I just finished the Jade Monroe FBI Series and quickly turned to one of my favorite authors, Freida McFadden. This time, I’ve read The Crash.
In Part I, we meet Teagan, who is 8 months pregnant. She works at the grocery store, picking up extra shifts and nearly-expired food when possible. She doesn’t have great financial stability, and a baby is on the way in just a month.
The baby’s father isn’t in the picture, other than he’s a wealthy man with a wife and family of his own. He and the lawyer, Jackson, draft a contract for her to sign. He’ll be giving her plenty of hush money, money she needs for herself and her daughter. But when he shows up at the apartment, she realizes it’s a mistake. It wasn’t just a one-night stand. He drugged her. She was raped. The contact is torn up, and the dream of living comfortably is gone for now. What will she do?
She decides to go to her brother’s home. But the blizzard comes in fast and furious. She ends up crashing into a tree. Luckily, another driver, Hank, sees her and takes her to his home, where his wife, Polly, is. She’s a nurse after all and can take care of her. But the bruises on Polly’s wrists and the arguing she keeps hearing make her realize she’s not really safe there. But what choice does she have?
Part II starts with us learning more from Polly’s perspective. It wasn’t her husband who left the mark on her wrist. It was from an angry neighbor. And we learn that she’s made assumptions about Tegan, too. She is angered by the fact that she’s ready to take pain medication even though she’s pregnant. Or that she appears to be drinking whiskey. Then she pockets Tegan’s cell phone and steals her pepper spray. She’s not sure what Tegan’s story is and doesn’t like being prepared. And what’s worse, she and Hank have tried for a baby. She’s desperate to have one. And the crashes and swearing Tegan heard? That was just Hank bumping into furniture in the dark. See? Assumptions are everywhere. But what’s interesting will be learning what The Incident was and whether Polly will crack. And she has plans. She’s the one keeping Tegan in the basement even when Hank said he’d drive her to the hospital.
And when Hank realizes she’s still there and has not gone to the hospital, he threatens to call 911. Polly threatens to tell the police that the bruise on her wrists was from him. Since he’s spent time in jail for breaking someone’s nose, he reluctantly agrees to let Tegan stay. This isn’t good.
Part III begins two days after the crash. We find out that The Incident revolved around Polly working in the infant nursery at the hospital. She was doing fine for most of the shift until she held onto a baby and wouldn’t let it go. Hank took her home, where she tried to overdose on pills. She was upset to still be alive. She had to stay in a psych ward, killing any chance to adopt. And now she uses that and whatever else she can to convince Hank to go along with her. She’s absolutely psycho. And Tegan has no idea she’s the real threat.
It’s amazing to me how upset Polly is at Hank, who doesn’t want to go along with this. It’s also amazing that Hank keeps going along with it, for Polly.
Part IV is four days after the crash. And things are getting worse. Tegan now has an infection and a possible blood clot. Polly is getting more desperate. But to my surprise, Hank scoops up Tegan and gets her to the truck to drive her to the hospital while Polly is getting her meds. Tegan still doesn’t believe him, but he does what he said he’d do, and she’s now at the hospital. And Polly is furious with Hank!
At the hospital, the doctors are taking good care of her and the baby. But the police are there to talk to her. Someone tampered with her car! Also, Dennis is there. She’s so happy to see her brother. But in the meantime, Polly plans to go to the hospital. And when she finds Tegan’s room, she sees Dennis trying to put something into her IV. What is happening? Polly asks what he’s doing, and he bolts for it. Jackson, who was there earlier, holds him down. Polly tells Jackson what she saw, and he blurts out, “I knew it!” And Polly, who’d come there to kill Tegan, ended up saving her life.
Jackson and a police officer are now with Tegan. Simon had paid someone to cut the brake line. And Dennis is the one who convinced Tegan to drive out to see him. Turns out Simon and Dennis were business partners. Simon was financing new ski resorts. If the deal between Tegan and Simon didn’t go through, neither would the business deal. That’s why Dennis pushed her so hard to take Simon’s money. Thankfully, Simon is in police custody.
And Polly? She gets to go home with Hank. She realizes what she has is enough. And is finally happy with that. And plans to talk with her shrink again. She needs to. But when they get home, police surround her neighbor’s home, where Sadie lives. Her dad apparently fell and then suffocated in the snow.
Simon will be paying for little Tia’s support anyway, thanks to Jackson. So he’s arranged for help when Tegan gets out of the hospital. And one year later, Tegan is in her own farmhouse. And Jackson has been helping her with everything. Pretty sure Tia will have a dad after all. They all seem happy together.
And Polly? She gets her wish. She and Hank have been fostering Sadie, which wasn’t easy given Polly’s past. They all seem happy, too.
And now it’s the first bit from Hank’s perspective. We learn that Hank is the reason for Sadie’s dad’s demise. Mitch was drunk that night one year ago, and when he saw Sadie all black and blue, he lost it. It’s funny that Sadie kept that secret just like Tegan kept Hank and Polly’s.
I love Freida’s books. This one probably wasn’t her best, but I didn’t expect those twists at the end. And I read it within just a couple of days. I love those fast reads.
Now, what do I read next?