The worst thriller of the year?
If there’s one thing you can always count on with Freida McFadden, it’s a page-turning thriller. Regardless of quality, twists or characterisation, the short, snappy chapters and crazy plot developments are enough to keep you reading to find out what happens next.
The Teacher did well to keep this aura going until a bizarre last-minute twist undermined the premise. Meanwhile, Never Lie and The Inmate continued to deliver crazy twists alongside unique perspectives but had their own array of issues.
Like all of Freida McFadden’s books, the idea here is not to think too deeply about what’s happening, otherwise you start to notice the big glaring issues with logic, consistency and worldbuilding. In essence, it’s your perfect “switch off your brain and enjoy the thrill-ride guilty pleasure”.
This brings us along nicely to The Crash, which is certainly aptly titled because dear god is this book a car crash. Both literally and figuratively. The characters are poorly written and unlikable, the twists incredibly well-orchestrated and there’s a horribly lethargic pacing to everything that makes the dual POV chapters an absolute chore to read through. In fact, The Crash could well be the worst book McFadden has ever written.
The story centers on 23 year old Tegan Warner. She’s 8 months pregnant and her whole life is about to change. Not just from “Little Tuna” (Tegan’s pet-name for her babe) being born but also from a car crash that occurs out on the road. She’s broken her ankle, she’s tired, dehydrated and miles from civilization out on the frozen roads.
When she’s saved by a man named Hank, he brings her back to his secluded cabin where his wife Polly is waiting. Together, the pair agree to help Tegan out, promising to give her refuge until the storm clears up and then drive her across to the hospital. Only, there’s more here than meets the eye…
From here, the story grinds to a halt, as the chapters flit back and forth between Tegan’s perspective and that of Polly, her rescuer. It’s clear that McFadden was influenced by Misery as the plot plays out quite similarly, while the ending is eerily close to that seen in Disclaimer, the AppleTV+ series.
Unfortunately, both point of view characters in this are annoying and don’t have much in the way of depth. Tegan, understandably so, doesn’t like men and anytime the topic comes up, constantly mentions how much she hates them. Now, it does make sense given what she’s been through, but beyond that we don’t really see too much of her wit or charisma shine through. She mentions early on that she always wanted to be a nurse but then she doesn’t do anything that would lend herself into that medical way of thinking.
Meanwhile, the other POV character, Polly, has paper-thin motivations that really don’t hold up to scrutiny. However, despite only coming in at 328 pages, there’s a ridiculous amount of pointless padding here just to max out the word count. Did we really need three paragraphs of descriptions for cooking food? Two paragraphs about the right texture and complexion for mashed potatoes? Several different pages, from two point of views, with Tegan using the bedpan?
The story is poor overall, with very few twists. And the twists that are here, typified by a hilariously bonkers reveal late on and a prologue that’s intentionally obsfucated to throw you off the scent, feel designed for shock value rather than being consistent with character values.
So with poor writing, characters and story, there’s really not a whole lot here to recommend here. The Crash is a very poor thriller and a disappointing book from Freida McFadden. As someone who has read a few of her other books, The Crash almost feels like phoning it in. I’m loathe to say that because McFadden is an absolute workhouse and can churn out multiple books a year. But perhaps with this one she’s just feeling the burn.
Within the acknowledgements, McFadden mentions how the book’s plot is vastly different from the original, and it does feel like its been butchered in the editing process into whatever this is.
The Crash is definitely one to avoid and possibly one of the worst thrillers of the year. What a shame.
Read More: The Crash Ending Explained
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Verdict - 3.5/10
3.5/10
I agree. I usually love her books I’ve read so many of them but this one was TERRIBLE. Painfully obvious and predictable. Very disappointing. It was definitely the worst book I’ve read in a long time.