Freida McFadden is a practicing physician specializing in brain injury who somehow also finds the time to write psychological thrillers. And write them she does, because she has a ton of them in her repertoire, including the Housemaid series that has been getting a lot of buzz lately. Never Lie is a New York Times bestseller and sticks with the psychological thriller theme, it deals with bullying, infidelity, death, mental illness, kidnapping, stalking, murder, pregnancy, and sexual harassment.
Dr. Adrienne Hale is a renowned psychiatrist and the best-selling author of one book, hopefully two when her next book is published shortly. But just before her new book comes out, she goes missing and is never found. Three years later, newlyweds Tricia and Ethan are looking for a place in the suburbs so they can get out of Manhattan. They go to view the missing doctor's home, which has recently been put on the market, and Ethan falls in love with it. Unfortunately, they view it in the middle of a snowstorm and they get stuck in the house for the weekend. Stuck in the middle of nowhere with no internet or phone service of any kind, Tricia goes looking for something to do and finds a secret cache of the doctor's recorded patient sessions. Tricia, almost without hesitation, starts listening to them and they lead her to the day that the doctor goes missing. Tricia wonders if the police ever found these tapes, she also wonders if she and Ethan aren't the only people in this house after all.
I enjoyed this book. It's nothing to write home about, it certainly wasn't the best book I've read recently or the best psychological thriller, but it was entertaining. Sometimes you just need a piece of fluff to relax to and I would say Never Lie is the perfect thing. It was intriguing, you always wanted to know what the next tape would reveal, but it was never really stressful or scary. Unless you count watching characters make bad decisions stressful, because there was a fair amount of that. The writing was fine, I didn't really like or dislike the characters, the story wasn't anything mind-blowing but there were a few twists, one in particular that I did not see coming.
I'm giving Never Lie by Freida McFadden 3.75 stars out of 5. I wouldn't mark it as a favorite but I will remember to look for more books by Freida McFadden the next time I need a fun, easy thriller when my other books have been too heavy.
To see more by Freida McFadden, check out https://www.freidamcfadden.com/
Pairs well with some scrambled eggs and browsing Zillow.
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