Breakaway Books

Authored by Frieda McFadden; Published May 2025; Thriller

⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️

After reading two Frieda McFadden novels, I think I pretty much have the formula down. The Tenant is exactly what you expect from her novels, for better or worse.

In The Tenant, Blake’s life has veered completely off course. He had attained the job of his dreams and the fiancée, Krista, to match, when suddenly, he is accused of theft and loses his job—and his significant salary. Backed into a corner, he has to take in a tenant, Whitney, who turns out to be a nightmare. She leaves food rotting in his kitchen, keeps him up all night, and might even have killed his neighbor to frame Blake. Blake has no idea why Whitney has such an aggressive vendetta against him, but he’s determined to find out and make his way back on top. 

There is a very specific vibe that emanates from Fried McFadden’s novels. In addition to the slowly rising tension/horror, you always start to wonder: Who isn’t who they seem to be? McFadden’s specialty appears to be throwing twist after twist into the last quarter of the novel, to questionable effect. The novel I read before this, Dear Debbie (reviewed here), was wrapped up nicely only by a twist revealed on the very last page. In contrast, this novel was a little less twisty and a little more predictable. Regardless, the upside of McFadden’s novels is that you know precisely what you’re getting when you pick it up, and honestly? Nothing wrong with that for a beach read.

Now, what might ruin this beach read for you? Any trauma you’ve experienced with awful roommates. There’s a special kind of unpleasantness associated with living with a person who makes you deeply, deeply uncomfortable, and this novel will bring all of that up. I wouldn’t say that Blake is the easiest person to sympathize with, and he comes off as more than a little oblivious and/or hapless by the end. The token sociopath who seems to appear in every McFadden novel is more interesting than Blake, for sure, but pretty much still your run-of-the-mill sociopath—definitely not a person you want to live with, nor a person whom you can root for. 

The Tenant fits the Frieda McFadden bill to a T, and that might make it your next perfect beach read.