The Crash

 

I love Freida McFadden books so when I needed a title for the Key Word Reading Challenge last month, I chose The Crash. I am a little behind with my reading due to a move last month but I am getting caught up. The Crash was published in January 2025.

The publisher's summary:  

Tegan is eight months pregnant, alone, and desperately wants to put her crumbling life in the rearview mirror. So she hits the road, planning to stay with her brother until she can figure out her next move. But she doesn't realize she's heading straight into a blizzard.

She never arrives at her destination.

Stranded in rural Maine with a dead car and broken ankle, Tegan worries she's made a terrible mistake. Then a miracle occurs: she is rescued by a couple who offers her a room in their warm cabin until the snow clears.

But something isn't right. Tegan believed she was waiting out the storm, but as time ticks by, she comes to realize she is in grave danger. This safe haven isn't what she thought it was, and staying here may have been her most deadly mistake yet.  

And now she must do whatever it takes to save herself―and her unborn child.

Wow! What an amazing ride from reading this novel. It's a fast paced suspense thriller about an unmarried 8 months pregnant woman who takes shelter during a snowstorm with a strange couple. Tegan doesn't want to be rescued by Hank because he is unkempt and scary looking as he approaches her crashed vehicle. She has no choice though as she has injured her foot and cannot put any weight on it. Hank takes her home because the hospital is 10 miles away, impossible to reach in a snowstorm. Hank's wife Polly is a former nurse who cares for her in their basement. A nursing suite had been built for Polly's dying mother but now Tegan is lying in their hospital bed. She doesn't trust Polly at first but is terrified of Hank.

With an intricate plot, plenty of twists, and an unexpected ending, I found it impossible to put the book down. I read it in approximately 2 hours. The story reminded me of the 1990 movie Misery with Kathy Bates. In fact, the plot of the novel is similar to the movie. The pace was pretty fast although the plot was a slow burn. The Crash is one of the best written books that I have ever read. 

I am rating the book way over 5 out of 5 stars.