Horror Book Review: The Inmate by Freida McFadden

 

The online community is abuzz with the soon-to-be-released The Housemaid, based on Freida McFadden’s bestselling novel. Having read that and enjoyed it, I decided to check out the author’s oeuvre. 

I have read only two others and am starting on a third, but one thing is obvious: the author does not care much for romance or happily ever afters. The endings, and no, this isn’t much of a spoiler, leave a couple on ‘let’s-see-if-it-works-out’. 

One of the books I read after The Housemaid was THE INMATE. The author incorporates not only a vivid and descriptive writing style, but also twists and turns. Plenty of them. Some of them you will see coming. Others not so much. 

The Inmate has perhaps too many twists, until the very last page, in fact. Unlike The Housemaid, The Inmate took me two attempts to get into it. Not that it wasn’t compelling enough. The premise is definitely intriguing, but the characters were not as intriguing, and the jump from the past to the present could be a little frustrating, especially if the chapter leaves on a cliffhanger. 

Nevertheless, the action-packed climax makes up for most of the flaws in the book. 

THE INMATE Plot Summary

Brooke Sullivan and her son Josh, move into her parents’ house after they pass away and leave the house to her. She has also taken up a job as a medical practitioner at a maximum security prison. 

Her ex-boyfriend, Josh’s father, Shane, is also serving a sentence for murder and attempted murder of none other than Brooke. 

The timeline shifts to the past when Brooke was in high school, had a small crush on her neighbor Tim, who wasn’t too happy with her relationship with Shane. 

On that fateful night, Brooke and Shane, along with Tim, Kayla, Chelsea and Brandon, are in Shane’s house. There’s a storm, and later, Brandon is found dead. Brooke and Shane have spent an intimate night together, but that doesn’t stop her from suspecting him. Chelsea and Kayla are next. Eventually, Brooke is strangled by her chain, but she never really sees who it was. Except that she thinks Shane did it because of his sandalwood aftershave. 

In the present, Tim actively pursues Brooke, and we are supposed to believe that Tim may not be the nice guy he’s trying to be. He bonds quickly with Josh, understands that Brooke has a son with Shane, and even helps with the housework. But he also happens to be wearing the same aftershave and gives Brooke the necklace that she had choked with. It turns out to be the very same necklace, identified by a broken part. 

Since the novel has plenty of pages left, clearly it is not Tim. Could it be Shane? He keeps telling Brooke it wasn’t him and she made a mistake. Could it be that Brooke did actually make a mistake?

Brooke has gut feelings throughout the book, but obviously, she doesn’t listen to herself. 

THE INMATE Ending Spoilers (Don’t read if you don’t want to know how it ends)

Turns out Shane’s mother, Pamela, is behind it all. But she has a pretty solid reason. She had an affair with Brooke’s father, but he refused to leave his family for her. Fortunately, Shane isn’t the result of the affair. But Pamela hated Brooke enough to want to kill her and her family. 

So she tries to strangle Pamela, but her son is accused of it. She reveals she is behind Brooke’s parents’ accident and knew that Brooke would return to town and take over the property. 

Now Pamela also pretended to be Margie, Brooke’s babysitter, so she could spend time with her grandson Josh. 

Phew! That’s a lot of twists. Brooke doesn’t recognize her because Margie let herself go and no longer dresses well or adheres to any diet. 

Pamela is shot during a cliched struggle with the gun, but she survives and confesses to her crimes. Shane, however, dies…mysteriously. 

Tim is released from prison after Brooke falsely accused him of being the murderer. He is pissed off at her, but readily forgives Brooke when she apologizes. 

Things work out great for Brooke.  A bit too conveniently. 

But the story doesn’t end here. 

The story then shifts to Josh’s POV. He remembers Tim told him to never trust Shane, and so he never tried to bond with his biological father. In the woods, Josh kills Shane with an icicle. Since the ice probably melted, the murder weapon was never found. 

Like father, like son?

Josh never finds out that Shane was his father. 

The book ends. 

Final Thoughts on THE INMATE

The novel is nowhere close to THE HOUSEMAID in building suspense. Brooke isn’t really a likable character. She is too confused and accuses people of being murderers, yet those who are accused don’t feel betrayed. Rather, they still try to protect Brooke instead of themselves. 

It also took quite a bit of effort to get through the book because of the timeline jump. Would it have been more convenient to finish off the past events in one section rather than alternating chapters? Probably. 

Have you read THE INMATE? What did you think?

You can get it on Amazon