The Inmate Review

Halloween is approaching quickly! As you know, I have been gearing up for the holiday season by reading and reviewing Halloween themed reads in September and October. Today is no different! To keep up with my spooky reads challenge, I decided to introduce myself to an author that has been highly recommended by my trusted reader friends.

The Inmate is a thriller written by author, Freida McFadden. It was released in June of 2022.

If you would like to purchase The Inmate you can find it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. You can follow the author, Freida McFadden, on Instagram and Goodreads! You can also check out her website!

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.

I gave this book 4.5 stars on Goodreads. This was so good. So good that I am upset with myself for not picking it up earlier. I am a part of a Facebook group for psychological thriller readers and a lot of the readers on that page have been posting all about Freida McFadden and her books. I held off on reading any of her works because I saw how much praise is being given to this book (and all of Freida's other books). It may sound silly but when books receive so much hype, it can be a real let down if the book turns out to not live up to the expectations that other readers have promised you. While I have read plenty of books that I felt did not live up to or exceed the hype, this book was certainly not one of them. I was so entertained and I physically could not tear myself away from this book.

The story was well crafted and well thought out. It features dual timelines, which added to the story and were executed well. Thrillers are one of my primary genres. I have such an enjoyment for the genre, that its rare for me to read one and not like it. After reading so many thrillers, its common to see similar themes/endings/plot-lines/clues and to find the ending predictable. The thing about this thriller was that just when I thought I had all the pieces put together, Frieda McFadden proved me wrong. I think that was what I loved the most about this one---it totally kept me guessing from start to finish.

Overall, this was a great introduction to this author's works. I am going to start working my way through her backlist in the next few months and I couldn't be more excited! There is some adult themes, dialogue, and language so I would recommend this book for readers 18+. If you want an engaging thriller that will keep you on your toes, give this one a shot!

With all books that I read, I make a playlist to go along with the book. These playlists are full of songs which encapsulate the feeling of the story as a whole, capture the essence of a particular scene, or just remind me of one of the characters. You can find my playlist for The Inmate on Apple Music or Spotify.

Have you read The Inmate? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

As always, thank you for reading!

XO,

Madison