I don’t know why I continue to put myself through these books. Maybe it is a condition, a psychological condition that Freida Mc Fadden will someday use for one of the characters in her ‘gripping psychological thrillers.’
But I picked up this book because I read the first one in the series, The Housemaid. Which I picked up because I read The Inmate which I picked up because I read The Wife Upstairs because… ok, so you get the condition that I am talking about. There is no cure in sight.
It is a formula that the author has perfected. Obviously obvious things that happen to loser type female protagonists and then an obviously unpredictable (but oh, so contrived or oh, so ridiculous) twist at the end. I don’t know what to make of my addiction to read such drivel.
So in this book, Millie the housemaid is back. And she again gets a job in a fancy penthouse where she cleans and cooks and does the laundry for the two mysterious people who live there. And as per the formula the two people are a rich handsome man and a wife behind closed doors.
I forgot who Enzo was in Book 1, I didn’t bother to refresh my memory. But I assume that he was the gardener who didn’t speak English who is part of the big twist in the end. He makes an appearance in this book as Millie’s guardian angel and other things. A boyfriend exists for the sole purpose of making the reader feel more annoyed with Millie. Just move in with him, woman. Say the I love yous and become a normal girlfriend and live happily ever after!
These authors of ‘psychological thrillers’ really need to stop trying to write different versions of Gone Girl. It gets so tiring. The moment Douglas Garrick walks in, you know that he is the bad guy. The moment Wendy Garrick peeps out through the door, you know that she is not the battered woman she appears to be. So why on earth does Millie not see it!
Whatever
The author’s style of writing also annoys me. So much unnecessary blah and dumbing down of things. What on earth is ‘programmed his number into my phone’ like it needs some javascript to save an ex boyfriend’s number?
And then the book ends with the question ‘Were you totally shocked by…?’ And I want to roll my eyes and say, No author, everything was so bloody obvious. I only kept reading to see which template of yours the plot of this book would follow.
But like I said, I have a condition. So I have picked up another book by this same author now. Another ‘Gripping psychological thriller’. Let the hatereading begin.
The Book Story 