by Violet Fujimoto ‘27

New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden is known for her easy to read, captivating thrillers. She has gained a lot of fame from her trilogy The Housemaid, which has been turned into a major motion picture. A physician specializing in brain injury, the name Freida McFadden is a pseudonym, and she disguises herself with a wig in interviews to establish a barrier between her two careers and to protect her patients’ confidentiality.

She released yet another thriller called Dear Debbie on January 27. The main character, Debbie, is a stay at home mom with two teenage girls. Her husband is the breadwinner, which allows her work as an advice columnist part time. She provides sympathy and advice for women who have grievances about their husbands. After hearing about a particularly controlling and abusive husband, she advises the troubled wife to leave him. A resulting lawsuit brought by the husband leads to a conflict between Debbie and her boss, and she is fired. The incident is her breaking point, and she starts to follow her own advice to the extreme, executing dangerous and life threatening actions against the people that have harmed her.

This book is similar to many of the books in McFadden’s catalogue, but there are notable differences that make Dear Debbie unique. The main character is written to be unstable and causes the majority of the conflict that arises throughout the book. Most of McFadden’s protagonists are trying to solve the conflicts rather than creating them. The reader has to figure out the intentions of other characters as well as why Debbie is so vengeful. As the novel progresses, drafts from Debbie’s advice column are shown between chapters. This “advice” encourages wives to harm or even murder their husbands. These drafts are different from the advice she would publish, which reveal how deranged Debbie’s character is.

The plot twist is somewhat unexpected but not as jaw-dropping as McFadden’s fans might expect. The underlying reason for her revenge outbursts is not revealed until towards the end, which builds suspense and raises questions about Debbie’s character. Even when things seem resolved, another twist causes readers to question what they were led to believe about the characters.

McFadden is renowned for adding an ending that contradicts what the reader previously thought about the narrative. Even when the story seems to be concluded, more small details reveal themselves and change the trajectory of the story. McFadden also includes an epilogue to Dear Debbie to show how the conflict has resolved and the lives of the characters in the near future. Questions continue to arise about how things will turn out until the very last page. These twists make the book a page turner and help the reader connect the dots as the book comes to a close.

Though Dear Debbie is well written, it is nothing special compared to her other thrillers. Once the main plot twist is dropped, readers can use prior knowledge to predict what happens next. She is known for trying to trick her readers into following the obvious storyline, but drops a plot twist to keep the reader hooked. Dear Debbie may not spark interest to those unfamiliar with her work, but is intriguing for frequent readers.

Grade: B