Book Talk: Freida McFadden, 'Never Lie'

If you’ve read even one of Freida McFadden’s psychological thrillers, you’re probably a fan like me.  Dr. McFadden is a practicing physician who specializes in brain injury.  Consequently, she knows a lot about the functioning, as well as the malfunctioning, of the human mind.  And that serves her well when she sits down to write a psychological thriller.  

In “Never Lie” (2022, 292 pages in softcover), the author’s knowledge brings a number of characters with damaged minds to life, including Dr. Adrienne Hale (a renowned psychiatrist), EJ a dangerous narcissist, and PL a pleasant young woman who credits Dr. Hale with effecting a “cure.”  But, for some unknown reason, Dr. Hale has gone missing shortly after the publication of her long-awaited magnum opus, “The Anatomy of Fear.”

In a seemingly unrelated plot, newlyweds Tricia and Ethan are on their way to look at a house that’s away from the city, fairly isolated, and a great place to raise the children that they hope to have someday.  The house is huge, magnificent, and underpriced.  Ethan is immediately in love with the house, but Tricia is getting bad vibes.