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​Freida McFadden is an American physician, blogger and #1 Amazon bestselling author of medical and psychological thrillers.

She has also authored a couple of medical humor novels.

As a practicing physician, Freida McFadden specializes in diagnosing and treating patients with brain injury.

Her works have been featured on Student Doctor Network, AMWA, Medscape, KevinMD, Mothers in Medicine, and Medpage Today.

Freida McFadden currently lives with her family and a black cat in a centuries-old three-story home with a beachfront view.

She often jokes about how their home has staircases that make eerie sounds with each step you take, and how no one can hear you scream—unless you scream really, really loudly.

More about Freida McFadden

Genres: Humor, Psychological Thriller, Thriller

United States

Website: https://www.freidamcfadden.com/

Non Series

  • Baby City: An Inside Look into Labor & Delivery (2015)
  • The Surrogate Mother (2020)
  • The Ex (2020)
  • The Perfect Son (2020)
  • The Wife Upstairs (2020)
  • One By One (2020)
  • Want to Know a Secret? (2021)
  • The Locked Door (2021)
  • Do Not Disturb (2021)
  • Do You Remember? (2022)
  • The Inmate (2022)
  • Never Lie (2022)
  • Ward D (2023)
  • The Coworker (2023)
  • The Teacher (2023)

Anthologies

  1. 11 out of 10: A Collection of Humorous Medical Short Stories (2015)

Housemaid

  1. The Housemaid (2022)
  2. The Housemaid's Secret (2023)

Novellas

  1. The Gift (2022)

Dr. Jane Mcgill

  1. The Devil You Know (2017)
  2. The Devil Wears Scrubs (2013)

Prescription: Murder

  1. Suicide Med (2014)
  2. Brain Damage (2016)
Novellas
Prescription: Murder

Detailed book overview

Non Series

Baby City: An Inside Look into Labor & Delivery

There are only three things in this world that are certain: death, taxes, and babies.

Nobody knows this truth better than Emily McCoy, a third year resident working in Baby City, the affectionate nickname for the busy Labor and Delivery unit at a New York City hospital. On a typical day in Baby City, Emily delivers more babies than the number of hours of sleep she manages to squeeze in that night. And definitely more than the number of dates she's been on since she started her training in OB/GYN two years earlier.

As Emily works tirelessly to safely herald baby after baby after baby (after baby) into the world, she becomes well acquainted with the three hard facts of Baby City:

1) Babies never come when you want them to.

2) Babies always come when you don't want them to.

3) You don't know who your true friends are until your baby is sliding down the birth canal.

NB: Co-authored with Kelley Stoddard.

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2015
ISBN: 978-1511910477
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
The Surrogate Mother

Abby wants a baby more than anything.

But after years of failed infertility treatments and adoptions that have fallen through, it seems like motherhood is not in her future. That is, until her personal assistant Monica makes a generous offer that will make all of Abby's dreams come true.

But it turns out Monica isn't who she says she is. The woman now carrying Abby's child has an unspeakable secret.

And she will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2020
ISBN: 979-8639013379
Publisher: Independently published
The Ex

Cassie thinks she has met the perfect man.

Joel is sweet, handsome, romantic, and best of all, he’s crazy about Cassie. She thinks she’s found the guy she’ll spend the rest of her life with. Have children with. Grow old with.

Yes, she knows about his perfect ex-girlfriend, Francesca. The beautiful, brilliant chef, beloved by all his friends. But she thinks Francesca is out of the picture. She thinks Francesca is gone for good.

Think again, Cassie.

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2020
ISBN: 979-8637890118
Publisher: Independently published
The Perfect Son

"Mrs. Cass, we were hoping your son could answer a few questions about the girl who disappeared last night..."

Erika Cass has a perfect family and a perfect life. Until the evening when two detectives show up at her front door.

A high school girl has vanished from Erika's quiet suburban neighborhood. The police suspect the worst--murder. And Erika's teenage son, Liam, was the last person to see the girl alive.

Erika has always sensed something dark and disturbed in her seemingly perfect older child. She wants to believe he's innocent, but as the evidence mounts, she can't deny the truth--Liam may have done the unthinkable.

Now she must ask herself:

How far will she go to protect her son?

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2020
ISBN: 979-8635011362
Publisher: Independently published
The Wife Upstairs

Victoria Barnett has it all.

