Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

Freida McFadden is an auto buy author for me! I’ve stopped trying to guess what’s going to happen in her books and for good reason. I never get it right. It doesn’t matter how sure I am. This book is not different. I second guess every character and I can no longer trust anyone. I also am now no longer trusting of nice, relaxing stays in cabins with hot tubs.

The plot of this book has been done a couple different times and a couple different ways but this is a fresh take. It’s terrifying. It’s well written to the point where I felt like I was there at times. You know when you watch a scary movie and you want to scream at the people on the screen? I felt like that the whole time I was reading.

A group of people go on a relaxing trip to a remote luxury hotel for a weekend of hot tubs and rekindling marriages? What can go wrong right? WRONG! Everything can go wrong. It all starts when Claire’s minivan breaks down. After that, everything goes wrong.

If I’ve gained anything from reading this book it’s: always carry snacks, always have a knife, always have a flashlight, and always know where you’re going.

Enjoy. And good luck.

Not at all what I expected. Started at bedtime and couldn't put it down. Finished it in one sitting. Loved the twists. A few predictable plot points but really good.

One by One by Freida McFadden is a psychological thriller paying homage to Agatha Christie’s And then there were none.
I very much enjoyed the short chapters and the dual POV- one of which was the killers! I wanna say that I guessed who Anonymous was but that did not take away from my enjoyment as I was curious to find out the why. I would say that I found the reasoning behind not to be quite palpable however taking into consideration Anonymous‘ state of mind then it’s not too far fetched either.
It is not my favorite Freida McFadden thriller but need to say I read it in one sitting!

I enjoyed this! The writing was great, it was fast-paced and did a few of the tropes I enjoy in thrillers really well! I will pick up other books by this author. I had only read one or two in the past, but this reminded me that they are solid thrillers that get my heart beating fast.

Freida McFadden definitely has a talent for gripping stories - even though I hated the characters, could predict the plot twist after the 50% mark and found so many aspects of the story annoying I still wanted to read through it and see how it plays out.

This is not one of her stories that I would ever recommend to anyone - she has so many other amazing books like The Housemaid, Never Lie or The Locked Door. If you want to read one of her thrillers, I would choose one of them.

This was simply not it.

This book was a suspenseful thriller that had me glued to the pages. I started reading and 4 hours later I was finished! I could not put this book down. The only book to ever make me second guess myself so much that I wasn’t sure what the twist was going to be!

The story follows 6 friends going on a week long vacation that takes a terrifying turn into a fight for survival and leaves you guessing as McFadden throws one curveball after another. The isolated setting and the unknown danger lurking will have you constantly on edge along side the characters from the very start. The story is told from two perspectives, one of which is an anonymous narrator, and had me invested and questioned the trust of every character and what their motives were. I was not expecting the turnout to be what it was and just when I was like “What?!” , McFadden had me second guessing the characters again! All the way to the very last page!

The story moves at a quick pace and keeps you wanting more. I was constantly guessing and second guessing myself, as this book was full of suspense, well-developed characters, and unexpected twists. If you enjoy fast-paced thrillers with a touch of mystery, "One by One" is a must-read.

The FMC, Claire in this story was going thru so many issues within her marriage to Noah yet I still found her somewhat unlikeable. Some of the things that she did or said out loud was like wow she has an entitlement problem for sure. The couple is actually going on a get away trip with two other couples for a week & this really shows her thought process on how selfish she is but you still want to see hoe she handles all the issues that continue to pop up while her life falls apart around her. I thought there were some unrealistic parts of the story but I still think it was a pretty solid thriller and I had fun trying to figure out who did what up until the very end. I’m thankful & I really enjoyed getting a copy of this complimentary thriller & all opinions are my own. Solid 3.5

Thank you to Freida and Netgalley for the e-arc. I am leaving this review voluntarily, and all opinions are my own.

Idk what it is about Freida, but her books are all super quick, addicting, bingeable reads.

I am a thriller newbie, so I feel like I usually like any thriller I read.

