Do Not Disturb by Freida McFadden

source: Audible audiobook membership
title: Do Not Disturb
author: Freida McFadden
published: September 7, 2021
genre: psychological thriller
length: 7h 53m
pages: 325
narrated by: Holly Adams and Daniel Thomas May
rated: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars


about:

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.
Do Not Disturb is a Hitchcock-style psychological thriller that will keep you tearing through the pages until you reach the shocking conclusion!

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my thoughts:
This was my second audiobook by Freida McFadden and her storytelling is easy and fast paced. Her books are like potato chips, you can’t have just one.

As Do Not Disturb begins, Quinn is washing the blood off her hands when the cops arrive at her doorstep. She killed her husband Derrick and decides to make a run for it. She ends up driving off but due to a snowstorm, she pulls over at the Baxter Motel for the night. There she meets the motel owner Nick and a mysterious fortune telling woman staying in room 202. Not to mention she sees a woman staring out of the window of the house facing down on the property. As the story flows, Quinn is increasingly paranoid that the police will find her. She considers calling her sister Claudia for help. She reflects back on her marriage to Derrick and we see that he abused her.

“I want to make one thing clear. I killed him. I’m not going to claim it was the butler or a one-armed man. I did it. I killed my husband. All I can say in my defense is I had a good reason.”– Do Not Disturb by Freida McFadden


The blurb calls this one a “Hitchcock-style psychological thriller” and that’s very true. Right from the start, this story reminded me of the film Psycho. Between the Baxter Motel and the woman in the window reminding me of Norma Bates, I thought someone would get stabbed in the shower next. I half expected Nick to appear dressed as his deceased mother. Quinn even refers to seeing a movie where a woman gets stabbed to death in a shower and one of the characters at one point says “we all go a little crazy sometimes.” The Psycho similarities and references started to annoy me a little, I didn’t want to read a re-telling of Psycho.

As for the cast of characters, they take turn narrating so you hear from Quinn, her sister Claudia, Nick and his wife Rosalie. Rosalie has health issues and suffers from depression and this is a big part of the storyline.

I didn’t see the plot twists coming and one part in particular I reallllly had to suspend disbelief for. The same thing happened with the other book I read by this author. I can’t say too much without spoiling it, but I liked the ending, although far-fetched, it was a hopeful one and I can appreciate that.

Overall, this was a solid crime thriller, inspired by Psycho and full of secrets and plot twists that I didn’t see coming. I’m definitely reading/listening to this author again. A few book bloggers recommended The Housemaid so I might have to read that next. I have to decide audio or print version though. Also, the audiobook was narrated by Holly Adams and she sounds exactly like Jennifer Tilly.

“You don’t even realize you have everything until your whole life falls apart.”– Do Not Disturb by Freida McFadden


about the author:
#1 New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Publisher’s Weekly, and Amazon Charts bestselling author Freida McFadden is a practicing physician specializing in brain injury who has penned multiple Kindle bestselling psychological thrillers and medical humor novels. She lives with her family and black cat in a centuries-old three-story home overlooking the ocean, with staircases that creak and moan with each step, and nobody could hear you if you scream. Unless you scream really loudly, maybe.-quoted from Goodreads

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Disclaimer: This review is my honest opinion. I did not receive any kind of compensation for reading and reviewing this book. I am under no obligation to write a positive review.