3/4/25; 320 pages
Poisoned Pen Press
Ward D by Freida McFadden is a very highly recommended, outstanding, un-put-downable locked-room psychological thriller. This brilliantly written novel takes off at a gallop and never lets up the pace until the shocking ending.
Amy Brenner is a medical student who has to spend a 13 hour overnight shift in Ward D, the hospital's mental health unit, supervised by Dr. Richard Beck and nurse Ramona Dutton. Also joining her is her former boyfriend Cameron Berger. Amy is full of trepidation over even being on the unit, let alone spending the night there.
It is clear from the start that something terrible is going to happen
when she learns Damon
Sawyer, who’s confined in Seclusion One, has been threatening to kill
everyone. Incidents begin to occur that the danger may be real.
Increasing her anxiety is the fact that her childhood friend, Jade
Carpenter, is a patient on the ward and is still angry at Amy.
Wow! All I can say is that once I started reading I was unable to stop. Sure, it can feel a like a melodramatic nightmare, and does have certain very unlikely elements, but this one is so well written and presented that I was an eager participant in trying to figure out who is trustworthy and what exactly is going on while second guessing myself. Nothing and no one is how they originally appear. I was totally shocked several times while reading.
The narrative is told through Amy's point-of-view and covers the
present day and eight years ago, when she and Jade were friends in high
school. Both story-lines, now and then, were equally compelling. The
backstory from 8 years ago adds a depth and complexity to the current
situation. The present day is the locked-room thriller that becomes a
nightmare of paranoia and mistrust.
Set disbelief aside and relish this psychological thriller! Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.
No comments:
Post a Comment