One By One

This was an interesting fast-paced thriller. The story quickly gets started and doesn't let up until the end. The book is narrated by Claire and a mystery anonymous person and the whole book I kept theorizing on who they were. It did surprise me at the end and took a turn from who I thought was the killer! The characters were all unlikeable, but I guess it was the point, it made everyone feel suspect. I also enjoyed the epilogue and the little zinger left at the end. 
The big thing I didn't like, but was essential to the plot point, was the cheating trope. I found it annoying, as well as the characters involved. 

Man, what a letdown. The premise was decent, the writing was great, the characters were good, the story was captivating...and then the last third happened...

Everyone who hyped “the twist” did this book a disservice. Not only was the twist not that good but the whole thing was choreographed miles away. It was like going into an M Night Shymalan movie.

I'm willing to give Frieda another chance because she's really good at setting up a story but the plot to this one was...well, it was bad. The actions the characters made were questionable the whole time. The further the story went along, the less it made sense. The motives for the, ahem, “plot twist,”...I feel insulted.

TL;dr version: Frieda seems like a good writer but this generic, formulaic pulp feels like the hype might have been paid for

I loved this book! I never thought that what Emma said in the beginning meant anything until it wss brought up in the end. At first, I thought that I had it all figured out and then the twist at the end! Omg I totally wasn't expecting that. If you are into fast paced Thrillers, this books is 100% for you!!!

I just finished One by One written by Freida McFadden and here are my musings.
Claire needs this vacation. With her marriage on the rocks, overworked at home and work, a week without the kids is exactly what the doctor ordered. An adult couples week away will hopefully start to fix the damage to her marriage.
One the way Claire's minivan breaks down. With no cell reception they make the decision to walk the rest of the way to the resort. Trouble is, the forest is dark and ominous... They find themselves lost, hopelessly lost.
When one by one, they start to die or just disappear, the only thing that is common between them all is the large claw marks they keep finding, which means Claire's dream vacation has now turned into her worst nightmare.
This book ticked all the boxes.

Locked door mystery CHECK
Twists and turns CHECK
Cat and mouse games CHECK
Hairs on the back of your neck standing on end... DOUBLE CHECK

I love when a book doesn't give you enough to figure out what is going on but makes you think you have it all figured it. This book had me flip flopping like a fish out of water trying to figure out what was going on and the ending.... DANG!! Did not see it coming.

I didn't like any of the characters and usually that doesn't sit well with me but I loved that I didn't like anyone. We got the POV of Claire and an anonymous person who we get their back story for. I never figured out who the anon person was either and I was sure I knew. I'm rarely wrong and this really pleased me.

I am a @fmcfaddenauthor fan but this just means my standards are super high already and this one was knocked out of the park.

5 stars and thank you thank you thank you to @poisonedpenpress for my gifted copy and this bad boy is out now.

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So, one more title to emphasize the lesson in ‘careful with your expectations'. Because The housemaid was just so absurdly good, I obviously expected this one to be so. Bear no mistake, it is good. But not absurdly good, maybe.
She still has the makings of throwing red herrings properly: even when you ‘know' what's happening/going to happen, I can tell you you're probably going to be mistaken - I was, once again. But be it because now I know her style a bit or because the characters were not so interesting, it was less surprising and sounded less brilliant.
That said, it is a solid 3.5 stars, that I read in two hours and had a bit of a surprise when you thought there were no more - and I'll still read other titles by her.