The Coworker by Freida McFadden
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The Coworker

by

Freida McFadden

(Author)

4.1

-

80,003 ratings


From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Housemaid!

"Don't start a Freida McFadden book late at night. You won't be able to put it down!"― Natalie Barelli, bestselling author of Unforgivable

Two women. An office filled with secrets. One terrible crime that can't be taken back.

Dawn Schiff is strange.

At least, everyone thinks so at Vixed, the nutritional supplement company where Dawn works as an accountant. She never says the right thing. She has no friends. And she is always at her desk at precisely 8:45 a.m.

So when Dawn doesn't show up to the office one morning, her coworker Natalie Farrell―beautiful, popular, top sales rep five years running―is surprised. Then she receives an unsettling, anonymous phone call that changes everything...

It turns out Dawn wasn't just an awkward outsider―she was being targeted by someone close. And now Natalie is irrevocably tied to Dawn as she finds herself caught in a twisted game of cat and mouse that leaves her wondering: who's the real victim?

But one thing is incredibly clear: somebody hated Dawn Schiff.

Enough to kill.

The Coworker is a tense, unputdownable thriller from New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden that explores the dark ways the past can echo through the present―with deadly consequences.

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ISBN-10

172829620X

ISBN-13

978-1728296203

Print length

368 pages

Language

English

Publisher

Poisoned Pen Press

Publication date

August 28, 2023

Dimensions

5 x 0.92 x 8 inches

Item weight

11.7 ounces


Popular Highlights in this book

  • After all, there’s nothing that binds two people like a shared secret.

    Highlighted by 2,606 Kindle readers

  • Whatever else you can fake, it’s hard to fake being a genuinely kind person. It’s also exceedingly rare.

    Highlighted by 2,378 Kindle readers

  • I notice the wedding band he always wears on his left fourth finger is gone. Recently gone—there’s a visible tan line. My eyes stray to the photograph he always keeps on his desk of him and his wife Melinda, but that’s gone too.

    Highlighted by 1,406 Kindle readers


Product details

ASIN :

B0C688XZQW

File size :

3645 KB

Text-to-speech :

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Editorial Reviews

What Goodreads reviewers are saying about The Coworker...

"One million stars! I devoured this book in less than 10hrs."

"The Queen of thrillers, Freida McFadden has done it again. A fast paced, gripping, psychological thriller!! Yes!! Wow what a wild ride it was!"

"I DEVOURED this book, to the point where I haven't even picked up my phone, because I couldn't put it down. This was intense and shocking and everything we love in a Freida book."

"This has been my favorite of her work by far!! Listened to audio and the narrator does an amazing job as well!!"

"Freida does it again! This was probably my favorite of hers I've read to date."

"Loved it! I was hooked from the very first chapter. So many twists and turns... You don't want to miss this fast-paced addictive thriller!"

"This was an amazing book. Like all of Freida's books, I couldn't put it down."

"If you're familiar with Freida McFadden, then you know you are in for a wild ride filled with unpredictable twists and turns! Quick five star read. Please read if you're a fan of thrillers!"

"Wow! Freida McFadden has produced another jaw-dropping, twisty, 5-star thriller! You will want to clear your schedule for this one or you will lose sleep reading to find out what happens next."

"Freida McFadden has done it again with this thrilling, twisty and shocking book! My jaw was on the floor the last 30% of the book, I was genuinely shocked!! Truly an amazing read and I loved it!"

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Sample

Part I

Chapter One

PRESENT DAY

NATALIE

DAWN ISN’T at her desk this morning when I walk into the office, which means the world is coming to an end.

I’m joking. Obviously, the world is not coming to an end. But if you knew Dawn, you would get it.

For the last nine months, Dawn Schiff has occupied the cubicle next to mine at Vixed, the nutritional supplement company where we both work. You could set your watch by her routines. 8:45, she’s at her desk. 10:15, she takes a bathroom break. 11:45, she goes to the break room and has her lunch. 2:30 is another bathroom break. And at five o’clock sharp, she shuts down her computer and leaves for the day. If there were some sort of apocalyptic event in which all timepieces in the world were lost, we could all get back on schedule just by watching when Dawn went to the bathroom. Down to the second.

I usually arrive at work somewhere in the thirty-minute window between eight-thirty and nine. Well, nine-ish. If all the stars align, I make it by 8:30. But even though I swear I put my keys in the exact same place every day, on the table right by the front door, sometimes during the night they get up and walk away somewhere. And then I have to look for them.

