Book Review: The Locked Door by Freida McFadden

 The Locked Door

by
Freida McFadden

Psychological thriller

audiobook/ 8 hours

Quote:" Dad always says that If you're going to do something wrong, at least be smart enough not to let anyone see you do it."

From the cover:

Some doors are locked for a reason...

While eleven-year-old Nora Davis was up in her bedroom doing homework, she had no idea her father was killing women in the basement.

Until the day the police arrived at their front door. 

Decades later, Nora's father is spending his life behind bars, and Nora is a successful surgeon with a quiet, solitary existence.

Nobody knows her father was a notorious serial killer. And she intends to keep it that way.

Then Nora discovers one of her young female patients has been murdered. In the same unique and horrific manner that her father used to kill his victims. 

Somebody knows who Nora is. Somebody wants her to take the fall for this unthinkable crime. But she's not a killer like her father. The police can't pin anything on her.

As long as they don't look in her basement...

My Review:

This is my fourth read by Freida McFadden. I so wanted to love this book as much as the first 3 I've read. Sadly, I did not.

The book started out pretty well, and I'll even say had good bones, but somehow it just fell short of my expectations.

I almost felt like this book was made in haste, possibly falling into the quantity over quality trap.

For me, Nora just seemed a tad off. Not in a daughter of a serial killer way, but off as in the writer never really figured out who she was supposed to be.

She seems to have had, at one time, similar traits to her father, but then insists she is nothing like him.

She cannot remember her ex-boyfriend, or why she broke up with him years ago, yet she feels safe enough to hop in the sack after their second meeting.

Furthermore, she makes reference over and over to her father's type, yet never mentions any similarities in the one around her with those features.

I loved the idea this story had going, but there were just too many times I was going, "What? That makes no sense!" 

Right up until the very end.

For the record, I will definitely continue reading McFadden's books! Everyone can have an off project.

It wasn't my favorite, but for the sake of author's name, the idea of the story, and a few well played scenes, I'm giving,The Locked Door a 3-star rating.

Book Review: Brain Damage by Freida McFadden

 Brain Damage

by 
Freida McFadden

psychological thriller/crime

Kindle edition/398 pages

Quote:" And none of that hurt. The truth is, I didn't feel it at all. What hurt is everything that came after."

Brain Damage

From the cover:

After years of hard work, Dr. Charly McKenna finally has it all. Prosperous career as a dermatologist? Check. Spacious apartment overlooking Central Park? Check. Handsome lawyer husband? Double check.

Then one night, a bullet rips through the right side of her skull, and she loses everything.

As Charly struggles to recover from her brain injury, she begins to realize that the events of that fateful night are trapped in the damaged right side of her brain. Now she must put the jigsaw pieces together to discover the identity of the man who tried to kill her...before he finishes the job he started.

My Review:

This one definitely is getting mixed reviews. Maybe, even myself included.

Personally, I think some of the reasons other readers gave it lower ratings, were the reasons I loved it.

As it is tagged a psychological thriller, I can see some being disappointed, or disagreeing with it. If it had been placed as a medical mystery, it may have been rated differently. I feel some readers felt misled from the beginning. This is the fourth book I've read by Freida McFadden, and it honestly is one of my favorites. I know I seem to say that a lot lately; especially about McFadden's books. They really do just keep drawing me in. This one definitely gets bumped up due to the medical aspects. I've always been fascinated with learning about the medical field and human biology. Brain Damage definitely gives you that. While McFadden isn't a brain surgeon, she does actually work with brain injury patients and the recovery process. She actually knows her stuff, and it shows in her writing.

This book gives you the story of a woman who is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head. It takes you through the mystery of solving the crime, but for me, it was so much more about Charly's journey through recovery. You get a behind the scenes look at the recovery process. All the stress, frustrations, repeating everything, and the struggles through memory loss. It is exhausting, mentally and physically, but Charly finally sees that it is all worth it.

Of course, no book is perfect, and there were a couple of things that I didn't agree with, but I didn't write the characters.

I will say there wasn't much suspense or thrill to the book, but I truly enjoyed the whole book.

I give it 5 stars!

Side note: A few years ago, I read  Left Neglected by Lisa Genova that I also enjoyed. These two books share the same brain injury but completely different stories. I definitely recommend checking them both out!

Book Review: Do Not Disturb by Freida McFadden

 Do Not Disturb

by

Freida McFadden

psychological thriller/crime/mystery

Library Audiobook/8 hours

Quote: 

" Then I have to decide if I'll forgive him. I probably will. It gets easier each time, and I have to admit, I don't know what I'd do without him."

From the cover:

Quinn Alexander has committed an unthinkable crime.

To avoid spending her life in prison, Quinn makes a run for it. She leaves behind her home, her job, and her family. She grabs her passport and heads for the northern border before the police can discover what she's done. 

But when an unexpected snowstorm forces her off the road, Quinn must take refuge at the broken-down, isolated Baxter Motel. The handsome and kindly owner, Nick Baxter, is only too happy to offer her a cheap room for the night.

Unfortunately, the Baxter Motel isn't the quiet, safe haven it seemed to be. The motel has a dark, and disturbing past. And, in the dilapidated house across the way, the silhouette of Nick's ailing wife, is always at the window. Always watching.

In the morning, Quinn must leave the motel. She'll pack up her belongings and get back on the road to freedom.

But first, she must survive the night.

Do Not Disturb is a Hitchcock-style thriller, that will keep you tearing through the pages until you reach the shocking conclusion!

My Review:

After reading, and reviewing The Perfect Son, I knew I would be reading more of Freida McFadden's books.

I'm a sucker for an excellent thriller. McFadden is quickly moving up the ranks on my favorite authors list.

Do Not Disturb grabs you from the very beginning, right in the grips of the action. Sometimes,...usually, I prefer a little backstory, or leading up; this story does not have or need that aspect. You'll get all that later on, just when you need it. Details of the before sprinkled throughout. Again, this is only my second book by Freida Mcfadden , but this seems to be her writing style. Honestly, I've really enjoyed the way she can jump from one character, or time frame, and then to another without losing the reader. The story is easy to keep up with, and full of details.

After reading/listening to this book, I did hop over to Goodreads and read a few reviews on this one. I don't know if this is a habit I should break. I want to give my opinion solely based off my experience of the book, and what I personally took away from it, not tainted by other's opinions. Although there were several people who caught a few things just as I did.

There were some serious inconsistencies in a character that couldn't be ignored. I'm not sure if McFadden had intended readers to see something else, maybe we missed. Either way, it left a lot of us baffled.

I wasn't triggered about the excuse/explanation why the character did what they did, but it seemed to be an issue for other readers.

There were a couple small things, I wish had been explained or concluded a bit more, but nothing to frown on the book about.

Throughout reading this twisted thriller, I had a few ideas on the whodunnits and whys. I got a few right, and a couple wrong. I'd say suspense was a 8/10, shock/plot twist 7/10

My favorite character had to be Rob, or Nick, which doesn't happen often. I usually find one of the female characters that stick with me most.

I think weird Greta or maybe even hot/cold Rosalie were my least favorites. But, you'll have to read Do Not Disturb by Freida McFadden for yourself to see why, or if you agree.

I'm giving this one 4 stars!

Have you read this one? I'd love to know what you thought!

Any fans of McFadden's? What should I read next?