Crime, Mysteries & Thrillers discussion

Hello fellow Crime, Mystery & Thriller readers,

Welcome to our discussion about The Housemaid (The Housemaid #1) by Freida McFadden, your discussion leader is Saralyn.
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about spoilers

Please note: If you have not finished reading the book spoilers are permitted in this discussion from the start. If you would like to use the spoiler formatting it can be found on the top right of the comment box in the "(some html is ok)" menu.
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Summary

“Welcome to the family,” Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I’ll soon learn that the Winchesters’ secrets are far more dangerous than my own…

Every day I clean the Winchesters’ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.

I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.

I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out… and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late.

But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am.

They don’t know what I’m capable of…

okay i really loved this book! i read it in a day, and let me just say how crazy it was. a lot of people compared it to verity but honestly i think this was way better. the plot twist was something i wasn’t expecting. it was such a great read and i literally couldn’t stop!!! i definitely have to check out her other books!

Hello All!! I’m excited to be apart of the group!
Loooooved this book! What a page turner!
I had previously read a book by the author called Brain Damage which I didn’t like at all.
Was a little skeptical when I saw this was the November book!
But I was hooked !! The twists were amazing !
Well written too!

Hello guys. Just from reading the two comments, I have to download and read this book. Hopefully, I will be able to participate in the conversation. I have been in a bit of a book slump this year. Nothing interests me, I have read so many of the same old things it is hard to find one that grabs me from the beginning. Right now I need that. So fingers crossed for this one. Hopefully, it will re-ignite my love for reading.

This one's slightly predictable yet so entertaining and indeed a page-turner.

Hey everyone! I'm about to start this tonight and can't wait to read this with you all, here's to an awesome weekend ahead :-)

I loved this book! I haven’t read anything from this author. I also purposely did not read any reviews, so I didn’t know what to expect. Wow! I didn’t see the twist coming, but I just absolutely loved it. This reminded me of the another book I read a few years ago, but I don’t want to give the name as it would certainly spoil it for others that haven’t finished this yet.

@Gloria: That is so awesome to hear! This is the first novel I've read by this author and looking at everything else she's written with so many 4/5-Star reviews, I might have just found another awesome author to add to my "must read more" section. LoL I keep hearing about this twist and can't wait to see it, this is such an easy read, I can't put it down so far!

A little over 20% in and wow, I absolutely am loving this novel so far. LoL I have no idea where this is going and that's what makes me so addicted to read deep into the night :-)

About to hit 60% and this is one incredible read that I'm enjoying so very much. LoL I have no idea where this is going as it's super exciting, I might finish it tonight and if not, for sure by tomorrow. This is so damn good...

I just finished it; it started slowly and gained momentum as I kept listening. I'll be reading more by this author.

I also read this book in one day. It's unputdownable, and sometimes that is exactly what I'm looking for in a book.

@Pam: Same here! She definitely got a new reader in me, I'm about to finish it this morning over coffee... this novel is amazing :-)

@Saralyn: Oh for sure and completely agree! If it wasn't for work, I would have also finished it in a single day, it's that fantastic :-)

I'm interested in what, specifically, you think makes the book so gripping

@Saralyn: I'm about to finish it this afternoon but my notes so far as I've been reading...

- Excellent writing style
- Loved all the characters and little plot twists here and there
- Very addictive read, hard to put down
- Fantastic pacing, a genuine page-turner
- Being a New Yorker, love all the New York references, locations, etc.
- Authentic jaw-dropping moments
- Unique, psychological terror, loved every moment of it as it was beyond crazy
- Brilliant and a rollercoaster of a read. Mind blown several times while reading

I can agree with all these. See if you have some to add when you've finished.

@Saralyn: Oh yes! I can't wait to write my review when done :-)

I just finished it this afternoon and absolutely loved it! For anyone interested, here's my 5/5 review of this masterpiece...

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Just finished this, and I’m giving it 4/5 stars.

I found it very suspenseful, very interesting and very well written. I’m knocking off a star only because it got a little dark for my taste. Not going to lie, the ending was super satisfying though.

I would love to read more from this author now!!

I finished YEsterday and really enjoyed this story. First time author. Will definitely be reading more. Well done. I enjoyed the characters and all the twists.

@Madison: Very awesome and glad to hear you also loved it! The sequel is coming out in February and I can't wait :-)

@Rosina: First-time author for me as well and now I can't wait to read her previous work. I see she's written several books so I'm excited to get into more of her content :-)

@Tony: LoL yeah, that was great, just thought this was brilliantly written with little jokes like that here and there :-)

@LTJ so looking forward to the sequel and will definitely read some of her backlist...will check on KU..

@Rosina: Same here and happy reading :-)

@Tony: That's so awesome and glad you loved it! LoL it's definitely a genuine page-turner and can totally see it being a late-night read as a few nights I also could not put this done deep into the night!

I loved it!! I never read anything by this author and was excited to read another book in this group. I didn’t read anything about it because I wanted to be surprised. Awesome ending!

@Kelly: Right? Same here, thanks to this group I found this amazing novel and a new author to get into over time. I'm also glad to hear you enjoyed this one as well :-)

This was also my first F. McFadden book. It was fun matching wits with her along the way.

This was sooooo good. I loved the writing style. It was so thrilling, I completed it in a day!

My first book of this author and it was really good. I read in two days and totally enjoyed. Some things were predictable for me but some parts were totally unexpected and sickening.

Thoroughly enjoyed it! A real page turner!

Great book and author. highly recommend

For my birthday my sister gave me 4 Frieda McFadden books, as we have the same last name as her though no relation. I think :) . I finished this quickly, definitely a page turner and a nice twist. She has a humorous style of writing and I found myself laughing at the beginning. Before it got creepy. I am now going to crack open One by One by the same author, I hope it is as good

I loved this book so much! I hated the second one!!! The third was amazing but if you hadn’t read the ones before it would still makes sense you would just be off on a few points in the third. Also she throws in a random “secret” in the third that was never mentioned before!!!