Book Review: The Inmate - A Murder Suspense Psychological Thriller by Freida McFadden

How I Found It

I wanted to continue my Freida McFadden kick, so I went to Amazon this time. I searched through several of her books. When I was finished, I settled on The Inmate, a murder suspense psychological thriller, because it sounded more intriguing. I was curious as to why a young woman would want to work at a prison.

I purchased the ebook on February 15th, started reading on February 22nd, and finished on February 24th. This was the first book I've read in three days in a long time. I kept trying to predict who did what, and I couldn't stop reading until I was done. Which brings me to my review.

What It's About

The Inmate follows Brooke Sullivan, a young nurse practitioner who takes a job at a state prison for hardened criminals. Soon, Brooke comes face-to-face with a young man named Shane Nelson, whom she dated and had to testify against for trying to murder her.

Eleven years ago, a teenage Brooke and several of her friends were trapped by a terrible thunderstorm at Shane's farmhouse. When the lights went out, the evening took a dark turn into murder.

In the present day, while working at the prison, Brooke falls back under Shane Nelson's charming spell, and she begins to question if he was the one who actually tried to murder her. After all, there were several other people in the house. Any one of them could have done it. But the only one who had survived that night with her was her best friend, Tim Reese.

What I Loved/Didn't Love

The story started out really strong and stayed that way to the very end, for which I was glad. I devoured the pages and couldn't put it down. I needed to know if my prediction as to who the murderer was was correct. But sadly, I was wrong, as usual. I didn't even mind the jump from past to present. I found both timelines equally interesting.

The only thing I didn't like was Brooke, though not in a bad way. Her character traits were being naïve and clueless. She didn't listen in the past nor the present when she returned home to where it all started.

Themes

Murder, betrayal, deception, abuse, trauma, manipulation, and family dysfunction.

Who Would Enjoy It

Anyone who enjoys murder thrillers with a psychological suspense edge to it would definitely like The Inmate.

My Rating

4 out of 5 stars

I gave The Inmate four stars. It was a solid read and fast-paced even with all the chapters.