Or else I hit traffic. So much traffic. Dorchester Avenue is a parking lot during rush-hour.

This morning, the lights were not in my favor, but the traffic was sparse, so at ten minutes to nine, I step into the large office space that houses Vixed. I walk through the rows of identical cubicles stuffed into the center of the room, my red heels clicking against the linoleum floor, the fluorescent lights flickering above my head. As I pass by Dawn’s cubicle on the way to my own, my hand already raised in greeting, I stop short.

The cubicle is empty.

As strange as Dawn’s schedule is, it’s even stranger that today she isn’t following it. I can’t help but think that Dawn’s absence must signify something ominous. After all, Dawn is never late. Never.

“Natalie! Hey, Nat! Guess what!”

I rip my eyes away from Dawn’s cubicle at the sound of Kim’s voice. She’s skipping down the aisle of cubicles, her tanned face glowing.

Kim Healey is my best friend at work, which sadly means that she’s my best friend in general since work has increasingly become my entire life. She got back from her honeymoon two weeks ago and has the most spectacular tan as well as highlights in her formerly dark brown hair—she even still smells slightly like sand and sunscreen. She looks fantastic and I’m so happy for her. And I’m only like ten percent jealous. Really—I genuinely wish her all the happiness in the world, as I said in my slightly drunken wedding toast.

I rake my eyes over Kim’s black and white patterned Ann Taylor dress, noting a telltale bulge. “You’re pregnant!” I gasp.

The smile instantly drops off her face. “No. I’m not pregnant. Why would you say that?” She tugs at the tie cinched above her waist. “Do you think this dress makes me look fat?”

“No! Oh, Kim, of course not!” In my defense, the way she said guess what really made it sound like she had a baby announcement. Women my age seem to be announcing pregnancies left and right lately—it seems like the only exciting news anyone has to share—and she did recently get back from her honeymoon. “Not at all. I’m so sorry I said that. I just thought…”

Kim is still tugging at her dress self-consciously. “You must have said that for a reason.”

I mentally smack myself in the head. “I didn’t—I swear. And anyway, everyone puts on a couple of pounds on their honeymoon. It totally suits you.”

But she isn’t even listening. She’s too busy craning her neck, trying to look at her own butt.

I clear my throat. “So, um, what did you want to tell me?”

“Oh.” She manages a tiny smile, her initial enthusiasm dampened. “The T-shirts came. I put them in the conference room.”

Ooh, that is good news! I follow Kim to the conference room, and sure enough, there’s a slightly dented brown cardboard box waiting in the corner. I run right over and pry open the flaps. “Did you look?”

“I sifted through. Didn’t do a full count.”

I rifle through the box stuffed with T-shirts and pull one out. It’s teal in color, and all the necessary information is there. 5K charity run. Benefiting cerebral palsy research. The shirt in my hand is a medium, and it looks about right. I was nervous about the timing—the T-shirts were supposed to arrive last week, and it’s already Tuesday. The charity run I’m organizing is on Saturday.

“They look gorgeous, Nat,” Kim breathes. She has been such an amazing cheerleader in organizing this run—I couldn’t have done it without her. “We can pass them out later in the morning, when everyone is here.”

I nod, relieved this is coming together as planned. “By the way,” I add, “do you know if Dawn called out sick?”

Kim holds a T-shirt up to her chest, smoothing it out over her abdomen, which still looks a bit like a baby bump to me. “No. Why?”

“Well, she’s not here.”

“So? She’s running late.”

“You don’t understand.” I drop the T-shirts back into the cardboard box. “Dawn is never late. Never. Not once the whole time she’s worked here. She’s always here at 8:45.”

Kim looks down at her watch and then back up at me like I’ve lost my mind. “So she’s twenty minutes late. So what?”

It’s strange behavior for Dawn. On top of that, there’s something else I haven’t shared with Kim. Yesterday afternoon, Dawn sent me an odd email asking if I could talk to her at the end of the workday about a “matter of great importance.” But I was out on a sales call most of the afternoon, and when I got back to the office, she was already gone.

A matter of great importance. I wonder if that was about…

No. Probably not.

“I hope she’s okay.” I shake my head. “Maybe she got into a car accident.”

Kim snickers. “Or maybe she was finally committed.”

“Stop it,” I murmur. “That’s mean.”

“Come on. She’s a weirdo and you know it as well as anyone. You’re the one who has to sit next to her.”

