The Wife Upstairs by Freida McFadden

 

Synopsis :

Victoria Barnett has it all.

A great career. A handsome and loving husband. A beautiful home in the suburbs and a plan to fill it with children. Life is perfect—or so it seems.

Then she’s in a terrible accident… and everything falls apart.

Now Victoria is unable to walk. She can’t feed or dress herself. She can’t even speak. She is confined to the top floor of her house with twenty-four-hour care.

Sylvia Robinson is hired by Victoria’s husband to help care for her. But it turns out Victoria isn’t as impaired as Sylvia was led to believe. There’s a story Victoria desperately wants to tell... if only she could get out the words.

Then Sylvia discovers Victoria’s diary hidden away in a drawer.

And what’s inside is shocking.

This is what I say :

While it was pretty suspense reading The Wife Upstairs, it was also pretty sad.

Actually, the plot is rather simple.  The story was told from 2 POV, Sylvia and Victoria. Victoria's POV was prior to her accident. Sylvia's POV is present.

The suspense is how the accident came about. It was pretty clear who caused it but then there were some areas that are rather grey too. And because it's from Victoria's POV, we cant really believe it as from what we read of Freida's previous titles, actual happenings can be misleading from one's POV.

And of course, true to Freida's style, she will have something else up her sleeve right up to the very last sentence.

Hint : I started by saying it's also a pretty sad read. That's because one character that I was hoping to be the knight in shinning armor died.

The Inmate by Freida McFadden

 

Synopsis :

There are three rules Brooke Sullivan must follow as a new nurse practitioner at a men's maximum-security:
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.

This is what I say :

In The Inmate, it wasn't a 180 degree twist that Freida did but a 360 degree twist. I was kept guessing right up to pretty much the last few chapters as to what actually happen 10 years ago that put Shane in prison.  Yes, the focus of the whole book was very much on this plot.

The killer is actually Shane or maybe Tim or could there be a third person that has stayed hidden all these while.  Also, pay close attention to Brooke's son.

It was interesting to finally get the truth from Freida and all I am willing to say is that a minor character has become a rather major character.  Also, the apple doesnt fall far from the tree.

The Perfect Son by Freida McFadden

 

Synopsis :

"Mrs. Cass, we were hoping your son could answer a few questions about the girl who disappeared last night..."

Erika Cass has a perfect family and a perfect life. Until the evening when two detectives show up at her front door.

A high school girl has vanished from Erika's quiet suburban neighborhood. The police suspect the worst--murder. And Erika's teenage son, Liam, was the last person to see the girl alive.

Erika has always sensed something dark and disturbed in her seemingly perfect older child. She wants to believe he's innocent, but as the evidence mounts, she can't deny the truth--Liam may have done the unthinkable.

Now she must ask herself:

How far will she go to protect her son?

This is what I say :

The Prefect Son is quite predictable in certain way.  It gives an impression of one perspective and Freida did a 180 degree turn and it's a different perspective altogether. So, if you read the book with that 180 degree turn, then you will be able to figure out how the story goes.

Let me spoilt it for you this round.  Freida will build the expectation that Liam is the killer and that's through the POV of the mum, Erika. But Erika doesn't know everything so what you read is not everything there is to know about Liam. 

When Frieda had enough fun confusing you as the reader, she will then revealed who the actual killer is and it wont be Liam. It will be someone else.  The fun for me as a reader is to figure out who the killer is knowing that it wouldnt be Liam and in this case I was correct.

The hint would be, the killer is someone close.