A group of friends plan a relaxing vacation in a secluded inn. On the way there, the mini van breaks down and they decide to walk the ‘short distance’ through the woods to the inn to get help.
Then they are lost. Lost and one by one people in their group start disappearing. Who is hunting them? Or what is hunting them? That’s the question main character, Claire wants to find out. Will be be next?
I’m going on a bit of a Freida McFadden streak on accident here! Which really isn’t a problem because McFadden is a queen of those quick, suspense thrillers. She isn’t quite at the level of Harlan Corbin, but I think that could be a good comparison in the future as her writing improves with experience and time. As a reader, I can pick up one of her books, know I can finish in a few hours and know I’ll be possibly shocked at the end. I sound a bit like a broken record here, but she write books like a good thrilling Netflix movie. It won’t last for years to come, but you would have enjoyed the ride.
This story, based in the woods, creeped me out a bit more than her past novels. I would not recommend reading this while camping or outdoors. She got a bit under my skin and set up her scenes well.
There was a bit more repetitiveness in this story more often than previous McFadden novels. I get the she was trying to build up suspense, but there are only so many times you can mention how Claire is cold, we hate Noah, Meredith is annoying and Warden is so hot. The actual nitty gritty of the characters is glossed over, which I think is fine. We don’t need to get too connected with the characters.
I’m not sure if constantly having Claire mention how much she love her kids was an angle to make me like Claire more? It didn’t work. I didn’t like Claire. I also loved that I didn’t like Claire. I didn’t like any of the characters actually, but it didn’t ruin the book for me. It kind of made me excited to see who would die next or how they would die… I mean, the title is giving away a bit of the plot line … you know the character are going ‘away’ one by one.
My last point that possibly ‘hurt’ my rating for this book… I swear, I just watched this movie. It wasn’t an original enough story. Yet, neither are most of the slasher movies and we still watch those. So take the comment with whatever amount of grains of salt you wish.
Overall, McFadden got under my skin in this creepy, lost in the woods thriller. Well done.
***Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press, NetGalley and of course, Freida McFadden, for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Publishing on April 02, 2024.
Amazon Link One By One By: Freida McFadden
Have you found McFadden’s pattern yet? Does that deter you from reading more of her stories? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
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