The Housemaid

I am not at all surprised by how many positive reviews The Housemaid has received to date. It is a terrific psychological thriller with a plot that is full of dramatic, and menacing, twists and with great characterisation. It was very easy to visualise each of the main characters as well as the house and rooms where all the action takes place and the various events as they unfold. For this, the author must be commended. Having said this though, I must admit that I almost gave up on the story about half way through as I began to find the storyline rather depressing and I found myself wondering if the main character, the housemaid, would really put up with all that was being heaped upon her, especially given her background. But I am glad I didn't as the plot really takes off in a dramatic fashion in part two and I found myself wanting to race ahead to find out what happens next ... and I really liked the final twist that appears in the epilogue. So, overall, this really is an unputdownable thriller and certainly one of the best I have read so far this year. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys stories that are full of chilling menace, great characters and dramatic twists as the story unfolds.

“If I leave this house, it will be in handcuffs. I should have run for it while I had the chance. Now my shot is gone.” - Prologue, ‘The Housemaid’ by Freida McFadde. I combined reading with its unabridged audiobook edition, narrated by Lauryn Allman. Right from the above opening lines I was hooked. This is one of those domestic noirs/psychological thrillers that I feel is best read ‘cold’, so just the barest of details. After the Prologue we go back three months earlier. The housemaid of the title is Millie, who has applied for the position of live-in housekeeper for the wealthy Nina and Andrew Winchester. Millie is on parole and really needs this job. No further details though as might be expected from this type of thriller and the Prologue’s teaser, things get quite complicated. Most of the novel focuses upon the dynamic between these three adults, though there is also the Winchester’s spoiled nine-year-old daughter, Cecelia, to add to Millie’s torments. At her first meeting with ‘CeCe’ she thinks “I’d say there’s at least a twenty-five percent chance she’s going to murder me in my sleep if I get this job. But I still want it.” With respect to the audiobook, I felt that Lauryn Allman did an excellent job of capturing the characters, especially the two narrative points of view, Millie and Nina. Her voice is quite mellow and very easy to listen to. I have enjoyed her narration on two other recent audiobooks. Overall, one of the best, twisty, unputdownable psychological thrillers that I have read for a while. After such a positive experience, I plan to check out Freida McFadden’s earlier novels as well as look out for her future projects.

A few chapters in and I thought I knew how this story would go. I almost stopped reading it because of that assumption. I am happy to admit that was I wrong! Predictable? Not this book! The story is full of surprising twists that you will not see coming at you!! "A positively addictive thriller with a jaw-dropping twist" is a wee bit of an understatement. I couldn't put it down, I finished this book in a day!

What are you doing? As part of a kindle reading challenge, I had to read a suspense novel and there were certain books I could chose from, this being one of them. I read a few of the reviews and decided this was the book I was going to read. Holy cow! Am I glad I did! This book was unpredictable( until the last third). As I am reading the book I kept thinking, “ oh Millie, what are doing?” This book was a very fast read and I do recommend it.

Wow. What kind of twist was that. I was so sure I knew what was happening and I was like yeah kick that crazy woman out of there and I was like dang the crazy woman is going to kill her then that ending ... THAT ENDING. I have got to read the next one. I read this for a book club read and gosh am I happy we read this one. Talk about a TWIST. This book had me so hooked I could not put it down. I spent the full day reading because I had to finish it. What an amazing read. I highly recommend it. I'll be buying this book for my shelf.