I spent my weekend reading The Coworker. This weekend called for a thriller, and when I spotted this one by Freida McFadden, I couldn’t resist—especially after reading The Housemaid series! Did I enjoy it? For the most part, yes. Was it fast-paced? Absolutely. But here’s where it gets tricky. I read it cover to cover, yet something about it felt different. What worked? What didn’t? Here’s my review.
The Plot: There’s Dawn Schiff and Natalie Farrell—the two coworkers at the heart of this story. Both work at Vixed, a nutritional supplement company, but while Dawn is an accountant, Natalie works as a sales rep. Their dynamic sets the stage for a gripping psychological thriller. Dawn isn’t just strange—she’s super strange. She just doesn’t fit in. And then there’s Natalie—who fits in everywhere. Other key characters include Seth Hoffman, the guy who runs Vixed; Caleb, Natalie’s boyfriend who works in IT; Kim, recently married and more invested in gossip than work; and Mia, Dawn’s childhood friend who only appears through emails. Then Dawn goes missing. Or is she dead? Enter Detective Santoro, who believes Natalie is guilty. That’s the overall picture—or think of it as a trailer for you. Read to find out what’s really going on. You can finish it in a day.
My Take: I liked the plot and how the book is told from two perspectives—Natalie and Dawn. The story unfolds through their voices and emails exchanged between employees, which really sets the office environment. McFadden focuses on the what, keeping the story fast-paced, then moves to the why and how, revealing the backstory before bringing us back to the present.
Spoiler Alert: There’s A LOT of talk about turtles. But I also think that’s the madness McFadden is creating here. And it’s not just Dawn’s coworkers who find her strange—as a reader, I did too. McFadden masterfully portrays Dawn’s obsessive-compulsive disorder. But between all the suspense, I’ve now read so much about turtles that I don’t want to see or hear about them for a while!
As Natalie Barelli, bestselling author of Unforgivable, puts it on the back cover of The Coworker:
“Don’t start a Freida McFadden book late at night. You won’t be able to put it down!” And that’s definitely true for a McFadden read. If you’re headed for a long flight, have time to kill, or just need a psychological thriller fix, this book has it all. The twists and turns will keep you hooked until the very end. Do I regret reading it? No. But if I had to choose between The Housemaid series and The Coworker—The Housemaid wins every time.
