The Coworker by Freida McFadden
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime
Pages: 362
Published By: Poisoned Pen Press on 28th November, 2023
Format: Paperback
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Book Synopsis:
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.
Book Review
I’ve read a couple of other Freida McFadden books – the first one I read was a 5 star and the other one was a 3 star. I’ve been trying to find another one of her books that gives me the 5 star feels but unfortunately this one sat at a 3 star too.
I read this book in 1 day! The book moves at a very fast pace, and I couldn’t put it down. I liked the structure and the premise of the plot. However, the twists were not that great and the storyline became a little silly. McFadden was reaching for something but didn’t quite hit the mark for me. I did originally rate this a 3.5 but upon reflection, I’d say its more a 3 star.
I also didn’t particularly like any of the characters in this book. Sometimes I think that is okay with a mystery/thriller but I wanted there to be at least one that I liked and that didn’t happen… I’d kept reading purely because the plot intrigued me and I wanted to see how it ended, but it ultimately fell flat. The book divides into two parts. I really enjoyed Part I, but Part II– not as much. It did have some nice twists, but they just didn’t “wow” me like I thought they would. I had a feeling I would guess where the book was going towards the end but it just felt like a big let down. I get why McFadden went with this ending for the book but it just left me feeling ‘meh.’
Now I completely understand that some people have obsessions but I couldn’t deal with the endless amounts of referencing to ‘turtles’. It fits parts of the story and helps explain Dawn’s character, but the repeated mentions felt unnecessary.
Not a terrible book, just a book that had a lot of potential. If you are a fan of McFadden like I am then I’m glad to have read it and I think you should too to make your own judgement. However, if you want to try Freida McFadden’s books, I’d maybe have a look on Goodreads and try one of her better rated books. It was an average book for me, hence the average rating I’ve given it.
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