Hello beautiful people! Welcome to a new review! At this point, it should be no surprise that I am diving into another Freida McFadden thriller, and next up is The Crash. While this definitely wasn’t one of my favourites, here it carries vibes ala Misery by Stephen King. I was a bit shocked by the very harsh reviews of this one. While it definitely wasn’t a favourite, it also wasn’t as bad in my opinion as others thought it was. If you were one of the ones who absolutely hated this one, I would love to hear why!
Main Characters:
Teagen: A young woman who 8 months pregnant takes a deadly ride through a storm, getting stuck Teagen is saved by a seemingly nice couple who bring her back to theirs to get her warmed up and feeling better, only now they won’t let her leave, Teagen must find a way to escape these people while also dealing with the life she was running away from in the first place
Hank: Rescues Teagan in the storm and brings her home to his wife, Polly, but is not the chivalrous man he originally seems to be
Polly: Hank’s husband and sadly a very disturbed lady, having Teagan in her home brings up a lot of her past trauma, and we start to see why she is so intent on keeping this woman prisoner in her home
Simon: The father of Teagan’s baby and a part of the past she was trying to run away from, and is very much just not a good guy
My Review
At this point, picking up a Freida McFadden book feels like muscle memory. I know I’m getting a fast read, short chapters, questionable people, and at least one moment where I mutter, “You absolutely did not just do that.” The Crash delivers all of that, just not at the top tier of her catalogue. I think the plot had a lot of potential to be stronger. I think it was just one of those stories where the thrill and mystery were not huge. I mean, we know from the start who takes Teagan and why, so the question is just a further why and if Teagan will get out alive. Still super interesting, but just maybe not as riveting as some of her other reads. I wouldn’t discourage people from checking this one out, but I wouldn’t say to have this be the first of hers you get into. I gave it a 6.5/10 rating overall, potentially the lowest I’ve rated one of her books yet.
The Crash follows Teagan, who is close to having her baby, but is not having her life together. I an attempt to outrun her past, she gets on the road, although the road has other plans for her. Crashing in a heavy snowstorm, Teagan has gotten herself into quite a situation. That’s until the seemingly sweet Hank comes to save her. Taking her to his home to keep her warm, safe and fed, Teagan meets Polly, his wife, and then her life really takes an unexpected turn. What seems to be a kind, helpful couple soon turns into Teagan’s worst nightmares. With a desire to keep Teagan captive to have her baby for themselves, Teagan has to figure out how to save herself and her baby, while having no clue where she is, in the dead of winter.
The premise is strong and immediately tense. A car crash, isolation, and a situation where something feels off, almost from the first chapter. McFadden excels at creating unease quickly, and this book wastes no time pulling you into its claustrophobic, uneasy atmosphere. It’s the kind of story that makes you keep reading, not because you’re emotionally invested, but because you need to know what’s actually going on. Where The Crash shines is in pacing. The chapters are short, the tension is constant, and it’s incredibly easy to fly through. This is peak one more chapter energy, especially if you’re reading it in one sitting. McFadden knows how to hook a reader and keep them there, even when the logic starts to wobble. The story itself can’t be tense. A mother struggling to save both herself and her unborn child. Two unstable adults in control of their lives.
That said, this isn’t one of her strongest twists. The story relies heavily on familiar McFadden tropes, unreliable perspectives, withheld information, and characters making choices that are hard to know if they are made in good faith or not. If you’ve read a lot of her books (and clearly, I have), some of the reveals feel predictable, and the shock factor doesn’t hit quite as hard as it has in novels like Never Lie or The Inmate. I think I just wondered where the book was going to go. Openly, I didn’t think that Teagan or her baby would die or be horrifically injured. So, I just felt like the suspense slowly died out as the book went on. You could feel that they would live; you don’t exactly know how, but it just didn’t keep my interest in the second half as much as the first.
The characters also feel more functional than fully developed. They exist to move the plot forward rather than to truly complicate it, which makes the emotional stakes feel lower. I was entertained, but not deeply invested, and that’s really the line that keeps this at a lower rating for me instead of pushing it higher.
Still, this book does exactly what it’s meant to do. It’s tense, readable, and entertaining, even if it doesn’t linger long after you finish. Not every McFadden book needs to be a knockout; sometimes you just want a thriller that keeps you busy for a few hours and doesn’t overstay its welcome.
I would love to hear what others thought of this one, and if they enjoyed it more than I did.
*** Don’t go any further if you don’t want to read any spoilers ***
The ending is a bit hectic and confusing, but I’ll try to compile it the best I can.
Teagan was travelling to see her brother, to try and get away from the hecticness of her life. Her baby did not come to her through a consensual act, and she was assaulted by Simon, who is the rich business guy with lots of influence and pull.
Simon is the reason for the crash after having her brakes tampered with. Hank and Polly finding her seems like a fluke, but the reality is that they aren’t as bad as they seem. Well, I guess not as bad as some of the other people in this book. Polly becomes concerned with Teagan’s injury from the crash and decides she has to go out and get her antibiotics. When she goes out, Hank takes Teagan from the house and brings her to safety. Polly, of course, is not pumped when she finds Teagan gone, but Hank can settle her and remind her of who she is. A kind woman who is just desperate to be a mom and can’t do it herself.
Once in safety with her brother Dennis, it seems like things are fine with Teagan. Tegan thinks they are safe, but Polly is actually coming to find her, and the real risk is not with her. It’s with her brother. Promised money if he helps clean up his mess, Dennis makes a deal with Simon. He will get rid of his sister and the mess Simon made, and Simon will fund a business for him. Polly saves her, and Teagan can have her baby, and no one is keeping them apart.
I was a bit surprised by Teagan’s brother’s involvement, but not by Simon’s. I was still very much on the fence about Polly and Hank because I really think there was a chance they would have kept her and the baby if Teagan hadn’t been injured in the crash. The Crash is a solid, mid-tier Freida McFadden thriller. It’s fast, suspenseful, and easy to devour, but lacks the jaw-dropping twist or emotional punch that makes her best work stand out. Worth reading, just not her most memorable.
I hope you enjoyed this review! Thank you for checking it out. Feel free to subscribe to the page to be one of the first to know when I release a new review.
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