Book Talk: Freida McFadden, ‘One by One’

Freida McFadden is a practicing physician. She specializes in brain injury, lives in a centuries old three-story house in New York City, overlooking the ocean. The staircases creak and moan with each step. She claims that nobody could hear you if you scream — unless you scream really loudly. Although the three books of hers that I’ve read are (1) eerie, (2) creepy, and (3) scary, they do not rely on the supernatural or blatant horror. But they are definitely the kind of books that you don’t want to put down.

“One by One” (2024, 258 pages in soft-cover format) vaguely reminds me of Agatha Christie’s “Ten Little Indians,” also known as “And Then There Were None.” Unlike Christie’s tale, McFadden sets her story in a modern middle-class suburb. Friends, and at least one newcomer, pile into Claire’s SUV and take off for a week’s vacation at a secluded Inn in the mountains.

Claire and her husband Noah, have not been getting along. If fact, Claire reveals that they hate each other and are staying together for the sake of their two children. But the kids, Aiden and Emma, are staying behind in the care of Claire’s sister.