THE CRASH by Freida McFadden – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Crash by Freida McFadden
Published by Poisoned Pen Press on January 28 2025
Genres: Adult, Thriller
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Despite a few minor flaws, The Crash was such a fun ride, with breakneck pacing and plenty of dramatic twists.

This was my first time reading a Freida McFadden book, and it won’t be the last. The Crash is a twisty, over-the-top thriller that reminded me of Stephen King’s Misery a bit, and I read it in only two days. I would classify this as a popcorn read, since you have to suspend your disbelief and get past a bunch of plot holes and ignore some of the dumb decisions the characters make, but as far as entertainment value goes, it delivers.

Tegan is a young, twenty-two year old woman who is eight months pregnant and in dire straights. She barely makes enough money to survive, and she recently discovered the truth about the circumstances surrounding her unexpected pregnancy. Desperate to get away for a while, she decides to visit her brother, who assures Tegan she can stay with him until she has the baby. But she leaves too late in the day and finds herself driving in the middle of a terrible snowstorm. When she loses control of her car and crashes into a tree, Tegan fears the worse. She’s alone, no cell service, and she may have a broken ankle from the crash. Luckily, she’s rescued by a man named Hank, who saw the accident and stopped to help.

Hank takes Tegan to his nearby house, where she meets his wife Polly. Tegan begs them to take her to the hospital, but the roads are bad and there’s no way to call an ambulance, so they set Tegan up in the basement, where Polly, a former nurse, once took care of her dying mother. At first, Tegan appreciates their help, but as the days go by, she begins to feel trapped instead.

We also get chapters from Polly’s point of view, a woman with a bunch of secrets. In addition to the drama unfolding with Tegan’s arrival at their house, we also meet Polly’s and Hank’s nearest neighbor, a volatile man named Mitch who lives alone with his seven-year-old daughter Sadie. At first it’s not clear why these two characters are part of the story, but there is a good reason, although astute readers will figure out Sadie’s role long before the author reveals it.

There is a lot going on in The Crash, which makes for a twisty story. Seeing things unfold from two points of view worked well, as both Tegan and Polly are unreliable characters. Tegan has some preconceived notions of what Hank and Polly are up to, and she basically gets everything wrong, lol. Likewise, Polly assumes the worst about Tegan—young, unmarried, pregnant, no money—and treats her almost like a criminal. Both jump to conclusions way too easily, which makes the reader wonder who is telling the truth, but it also frustrated me because the two women come across as naive and stupid at times.

Which brings me to a few complaints I had. All of the characters make terrible decisions and do things that just don’t make sense. My biggest pet peeve was Polly and her supposed “nursing” experience. She’s a licensed nurse but doesn’t insist on looking at Tegan’s ankle (Tegan is in terrible pain and is afraid to take off her boot, but that’s no excuse. Polly should have checked it out anyway). Polly used to work in labor and delivery—let me say that again, she used to work in labor and delivery—and yet she’s not sure if she can deliver a baby. On the other hand she’s fairly certain she can perform a C-section on Polly if it comes down to that, lol. Keep in mind that Hank and Polly keep promising to call an ambulance as soon as they can, but Polly has an agenda that doesn’t include taking Tegan to the hospital.

Tegan acted the victim throughout the story and I wanted to throttle her at times. Yes, she’s actually a victim, but if she’s determined to protect her unborn child, she could have made better decisions from the very beginning. I mentioned the Misery comparison, and while Tegan and Polly sort of take on the roles of Paul Sheldon and Annie Wilkes, King’s story works so much better because it’s a much simpler premise without so many extra characters and side plots to muddy the waters.

I wasn’t surprised when things became even more over-the-top near the end, it’s just that kind of story I guess. But McFadden manages to wrangle all her various plot threads and gives readers a surprisingly satisfying conclusion. Bottom line, I had a lot of fun with The Crash despite my complaints, and as long as you go in knowing what to expect, you probably will too.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.