I will say, none of these characters are relatable/likeable… the FMC was super annoying with her doubting literally everything (lol). I did end up predicting the ending, but this was a good read nonetheless 🤷🏻‍♀️

This was a quick read. A group of 6 friends (3 Couples) gets lost in the woods while going away on a vacation to an inn located in wilderness. They begin to lose members of the group one by one. I liked how the storyline kept me intrigued throughout the entire story. I could mention that this had an unexpected turn that caught me off guard.

But it was so frustrating to believe these main characters lacked basic survival skills. The character portrayals lack depth, that towards the end I never really cared if anyone survived. None of the characters were likeable, which is not a necessary in a crime novel but I guess, I/readers need someone to support or care about in a confined setting.

In general, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for quick, fast-paced read. And this can help you break out of a reading slump.

I’m mixed on how I feel about this book, but thrillers get at least 3 stars if they surprise me and this one did, and did it well. I was shocked at who the anonymous narrator was and their story, it was written well to keep you on your toes the entire time.

I also loved the focus on Claire and Noah’s marriage, it added an emotional feeling to this story and gives you someone to root for, even if they might be the bad guy in the end.

However, I gave this book 4 stars because it was missing something for me to connect to, and I don’t give 5 stars to any book that makes me feel like the book is missing something! However, I will be continuing to try this author out in the future!

Another twisty, unputdownable read by Freida McFadden. 6 people go away for the weekend and not all of them will make it home. It will have you suspecting multiple characters until the very end. You won’t want to put it down until you know who ‘the bad guy’ is. Recommended!

What better author to read my first thriller/mystery book than with Freida McFadden. Easy to read and I was hooked from the very beginning. If course, didn’t see the twist coming. Loved every second and I’ll certainly look into more of McFadden’s books.

I personally love books with main characters that don’t have the best moral compass. I find myself interested in their decisions and reasoning behind their actions.

The final few chapters of this book had me pointing fingers at everyone in the friend group, so that was fun. This was a late night, must finish tonight type of read.

3.75 - this was a good one!! All these friends being lost in the woods and one by one someone is dying or missing and this had me on my toes trying to figure it out!
- then the ending!! That twist at the end was super unexpected and my jaw dropped and I gasped lol it was really good and enjoyed this story by Miss Frieda herself!
…update: just finished the epilogue!!!! Wow now that was amazing!! Such a good freaking twist, I love it lol so many questions, I wonder.. but honestly really quick fun and unexpected read!!

EXCERPT: PROLOGUE - ANONYMOUS
There will be six of us.
Six adults. Stuffed into a six-person minivan like sardines, with all the luggage we felt we couldn't possibly live without during our vacation at a swanky luxury inn. Our reservation is for six days. Six days of hiking and hot tubs. Six days away from civilization.
My mother was a religious woman. That's how I know that on the sixth day, both man and serpent were created. You know - the snake that eventually convinced Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit and got them kicked out of the Garden of Eden forever? That's why the number six represents both man and the evil that weakens him.
In Revelation, 666 is the number of the devil. The sixth commandment is thou shalt not kill. Six is not a nice number.
I'm not religious. I don't go to church. I don't believe in a higher power. Six is just like any other number to me. But I know that every single one of these six people has a secret they don't want anyone to know.
I can tell you my secret right now: At the end of this week, only one of us will make it home alive.

ABOUT 'ONE BY ONE': One by one, they will get what they deserve...

A night spent sleeping on dirt and leaves is not how Claire Matchett expected to spend her vacation.

She thought this would be a break from the stresses of work and raising her young children. A chance to repair her damaged marriage. A week of hiking and hot tubs with two other couple friends. It sounded like heaven.

Then Claire’s minivan breaks down on a lonely dirt road. With no cell reception, the group has no choice but to hike the rest of the way to their hotel. But it turns out the woods aren’t as easy to navigate as they thought.

Hours later, they are lost. Hopelessly lost.

And as they navigate deeper into the woods, the members of their party are struck down mysteriously one by one. Has a wild animal been hunting them? Or is the hunter one of them?

But as more time passes, one thing becomes clear:

Only one of them will return home alive.

MY THOUGHTS: Wow! Talk about intense! This kept me enthralled from beginning to end, and it was a one sitting read!