A great career. A handsome and loving husband. A beautiful home in the suburbs and a plan to fill it with children. Life is perfect—or so it seems.

Then she’s in a terrible accident…and everything falls apart.

Now Victoria is unable to walk. She can’t feed or dress herself. She can’t even speak. She is confined to the top floor of her house with twenty-four-hour care.

Sylvia Robinson is hired by Victoria’s husband to help care for her. But it turns out Victoria isn’t as impaired as Sylvia was led to believe. There’s a story Victoria desperately wants to tell… if only she could get out the words.

Then Sylvia discovers Victoria’s diary hidden away in a drawer.

And what’s inside is shocking.

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2020
ISBN: 979-8645358082
Publisher: Independently published
One By One

One by one, they will get what they deserve...

A night spent sleeping on dirt and leaves is not how Claire Matchett expected to spend her vacation.

She thought this would be a break from the stresses of work and raising her young children. A chance to repair her damaged marriage. A week of hiking and hot tubs with two other couple friends. It sounded like heaven.

Then Claire’s minivan breaks down on a lonely dirt road. With no cell reception, the group has no choice but to hike the rest of the way to their hotel. But it turns out the woods aren’t as easy to navigate as they thought.

Hours later, they are lost. Hopelessly lost.  

And as they navigate deeper into the woods, the members of their party are struck down mysteriously one by one. Has a wild animal been hunting them? Or is the hunter one of them?

But as more time passes, one thing becomes clear:

Only one of them will return home alive.

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2020
ISBN: 979-8669479893
Publisher: Independently published
Want to Know a Secret?

Everyone has secrets.

YouTube baking sensation April Masterson knows the secret to the perfect gooey brownies. Or how to make key lime squares that will melt in your mouth. But if you keep watching her offline, you may find out some other secrets about April. Secrets she’d rather you didn’t know.

Like where did her son go when he snuck out of the house? What was she doing with the local soccer coach behind fogged windows?

And what’s buried in her backyard?

Everyone has secrets. Some are worse than others.

April’s secrets are enough to destroy her.

I’ll make sure of that.

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2021
ISBN: 979-8596462579
Publisher: Independently published
The Locked Door

Some doors are locked for a reason…

While eleven-year-old Nora Davis was up in her bedroom doing homework, she had no idea her father was killing women in the basement.

Until the day the police arrived at their front door.

Decades later, Nora’s father is spending his life behind bars, and Nora is a successful surgeon with a quiet, solitary existence. Nobody knows her father was a notorious serial killer. And she intends to keep it that way.

Then Nora discovers one of her young female patients has been murdered. In the same unique and horrific manner that her father used to kill his victims.

Somebody knows who Nora is. Somebody wants her to take the fall for this unthinkable crime. But she’s not a killer like her father. The police can’t pin anything on her.

As long as they don’t look in her basement.

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2021
ISBN: 979-8515308803
Publisher: Independently published
Do Not Disturb

Quinn Alexander has committed an unthinkable crime.

To avoid spending her life in prison, Quinn makes a run for it. She leaves behind her home, her job, and her family. She grabs her passport and heads for the northern border before the police can discover what she’s done.

But when an unexpected snowstorm forces her off the road, Quinn must take refuge at the broken-down, isolated Baxter Motel. The handsome and kindly owner, Nick Baxter, is only too happy to offer her a cheap room for the night.

Unfortunately, the Baxter Motel isn’t the quiet, safe haven it seemed to be. The motel has a dark and disturbing past. And in the dilapidated house across the way, the silhouette of Nick's ailing wife is always at the window. Always watching.

In the morning, Quinn must leave the motel. She'll pack up her belongings and get back on the road to freedom.

But first, she must survive the night.

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2021
ISBN: 979-8474673417
Publisher: Independently published
Do You Remember?

Tess Strebel can’t recognize her own face.

She can’t recognize her home. Her bedroom is unfamiliar. And she can’t remember the handsome stranger lying next to her in bed. A stranger who claims he’s her husband.

Tess reads a letter in her own handwriting, composed during a rare lucid day, explaining her life as it now exists: She was in a terrible car accident one year ago. Every morning, she wakes up unable to remember most of the last decade. Including her own wedding.

Tess has no choice but to accept her new life and hope her memory will return. After all, why should she doubt the letter she wrote to herself? Or the kind man from the wedding photos on her dresser who seems to genuinely care about her well-being?

And then Tess receives a text message on her phone. One that changes everything:

"Don’t trust the man who calls himself your husband."

