The Coworker by Freida McFadden

 


The story centers on the mysterious disappearance of Dawn Schiff, an eccentric and introverted office worker, and the subsequent investigation led by her more conventional colleague, Natalie Farrell. Dawn's odd behavior and enigmatic past make her disappearance all the more intriguing, while Natalie's determination to uncover the truth reveals her own agendas.

The novel reads from the POV of Dawn and Natalie. Dawn's description of her life, her interactions especially with her boss and Natalie and her emails to her best friend Mia, leads the reader to sympathise with Dawn, especially as you realize that she is autistic or on the spectrum but it isn't explictity mentioned. Her observations lead the author to form opinions about Natalie and you find yourself drawn to defend Dawn. Natalie is concerned for her colleague and for the most part is trying to escape the web she has landed into by trying to locate Dawn.

When a body is found, all hell breaks loose. Who is to blame? Who is speaking the truth? What truly happened and how does it connect Dawn and Natalie?

This book was a ride, I liked it, but was left a bit confused. The revelation of the body's identity and the very last chapter did surprise me though. Can't give away spoilers but I didn't understand how Dawn's plans changed because of an emotional conversation. Everything was resolved quickly, the cops just let it all go without consequences and life went to normal. That what's fiction is and I'm reading too much into it as usual!

What I liked most, is that both women reach a point of truth and keep each other on their toes. They're incredibly smart, capable of things that nobody would think of and yet, choose to keep up a facade. That's probably what most of us do anyway and more so, in our workplaces. What I didn't like was the treatment of Dawn's autism as her quirks. Her behaviour, obsession, conversations are treated like those of a child without giving it the due respect of someone with such a condition.

This is a good book, give it a read. My rating is 3.75/5

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