Freida's writing superpower is setting up an obvious path the book is taking for final resolution to make the reader think they have everything figured out, and then at the last second, throwing in a curveball twist that NO ONE could have seen coming.

I liked this book, but definitely preferred The Housemaid and The Teacher.

This book had my attention from the very beginning and it had me trying to guess the plot twists along the way. I was up until 4am reading just to finish this book so I could see how it ended and WOW. There were so many twists and turns along the way and the ending.... I'll be thinking about this book for a while. It will probably even be one that I re-read in the future just to see what I missed the first time I read it. 10 out of 10!

I actually ended up buying this book before I got approved, as this is one of my favorite authors. It was a good storyline that could have been extremely boring and predictable, because essentially the twist was between two characters, but the author did a great job of keeping you guessing. Normally I love a twist that I didn't see coming, but I actually enjoyed not being able to decide who was lying and who was telling the truth between 2 people. It kept me engaged and reading. I would definitely recommend this book. It wasn't my favorite from this author, but definitely worth the read!

Classic Frieda thriller with a naive FMC and unlikeable characters. I had an uneasy feeling the entire time reading but I think that's what the author was going for.

Bad decisions were made by all - but what else can you expect?!

Twisty, but satisfying ending.

The Inmate by Freida McFadden marks my second venture into this author's works, and it did not disappoint. The narrative revolves around Brooke Sullivan, a nurse practitioner who takes on a job in a prison, only to find herself face to face with a man she had put behind bars a decade ago.

The novel is very faced paced, I read it in two days. Some of the plot twists were within my anticipation, others managed to catch me off guard, adding an extra layer of excitement. The only thing that I didn't like was the main character. At times when the author subtly hinted at red flags and provided clues about the truth, the protagonist seemed oblivious and even acted downright foolish. Because of this, I had to give it four stars. I can't wait to read more from this author.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley and for early copy of this book!

I thought Brooke was so unlikable and naïve, so it was really difficult to follow her perspective. She just kept making dumb decisions. I'm over here shaking my head because I couldn't believe she was doing the things that she was doing. The twist at the end was definitely very twisty, especially the epilogue (though I will say that I didn't really like the epilogue either because it realistically doesn't sit right with me). This is not my favorite Freida McFadden book, which is really sad because I had high hopes for it. Though, this book is very fast pace so it was very easy for me to get finish it in one day.

This was the best book I have read in a long time!
Plot twists. Romance. Deceit. Revenge.
What more could we need? Utterly loved it!

The Inmate by Freida McFadden
Once upon a time six teens decided to party in a house where the parent was away. What happened that night impacted them all.

Brooke returns back to her hometown, re-connects with an old friend, and starts a new job at the local prison. Both at her job and in her community she is confronted by her memories of the past. McFadden keeps the reader guessing what exactly happened during that long ago night. A study of guilt and innocence from start to finish. Entertaining read, highly recommend.

3.5 stars rounded up

The Good:
I was entertained.
It was an easy to gobble up thriller.
I didn’t see the twist coming.

The Bad:
That epilogue was not it for me.

The Ugly:
I’m sorry but the main character Brooke was dumb. She was like a child at times. You know when you tell a child not to touch something and they immediately touch it anyway. That’s Brooke in a nutshell. I’m supposed to believe her trauma is so bad she loses her shit over a necklace but is just fine being around her attempted murderer? I got whiplash from how quickly she changed direction on her feelings.

Overall this book is good but not great. I will definitely read more books from this author.

HUGE Thank you to NetGalley, Freida McFadden and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC!

So, this definitely wasn't what I was expecting, but I can't say I'm disappointed. I'm just not sure this is the right title? But I'm no author so... LOL This is not my favorite book by Freida, but it was really good. Unlike her other books I have read, I wasn't surprised by the twists. I knew there was something I couldn't figure out, but I wasn't surprised when it was revealed. The epilogue was what really got me. She kills it with the epilogues, every time!

Brooke has started her new nurse job at the local maximum security prison. There are many rules to follow, including don’t get close with the inmates. No one knows that one inmate, Shane Nelson, was her high school boyfriend and she is the reason he’s there.

For a while while reading this, I was thinking “this is not my favorite of hers”.I thought it was becoming predictable. I should have kept my faith in Freida. Everything changed up and turns out it wasn’t predictable at all. I really enjoyed it when I turned the final page. If you aren’t loving it in the beginning (as I always have with her books), keep at it.

“I was there that night. If it were up to him, I would be dead right now. I can never forget that. And I will never forgive him.”

The Inmate comes out on paperback 3/5.

Sometimes you choose a book from the genre or the title. Others it's the author, as was this case with The Inmate by Freida McFadden. What an absolute treasure! I've adored all her books, and I see such growth in each one. Queen of the Plot Twist! Visiting a prison to see how her ex is doing, wondering if she put him behind bars incorrectly, risking her life as a nurse when some of the inmates just want to mess with her. Lots to deal with, and at times, I thought the books was brilliant. But, sadly, there were moments of "why is she doing this?" and "why did the killer murder the first person?" and well, I'll stop there because it's the kind of book where you have to forget logic and go for the ride. Tensions. Thrills. Suspense. And some drama that couldn't actually happen. But it's a book, and it made me eagerly turn the pages, so win win!

After ten years away from her hometown, Brooke Sullivan returns there when her estranged parents are killed in an auto accident and she inherits the family home. Hoping to make a fresh start with her ten year old son, the only job this nurse practitioner can find is in a maximum security penitentiary. She is not looking forward to the job as the man who tried to kill her ten years ago is imprisoned there; it was her testimony that sent him to this institution.

I chose this book because McFadden’s books are such best sellers and I had never read one. I can see why she is so popular…she weaves a heck of a story. There were the requisite twists, turns, and red herrings. There also were cliches, the story was a bit over the top, there were times I wanted to shake Brooke for her naiveté, and I thought there were a few unanswered questions. Yet, I couldn’t put this book down. Told in two timelines, it was a fast, engrossing read and my life stopped until I finished it. I loved the epilogue.

It is what I would describe as a popcorn thriller.