“She’s not so bad…”

“Not so bad!” Kim bursts out. “It’s like sharing the office with a robot. And what’s with her obsession with turtles? Like, who is that into turtles?”

Okay, I’m not going to say Dawn isn’t a little strange. Or even very strange. There are times when people at the company make fun of her behind her back. And yes, she does like turtles more than any fully grown adult rightfully should. But she’s a very nice person. If they got to know her a little better, they would be nicer to her.

Not that I know her very well. I always meant to ask her to dinner sometime, but I never got around to it. A couple of weeks ago as we were riding down in the elevator on Friday evening, I casually asked her if she had any plans and she looked shocked by the question. Just having dinner at home. Alone. I would have asked her to join me for dinner, but I was meeting my boyfriend, and it would have been weird if she tagged along.

I’m going to invite her out to dinner. For sure. Just as soon as the 5K is over.

“Anyway, I better get back to work.” Kim glances down at her watch. “I’m not Miss Saleswoman of the Month like somebody else here…”

My cheeks color slightly. My sales are admittedly better than anyone else at the company, but I work my butt off for it. “You got married this month. You have an excuse this time for the low sales.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Kim shrugs because she doesn’t really care that much. Her new husband is loaded. At some point in the near future, she’ll be pregnant for real, and when that happens, she’ll quit and never look back. “Anyway, good luck with the T-shirts. I’ll see you later.”

After Kim takes off, possibly in the direction of her cubicle, but more likely in the direction of the break room to get her third or fourth cup of coffee of the morning, I close the flaps of the box of T-shirts and head back to my cubicle. When I get there, I notice something on my desk that I hadn’t seen before.

It’s a turtle figurine.

It’s small—no longer than the length of my index finger. It’s green and blue in color, the geometric patterns on its shell shining in the overhead fluorescent lights. Its head is lifted, and its beady black eyes stare up at me.

A while back, Dawn excitedly presented me with a turtle figurine for my cubicle. It was so sweet of her, and I felt terrible when the turtle she bought me toppled to the linoleum floor and shattered into a dozen tiny pieces. But that turtle was never replaced. And it was different from this turtle on my desk right now.

I pick up the turtle figurine and roll it between my fingers, feeling the smooth surface. What is this turtle doing here? Who put it here?

Was it Dawn?

But it couldn’t be. When I got back to the office yesterday at the end of the day, she was already gone. And she doesn’t seem to be here yet. So how could she have put this turtle on my desk?

When I rest the turtle back on my desk, there’s a stain on my fingers. Something dark red rubbed off on my hand when I picked up the turtle. I stare down at my palm, trying to figure out what I just touched. It can’t be paint, since the turtle is green. Ketchup?

No, it couldn’t be. It’s too dark in color and not sticky with sugar. And it doesn’t have that sweet smell. It smells almost… metallic.

What is this stuff?

As I’m examining the dark red material that has caked into the grooves of my fingerprints, I am vaguely aware of a phone ringing nearby. Coming from Dawn’s cubicle.

I return to Dawn’s cubicle, hovering by the entrance. It’s still empty. Is it possible she came in earlier this morning and is in the bathroom or something? She must be here, and she must’ve been the one who put this little turtle on my desk, even though her jacket isn’t hanging on the back of her chair. And her computer screen is dark—no screensaver, just black.

The phone on her desk is still ringing. Usually, the caller’s number flashes on the screen, but it’s not this time. It’s a blocked number.

I snatch the phone off the hook. It isn’t my job to answer her phone, but if she is out sick today, I could at least try to take care of any issues that have come up. I’m sure Dawn would do the same for me. She always tries to help other people, almost to a fault.

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About the authors

Freida McFadden

Freida McFadden

#1 New York Times, Amazon Charts, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Sunday Times, and Publisher's Weekly bestselling author Freida McFadden is a practicing physician specializing in brain injury who has penned multiple bestselling psychological thrillers and medical humor novels. Freida’s work has been selected as one of Amazon Editors’ best books of the year, she is the winner of the International Thriller Writers Award for best paperback, and she is a Goodreads Choice Award winner. Her novels have been translated into 40 languages.​ Freida lives with her family and black cat in a centuries-old three-story home overlooking the ocean, with staircases that creak and moan with each step, and nobody could hear you if you scream. Unless you scream really loudly, maybe.To hear Freida talk about herself more in the third person, check out her website freidamcfadden.

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Reviews

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5

80,003 global ratings

Jennifer Smith

Jennifer Smith

5

AMAZING!

Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2024

Verified Purchase

I read this entire book in one setting at work. (APPROX 6 HOURS) I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and the plot twist at the end was insane, I never saw it coming. Excellent book!

TayTay

TayTay

5

🕵️‍♀️📚 Unraveling Office Mysteries: "The Coworker" by Freida McFadden

Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2024

Verified Purchase

Rating: ⭐️⭐️😜😰🤩 TLDR; I read this with my mom and we could not put it down. This was a fun, quick, and suspenseful read. Gotta love Freida's twists. I always wonder how she does it but she does. If you are in a reading slump, need a break from a larger series or just trying to get back into reading - read this or start with one of Freida's books.

This review is for fun and hope its entertaining in some way - enjoy and read this book.

In the cold, sterile halls of Vixed, where nutritional supplements are crafted, secrets fester like an unspoken toxin. Freida McFadden's "The Coworker" beckons readers into the enigmatic world of Dawn Schiff, the peculiar accountant who vanished, leaving behind a whirlwind of suspicion and a twisted game that not even the office's queen bee, Natalie Farrell, can escape.

🕰️ A Game of Shadows: As the clock ticks towards 8:45 a.m., the strangeness of Dawn Schiff unfurls like a shadowy dance. McFadden paints Dawn as an enigma, an outsider harboring mysteries that elude the prying eyes of the Vixed coworkers. The suspense tightens when Dawn vanishes, leaving Natalie ensnared in a web of questions with no easy answers.

😂 Office Humor Meets Dark Secrets: In the monotony of office life, McFadden injects doses of humor (she's good at it), transforming the mundane into a comedic escapade. The quirks of office culture find a place amidst the suspense, creating a narrative that oscillates between chuckles and gasps. It's a rollercoaster of emotions, where laughter and tension intertwine in an unusual office tango. Just when you think you got it figured out someone else pops up.

🔍 Twists That Tease: McFadden's trademark twists take center stage, beckoning readers into a maze of uncertainty. The anonymous phone call becomes a siren's song, luring Natalie into a labyrinth where the distinction between victim and perpetrator blurs. With each revelation, the plot tightens its grip, leaving readers guessing until the final, gasp-inducing twist.

👥 Cat and Mouse: Caught in a twisted game of cat and mouse, Natalie grapples with her connection to Dawn. The lines between alliances and betrayals blur as she navigates the treacherous terrain of office politics turned deadly. McFadden expertly weaves a tale of suspicion and mistrust, leaving readers to wonder who's pulling the strings.

💀 Echoes of the Past: The echoes of Dawn's mysterious past reverberate through the present, casting shadows that stretch far beyond the office walls. McFadden, a maestro of suspense, explores the sinister ways in which the past can claw its way into the present, leaving a trail of deadly consequences.

In "The Coworker," Freida McFadden concocts a potion of humor, suspense, and office intrigue that proves irresistible. A page-turner that entices you into the labyrinth of secrets lurking beneath the veneer of Vixed, it's a thriller that echoes long after the final revelation. Will you uncover the truth, or will the shadows of the office swallow you whole? 🕵️‍♀️🔍🕰️

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25 people found this helpful

Lynn Gill

Lynn Gill

5

I didn't see THAT coming!

Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2024

Verified Purchase

As always, many plot twists and turns! This book did not dissapoint! After the first 20 pages I couldn't put it down!

PZA

PZA

4

my my my my

Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2024

Verified Purchase

Her books are good for a break between big series or if you’re just getting into this kind of genre.

Predictable. Yes. Crafty. Yes. Worth the read. Also yes.

As I’m reading this, the story leads me to be so focused on Natalie versus other characters but then there’s small clues where you start to consider other characters and question no what’s going on. Unless you’re really into this kind of stuff being detective that does take a little bit to catch on. I am a little disappointed that the ending doesn’t quite carry out a little bit more, but I suppose it does to , an extent. We all know people are crazy, but for these two to essentially go up against each other like this, it would be interesting to see if there was a book 2 on this one maybe they got together. All the characters come in at the right time and there’s just enough to keep you guessing without actually knowing what’s going on and the surprises are well just that surprises. So either you’re going to get it or you’re not until the end.

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2 people found this helpful

Fran

Fran

4

Nice twist

Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2024

Verified Purchase

I really liked the characters in the book , they were well thought out. It had a good twist at the end without a "Happily ever after ending". Good book For leisurely reading for enjoyment.

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