by K.G. Whitehurst
Frieda McFadden, now a part-time physician specializing in brain injury, is a multiple award-winning author of psychological thrillers. She considers her training gives her an advantage in writing such works. Most, like The Boyfriend, are standalones, so no worries about coming into the middle of a series. The writing is tight, the storytelling is laser-focused on the two main characters, whose stories are presented in a past-present format. The two stories mirror each other, which creates steadily increasing tension in this romantic thriller.
A native New Yorker, McFadden has set a number of her books in New York City. Her female lead, Sydney Shaw, while not a native, has lived in the city for years, can spot a liar a mile away, and never, ever wants to be taken for a tourist. The reader sees New York City as Sydney does, and she concentrates on the behavior of the people around her, not the architecture or the nightlife. Behavior defines the city, particularly impatience and safety-consciousness. Do not get in a New Yorker’s way or in his/her/their personal space unless invited. Thus, the reader learns that dating in the city is a very difficult process.
Sydney and her girlfriends Bonnie and Gretchen live in the same building, have similar tiny apartments, and are obsessed with finding the right guy, getting married, and probably having children. All their friends and relatives are doing it, and this puts added, internal pressure on these women because they’re in their mid 30s. Bonnie wants to be exclusive with her guy, but he has commitment issues; Gretchen appears to be settling for the building superintendent; Sydney has been on a lot of bad dates, including one so bad she has to be saved from assault by a stunning mystery man, who turns out to be Dr Thomas Brewer. He’s a gorgeous, kind, and generous man who doesn’t flip out when Sydney has spontaneous nosebleeds due to a clotting disorder.
Sydney so wants him to be the One. But is he possibly too good to be true? After all, why hasn’t he ever been married?
A young woman is brutally murdered, and the police connect it to several other murders. Sydney turns wary and suspicious. It doesn’t help her state of mind that she thinks she has a stalker. It also doesn’t help that her ex-boyfriend is Detective Jake Sousa of the NYPD and the lead detective on the homicide case. Sydney ends up with both too much and too little information, making her romantic choices difficult indeed.
McFadden’s style is deceptively simple. The short, declarative sentences make this a fast read, but she buries crucial information in the unobtrusive style. Her relative lack of stylistic diversity does attract some attention, but the lack of distinctive character voices is more problematic. These are niggles because this romantic suspense novel will appeal to readers of several genres, especially those who prefer their violence off-page. Attentive mystery readers will likely see the shocking ending coming, even as they’re thrown off track by the red herrings. The thriller reader will be delighted by the strong frisson of danger, and romance readers will chuckle at McFadden’s amusing digs at romance even as she conforms to expectations of the genre.
While not a regular reader of romantic suspense, I will not hesitate to grab more Frieda McFadden. She’s justly earned her awards.
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