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The Kindle Charts Are Full Of Books By A Reader-Favorite Thriller Writer

When eight of your books hold spots on Kindle's Top 100 Best Sellers list and your official Facebook fan page has more than 42,000 members, you must be doing something right. Indeed, author Freida McFadden seems to be doing a lot right — and wooing readers worldwide.

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McFadden has written 22 books that typically fall into two genres: women's fiction novels and thriller novels. Though she's perhaps best known for her thrillers, her first book was actually a women's fiction novel that was published in 2013. Titled "The Devil Wears Scrubs," this novel seems to be a very appropriate starting point for her literary career, as McFadden is a brain injury physician. Her second book, "Suicide Med," was published the following year and put her on a highly acclaimed and prolific path of psychological, mind-bending thrillers with twists that leave readers gasping. When asked about her first thriller's twist, she wrote on her website, "That was my first thriller. And my husband was a bad influence. 'Nuff said."

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We can't thank her husband enough because, after that first thriller, McFadden has become a reader-favorite thriller writer. Her literary contributions have earned her recognition, with her work being chosen among the best books of the year by Amazon editors. Moreover, she's secured the prestigious International Thriller Writers Award for best paperback, and she's also a recipient of the Goodreads Choice Award. Her novels have even been translated into more than 30 languages.

Freida McFadden's books on Kindle's Top 100 list

Freida McFadden has published 19 psychological thriller books, with eight securing spots on Amazon's "Best Sellers in Kindle Store" list and garnering high praise as riveting page-turners. At #98 is "The Ex," a mind-bending narrative in which a woman grapples with her ideal man's ex-girlfriend. "My mouth absolutely hit the floor with the main twist of the story," one stunned reviewer wrote.

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At #88, "The Teacher" is a fast-paced thriller that revolves around a forbidden student-teacher affair in which the student has a hidden dark side. Then, earning accolades like a "quick ... and suspenseful read" from readers, spot #73 sees "The Coworker" delve into an office murder mystery. At #19, "Never Lie" intricately weaves a tale that "keeps you on your toes until the very last minute when it all clicks into place," according to reviews, exposing hidden skeletons in the realms of love and marriage.

Breaking into the top ranks at #5 and #13, respectively, are the first two volumes of the gripping "The Housemaid" series, the addictive thriller Kindle readers are obsessing over right now. Moreover, the second installment, "The Housemaid's Secret," clinched the Goodreads' Choice Award for 2023. Suffice it to say that the main character, Millie, continues to captivate readers everywhere. Concluding the list at #9 is "The Inmate," a classic whodunit with an unexpected twist. One enthusiastic reviewer confessed of this novel, "This story really had me going. I thought I had identified the killer & found out I wasn't even close."

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What readers are saying about McFadden on social media

Freida McFadden is certainly an ever-rising star in the psychological thriller world. In addition to being a New York Times Bestseller, her books are a sensation on TikTok, with readers candidly admitting that they stayed up late to finish "The Housemaid." Similarly, "Never Lie" is "insane, and if you haven't read it yet, you have to immediately," as one fan declared in a BookTok video.

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However, not all readers are head over heels for McFadden. Perhaps one of her biggest criticisms is that her books eerily resemble other published works. Case in point, readers find her book "The Wife Upstairs" very similar to Colleen Hoover's "Verity." One frustrated reader commented on the Facebook page Psychological Thriller Readers, "What is with the similarity between Verity and The Wife Upstairs..I'm only on the first chapter, but wow, pretty much Word for Word so far!" Some Redditors have reacted similarly, with one saying, "Her books are easy page-turners, which makes them fun to read, but it's usually only couple of chapters before I'll begin to recognize the storyline, and realize that I've 'heard this one before' ... she reworks other people's stories, adds a few new twists, then spits them out."

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Despite this, McFadden is a reader-favorite thriller writer and, according to many BookTok readers, one of the Kindle authors you need to be reading right now. To borrow the words of a zealous fan on BookTok, "If you in the mood for some psychological thrillers baby, miss Freida Marie McFadden is gonna do it for me every time." 

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