The Coworker

Such a fast read, I was hooked right away!

Every character was an awful person in their own ways, BUT I was on the edge of my seat regardless just dying to know what happened!

The book club gave this an average rating of 7 , with a couple of 8’s. It brought up some interesting conversations about bullying and points of views. One of our experienced fiction readers did not think this was Frieda’s McFaddens best book but still was able to give it a 7. The book is themed in Boston. Good read.w

Another smash hit for McFadden. I loved one of her previous books and this one did not disappoint. For the longest time I couldn't figure this one out, since I knew there is usually a twist in her books.
Dawn Schiff is a non-neurotypical employee at a company that sells vitamin products. Her co-worker, Natalie is blonde and beautiful and is always picking on Dawn, excluding her, or talking about her behind her back. She says things like "She probably makes love to a turtle" since Dawn is obsessed with turtles- knowing about them, talking about them, and collecting them. She is also the top salesperson and runs the annual charity 5K in honor of her friend, Amelia, who had cerebral palsy and died, but she won't let Dawn participate.

The sequence of events is revealed through a series of emails between Dawn and her best friend, Mia. There are also emails from Seth, the boss, Natalie and others. I found some of this a bit annoying since I was listening to the book on audio and it always read the entire email including the to, from, subject, etc. I would not recommend listening to this book on audio.

The story goes back and forth in time so we learn what happened at various points in time, mostly through the perspective of Dawn's emails to her friend, Mia, when she documents all of mean things that Natalie does: purposely sending her the incorrect times for meetings so Dawn would be late, sneering at his gift from Dawn (a turtle figurine), excluding Dawn from attending the bridal shower for a fellow employee. Dawn also suspects that Natalie broke her favorite (turtle) mug and smashed and threw away the cupcakes she had so carefully made and decorated for the bridal shower It is also revealed that apparently Natalie has been stealing money from the company and spending too much money on lunches and free give-aways trying to get sales. Dawn shows Seth how much money would be saved if Natalie cut her expenses. Seth ignores this advice. It later becomes know that Seth had an affair with Natalie. Natalie is now dating Caleb, a nice guy. Still she calls Seth, her boss and former lover, for a booty call one evening when Sean can't come over. Natalie is getting some complaints about side-effects of the products but refuses to refund the money to customers. She is one nasty piece of work.

When Dawn is found missing and later a body is found, Natalie is arrested for murder.
Spoiler: The twist
However, Dawn did not murder Natalie. She is very much alive and framed Natalie because she feels Natalie is responsible for the suicide death of her best friend, Mia, who killed herself in high school after Natalie and her friend tormented her. Dawn is working with Caleb, who is posing as Natalie's boyfriend. It is Caleb who planted the incriminating evidence at Natalie's house and in her car. Caleb, is Mia's brother and in fact, Dawn's boyfriend. Caleb was also posing as Mia in the fake emails that incriminated Natalie. Most of the damning things in the emails was not true. Natalie did not steal from the company.

Later, when DNA evidence reveals that the dead body was not Dawn, but the body of Tara, one of Natalie's high school friends. In the end, Caleb realizes that Dawn will kill herself to implicate Natalie and insure her conviction for murder. Caleb goes to Natalie, who has been released on bail, and reveals that Dawn is still alive. Natalie tries to find Dawn to save her life and talk to her. She suspects Dawn will go to the beach. It is pretty far-fetched that Natalie finds Dawn who now has a weight around her ankle and is about to jump into the ocean. Natalie apologizes for her role in Mia's death. She said a day has not gone by when she didn't think about Mia and regret her actions. She tells Dawn that Caleb came to her in tears and he loves her very much. Natalie realizes that Dawn killed her high school friend Tara in an attempt to frame her. She realizes she has something over Dawn. Dawn goes to the police to reveal she is alive. She claims she bumped her head and was delirious and wandering around for a few days. She quits her job at the vitamin company, but helps Natalie with the 5K in memory of Amelia (Mia). She trains for the race and runs with Caleb, who proposes marriage.
Later, it is revealed that Natalie has been maintaining her fancy lifestyle (expensive apartment) by skimming money from the fundraiser. She is really not such a nice person, (but not as bad as Dawn had depicted her). It was happily ever after for everyone, except Seth's wife, Melina, who is duped into divorcing her husband. It was Natalie who told her Seth was having an affair and made up a threatening note that made Melina look unstable.

Audio Book