Claire is the main narrator with occasional insertions from 'Anonymous'. Try as I might, I couldn't guess who Anonymous was. Was it one of the group? Or was someone following them? Why couldn't they find this luxury hotel which should have, let's face it, been clearly signposted? Why did the reasonably new van break down? And why didn't they, following the first death, just head back to the van and sit on the horn until someone came looking for them? Yeah, okay - it's easy to be completely sensible when you're sitting on the deck in a comfy chair reading; but put yourself in their place . . .

Tension packed, thrilling and definitely recommended.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

"𝑻𝒘𝒐 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕," 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔. "𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅."

𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙛 𝙎𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙮:

𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘣, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘹 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

𝘈 𝘤𝘰𝘻𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦. 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘪𝘵? I𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘭𝘺 - 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘕𝘰𝘢𝘩, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 - 𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦.

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙙:
𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.
𝘐 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘐𝘵. 𝘞𝘢𝘴. 𝘌𝘱𝘪𝘤. 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴. U𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 🥺❤️

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙙:

𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳. 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘱 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺, 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘵.

𝙈𝙮 𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨:

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘷 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘱!

One By One is a murder mystery that tells the story of 6 friends who get lost in the woods and begin being picked off one by one. Chapters alternate between “Claire” and “anonymous.” Freida’s writings are so addictive. This suspenseful mystery novel had me hooked from the very first page. It kept me guessing all the way to the end. Highly recommend this one!

Another great read by the AMAZING Freida Mcfadden. One by One definitely kept me on my toes to the very end. I can usually guess endings but have yet to guess any of the twists in her books.

Love Freida’s books she always has me double guessing myself . Like literally wasn’t expecting the ending.

Poisoned Pen Press is publishing one of Freida MacFadden’s backlist psychological e-thrillers, “One by One,” in paperback, allowing her enthusiastic Kindle-less audience to expand even more. This book was originally self-published in 2020, a couple of years before “The Housemaid” made her the Amazon best-selling author and Tik Tok sensation she is now.

In “One by One” there are three couples on the way to a rural luxury resort in northern Colorado for a week:
Claire and Noah — who can barely stand each other but stay together “for the children.” Claire has booked a separate room.
Michelle and Jack (Noah’s college roommate) — Jack seems to be a good guy, but Michelle, a workaholic divorce lawyer, is always the type to complain about food in restaurants and send it back.
Lindsay (Claire’s college roommate) and her new boyfriend Warner — Warner is a plastic surgeon with some control issues who picked out the resort.

Everyone piles into Claire’s fairly new minivan, but before they reach the inn, GPS has put them onto an unpaved road. Then GPS disappears and the minivan just conks out. Thinking it’s only a 2 mile hike, the six of them start off with barely any water or food. At the 3 hour mark, the realization that they’re lost and increasingly irritated with each other becomes terrifying.

Claire is the main narrator, but there’s also the malevolent “anonymous” narrator —
who in the prologue declared that this group is going to have only one survivor — is that because they are going to be picked off “one by one”? Or is this just the story of a series of stupid fatal accidents?

OK, I get it — McFadden is great at building tension and adding terrifying things little by little. The story never dragged. With every twist, I was ready to jump out of my skin. 5 stars!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Although Noah has some equally rare hazel eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): POSSIBLY Belladonna berries (which are black) might be confused with twinberry honeysuckle, but not really with blueberries (usually confused with huckleberries). The leaves are totally different. And fully ripe nightshade berries are far less toxic. But, for fiction’s sake, of course Lindsay ate extremely poisonous hallucinogenic berries.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

The story starts with a group of friends in a minivan taking a road trip to an inn for a vacation. Claire and Noah are a married couple who left thier children at home for this trip. They ate in what was once a loving marriage but is now a miserable one. They are on a trip with Noahs best friend Jack and his divorce Attorney wife, Michelle. Along for the trip is Claire's friend Lindsay and her boyfriend Warner, whom everyone is meeting for the first time and suggested the Inn. But, from the start of the book, you know only one person is going to leave this trip alive, and while reading it, you constantly are asking yourself who?!

The book was fantastic. I could not put it down! Lots of twists, but feels like everything gets wrapped up in the end. Highly recommend.