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2022
ISBN: 979-8799032494
Publisher: Independently published
The Inmate

There are three rules Brooke Sullivan must follow as a new nurse practitioner at a men’s maximum-security prison:

1) Treat all prisoners with respect.

2) Never reveal any personal information.

3) Never EVER become too friendly with the inmates.

But none of the staff at the prison knows Brooke has already broken the rules. Nobody knows about her intimate connection to Shane Nelson, one of the penitentiary’s most notorious and dangerous inmates.

And they certainly don’t know that Shane was Brooke’s high school sweetheart—the star quarterback who is now spending the rest of his life in prison for a series of grisly murders. Or that Brooke's testimony was what put him there.

But Shane knows.

And he will never forget.

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2022
ISBN: 979-8835444670
Publisher: Independently published
Never Lie

Newlyweds Tricia and Ethan are searching for the house of their dreams.

But when they visit the remote manor that once belonged to Dr. Adrienne Hale, a renowned psychiatrist who vanished without a trace four years earlier, a violent winter storm traps them at the estate…with no chance of escape until the blizzard comes to an end.

In search of a book to keep her entertained until the snow abates, Tricia happens upon a secret room. One that contains audio transcripts from every single patient Dr. Hale has ever interviewed. As Tricia listens to the cassette tapes, she learns about the terrifying chain of events leading up to Dr. Hale’s mysterious disappearance.

Tricia plays the tapes one by one, late into the night. With each one, another shocking piece of the puzzle falls into place, and Dr. Adrienne Hale’s web of lies slowly unravels.

And then Tricia reaches the final cassette.

The one that reveals the entire horrifying truth.

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2022
ISBN: 979-8352831533
Publisher: Independently published
Ward D

Medical student Amy Brenner is spending the night on a locked psychiatric ward.

Amy has been dreading her evening working on Ward D, the hospital’s inpatient mental health unit. There are very specific reasons why she never wanted to do this required overnight rotation. Reasons nobody can ever find out.

And as the hours tick by, Amy grows increasingly convinced something terrible is happening within these tightly secured walls. When patients and staff start to vanish without a trace, it becomes clear that everyone on the unit is in grave danger.

Amy’s worst nightmare was spending the night on Ward D.

And now she might never escape.

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2023
ISBN: 979-8386054502
Publisher: Independently published
The Coworker

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.

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2023
ISBN: 978-1728296203
The Teacher

Lesson #1: trust no one

Eve has a good life. She gets up each day, gets a kiss from her husband Nate, and heads off to teach math at the local high school. All is as it should be. Except…

Last year, Caseham High was rocked by a scandal, with one student, Addie, at its center. And this year, Eve is dismayed to find the girl in her class.

Addie can't be trusted. She lies. She hurts people. She destroys lives. At least, that's what everyone says.

But nobody knows the real Addie. Nobody knows the secrets that could destroy her. And Addie will do anything to keep it quiet.

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2023
ISBN: 978-1728296210
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Anthologies

11 out of 10: A Collection of Humorous Medical Short Stories

"What is your pain level on a scale of 1 to 10, where zero would be no pain, and 10 would be if you had an attack of kidney stones while in active labor, and while all that was going on, you were set on fire. Starting with your genitals. And then you were disemboweled, and the bowels that were removed were then also set on fire. And then while you were running around in active labor, passing a kidney stone, on fire with your bowels also on fire, you accidentally stepped on a Lego with your bare foot. And that Lego was also on fire."

"It's an 11."

Medicine can be funny. It can be sad, painful, inspirational, but also sometimes funny. "11 out of 10" is a collection of humorous medical stories from practitioners in all fields, ranging from physicians to nurses to EMTs to medical students. Some are totally true, some are exaggerated, and some are mostly fiction. But every single one of them aims to put a smile on your face.

All profits from this book will be donated to Deworm the World Initiative, a charity that aims to treat parasitic infections in children in developing nations

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2015
ISBN: 978-1517492489
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Housemaid

The Housemaid

“Welcome to the family,” Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I’ll soon learn that the Winchesters’ secrets are far more dangerous than my own…

Every day I clean the Winchesters’ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.

I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.

I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out…and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late.

But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am.

They don’t know what I’m capable of…

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2022
ISBN: 978-1538742570
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
The Housemaid's Secret

“Don’t go in the guest bedroom.” A shadow falls on Douglas Garrick’s face as he touches the door with his fingertips. “My wife… she’s very ill.” 

As he continues showing me their incredible penthouse apartment, I have a terrible feeling about the woman behind closed doors. But I can’t risk losing this job—not if I want to keep my darkest secret safe…

It’s hard to find an employer who doesn’t ask too many questions about my past. So I thank my lucky stars that the Garricks miraculously give me a job, cleaning their stunning penthouse with views across the city and preparing fancy meals in their shiny kitchen. I can work here for a while, stay quiet until I get what I want.

It’s almost perfect. But I still haven’t met Mrs Garrick, or seen inside the guest bedroom. I’m sure I hear her crying. I notice spots of blood around the neck of her white nightgowns when I’m doing laundry. And one day I can’t help but knock on the door. When it gently swings open, what I see inside changes everything…

That’s when I make a promise. After all, I’ve done this before. I can protect Mrs Garrick while keeping my own secrets locked up safe.

Douglas Garrick has done wrong. He is going to pay. It’s simply a question of how far I’m willing to go…

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2023
ISBN: 978-1837901326
Publisher: Bookouture

Novellas

The Gift

It’s Christmas Eve and Stella Hansen is broke.

She is so broke that despite working two jobs, she can’t even afford a present for her husband on their first Christmas as man and wife. But then a mysterious storekeeper at a pawn shop offers Stella an intriguing trade.

Stella wants more than anything to buy her husband the Christmas gift of his dreams. But will it come at a terrible price?

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2022
ISBN: 979-8367070675
Publisher: Independently published

Dr. Jane Mcgill

The Devil You Know

Dr. Jane McGill is in heaven.

She’s got a great job at a VA Hospital, an adorable daughter, and a loving husband. Granted, it would be wonderful if her preschooler wouldn’t wake her up at three in the morning, and it would be a miracle if her husband would change the toilet paper roll once every millennium. Still, in most ways, she has the ideal life she’d always imagined.

Then Jane discovers that Dr. Ryan Reilly is the VA’s newest vascular surgeon. Dr. Ryan Reilly, a.k.a. Sexy Surgeon, a.k.a. the biggest jerk she ever loved.

A decade ago, Jane broke up with the Sexy Surgeon to marry the Nice Software Engineer, but as cracks and crevices appear in her marriage, she can’t help but wonder what life would have been like if she’d made a different choice. Or if it isn’t too late to change her mind…

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2017
ISBN: 978-1546859888
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
The Devil Wears Scrubs

Newly minted doctor Jane McGill is in hell.

Not literally, of course. But between her drug addict patients, sleepless nights on call, and battling wits with the sadistic yet charming Sexy Surgeon, Jane can’t imagine an afterlife much worse than her first month of medical internship at County Hospital.

And then there’s the devil herself: Jane’s senior resident Dr. Alyssa Morgan. When Alyssa becomes absolutely hell-bent on making her new interns pay tenfold for the deadly sin of incompetence, Jane starts to worry that she may not make it through the year with her soul or her sanity still intact.

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2013
ISBN: 978-1492177166
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Prescription: Murder

Suicide Med

Nobody wants to go to a school nicknamed Suicide Med.

One suicide. Every year.

Heather McKinley has always dreamed of becoming a doctor. She doesn’t even care about her medical school’s grisly history of suicides—it can’t happen to her. But after Heather’s longtime boyfriend dumps her and she finds herself failing anatomy, her world starts to crumble.

The pressure is intense. People crack.

Thank goodness for Dr. Conlon, her quirky but beloved anatomy professor. He’ll do anything to help his students succeed. But is it a coincidence that the bespectacled professor joined the staff the same year the suicides began?

Or are they suicides at all?

All Heather knows is that one student will die this year.

And that student could be her.

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2014
ISBN: 978-1500420536
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Brain Damage

After years of hard work, Dr. Charly McKenna finally has it all. Prosperous career as a dermatologist? Check. Spacious apartment overlooking Central Park? Check. Handsome lawyer husband? Double check.

Then one night, a bullet rips through the right side of her skull and she loses everything.

As Charly struggles to recover from her brain injury, she begins to realize that the events of that fateful night are trapped in the damaged right side of her brain. Now she must put the jigsaw pieces together to discover the identity of the man who tried to kill her...before he finishes the job he started.

Author: Freida McFadden
First Release: 2016
ISBN: 978-1532902949
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform