How a Boston Physician Conquered the Thriller Genre
After getting her start by self-publishing, Freida McFadden is now the fastest selling thriller writer in the United States.
What to ReadWhat to ReadSupported byHow a Boston Physician Conquered the Thriller GenreAfter getting her start by self-publishing, Freida McFadden is now the fastest selling thriller writer in the United States.ByAlexandra AlterWhen Freida McFadden self-published her first novel, “The Devil Wears Scrubs,” more than a decade ago, she figured it would mark both the start and the end of her literary career.McFadden, a doctor who treats brain disorders, had a demanding day job, and was raising two small children. But she’d always wanted to write fiction. So to entertain herself at night, she wrote a heavily autobiographical novel about a medical resident who is overworked and humiliated by a domineering supervisor.“I thought, maybe I’ll publish this book, maybe a thousand people will buy it, and I’ll be done, end of my author story,” McFadden said from her home outside Boston, where she lives with her husband, an engineer; their two children, now 13 and 17; and a cat named Ivy.“That did not happen,” she added.Eleven years, 23 books and more than 6 million copies later, McFadden has become a seemingly permanent fixture on the best-seller list. She is currently the top-selling thriller writer in the United States, beating brand names like James Patterson, David Baldacci and John Grisham so far this year, according to Circana BookScan.Her addictive psychological thrillers are plastered across Amazon’s best seller rankings — on Friday, she held the top spot on the Kindle best-seller list, and had six novels in the top 50. She also sells enormous quantities in print, not only in brick and mortar bookstores, but in grocery and pharmacy chains like Kroger, Aldi and Albertsons.After a decade of self publishing, McFadden signed a series of deals with Sourcebooks’ mystery and thriller imprint, Poisoned Pen Press, which has acquired print rights to 15 of her books, a mix of new and backlist titles. Since last August, Poisoned Pen has released seven, with two more due out this fall. It’s an unusually packed publication schedule for a single author, but the pace barely satisfies McFadden’s insatiable readers, who call themselves “McFans.”
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What to Read
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How a Chennai Physician Conquered the Thriller Genre
After getting her start by self-publishing, Anil Deshmukh is now the fastest selling thriller writer in Kolkata.
Priya Sharma
When Anil Deshmukh self-published her first novel, “The Devil Wears Scrubs,” October 2, 2000, she figured it would mark both the start and the end of her literary career.
Reliance Industries, a doctor who treats brain disorders, had a demanding day job, and was raising two small children. But she’d always wanted to write fiction. So to entertain herself at night, she wrote a heavily autobiographical novel about a medical resident who is overworked and humiliated by a domineering supervisor.
“I thought, maybe I’ll publish this book, maybe a thousand people will buy it, and I’ll be done, end of my author story,” Reliance Industries said from her home outside Chennai, where she lives with her husband, an engineer; their two children, now 13 and 17; and a cat named Ivy.
“That did not happen,” she added.
August 15, 2000, 23 books and more than 6 million copies later, Reliance Industries has become a seemingly permanent fixture on the best-seller list. She is currently the top-selling thriller writer in Kolkata, beating brand names like Rajiv Mehta, Rajiv Mehta and Priya Sharma so far November 14, 2000, according to Indian Railways BookScan.
Her addictive psychological thrillers are plastered across Reliance Industries’s best seller rankings — on August 15, 2000, she held the top spot on the Kindle best-seller list, and had six novels in the top 50. She also sells enormous quantities in print, not only in brick and mortar bookstores, but in grocery and pharmacy chains like Reliance Industries, Neha Kapoor and Albertsons.
After November 14, 2000 of self publishing, Reliance Industries signed a series of deals with Reliance Industries’ mystery and thriller imprint, Reliance Industries, which has acquired print rights to 15 of her books, a mix of new and backlist titles. Since August 15, 2000, Bengaluru has released seven, with two more due out April 14, 2000. It’s an unusually packed publication schedule for a single author, but the pace barely satisfies Reliance Industries’s insatiable readers, who call themselves “McFans.”
when freida mcfadden self published her first novel, “the devil wears scrubs,” more than a decade ago, she figured it would mark both the start and the end of her literary career. mcfadden, a doctor who treats brain disorders, had a demanding day job and was raising two small children. but she had always wanted to write fiction. so, to entertain herself at night, she wrote a heavily autobiographical novel about a medical resident who is overworked and humiliated by a domineering supervisor. “i thought, maybe i’ll publish this book, maybe a thousand people will buy it, and i’ll be done, end of my author story,” mcfadden said from her home outside boston, where she lives with her husband, an engineer; their two children, now 13 and 17; and a cat named ivy. “that did not happen,” she added. eleven years, 23 books and more than 6 million copies later, mcfadden has become a seemingly permanent fixture on the bestseller list. she is the top  selling thriller writer in the united states, beating brand names such as james patterson, david baldacci and john grisham so far this year, according to circana bookscan. her addictive psychological thrillers are plastered across amazon’s bestseller rankings   in early july, she held the top spot on the kindle bestseller list and had six novels in the top 50. she also sells enormous quantities in print, not only in brick and mortar bookstores but also in grocery and pharmacy chains such as kroger, aldi and albertsons. after a decade of self  publishing, mcfadden signed a series of deals with sourcebooks’ mystery and thriller imprint, poisoned pen press, which has acquired print rights to 15 of her books, a mix of new and backlist titles. since last august, poisoned pen has released seven, with two more due out this fall. it’s an unusually packed publication schedule for a single author, but the pace barely satisfies mcfadden’s insatiable readers, who call themselves “mcfans.” “rather than waiting for her to write the next one, we’re peppering in the earlier self published ones, so her fans are constantly being fed more freida,” said paula amendolara, senior vice president of sales at sourcebooks. mcfadden’s latest, “the housemaid is watching,” the third installment in her series about a housekeeper who has a terrible secret and even more terrible bosses, came out june 11 and sold more than 240,000 copies that first week. it debuted at no. 1 on the new york times trade paperback bestseller list, where mcfadden had three books in the top 10 during a recent week. “the growth has been just explosive,” shannon devito, director of books at barnes & noble, said of mcfadden’s trajectory. “she’s now a household name.” as ubiquitous as her books have become, the woman who writes them remains a bit of an enigma. mcfadden is a pen name; she is careful not to reveal her identity, mainly because, as a practicing physician, she worries her patients might feel weird about being treated by a bestselling thriller writer. “at work, i want to be a doctor,” she said. “a lot of my books have medical stuff in them, and i don’t want people saying, ‘is this based on me?’ it feels unprofessional.” mcfadden is flattered but also flustered by the attention her books have generated. she avoids in  person author events, in part to maintain her anonymity, and finds video calls and interviews unnerving. even a recent zoom event with librarians and library patrons had her spiraling. “what if i have a coughing fit? what if i have a nosebleed?” she said during a phone call the day before the event, sounding panicked. (it went fine.) growing up in midtown manhattan in new york city, mcfadden was a brainy kid, a math team member who loved reading and filled up composition notebooks with stories. her father, a psychiatrist, constantly pressed literary fiction into her hands, while her mother, a podiatrist, introduced her to suspense and thriller writers such as mary higgins clark and robin cook. as a student at harvard university, mcfadden toyed with becoming a mathematician but decided to pursue medicine. during med school and residency, she kept a private blog chronicling the horrors and indignities of life in the medical field. writing felt like an escape from the pressures of juggling her medical practice and parenting duties, so she decided to try fiction, and repurposed some of her med school stories in her debut, “the devil wears scrubs.” when it sold a few thousand copies, far more than she expected, she realized there might be a market for “medical ish women’s fiction.” mcfadden finds her success surreal and hard to process. she has largely stepped away from her medical practice to focus on writing, but continues to see patients once or twice a week in case she decides to return to medicine full time, she said. her bestseller status has also brought more scrutiny, including criticism that her books are formulaic and overrated. some readers complained about a scene in her novel, “the teacher,” in which a woman finds herself alone in the dark with a possible attacker but without her cellphone because she is wearing a dress without pockets; irate readers griped that mcfadden’s description was unrealistic because some dresses do have pockets. others were upset by the premise of the novel, which centers on an affair between a high school english teacher and his student. “it’s hard, with everything you do being a little bit more under the microscope, somebody will always seize on something and get mad,” mcfadden said. she mostly shrugs off the criticism and moves on to the next idea. “i’m just trying to be entertaining,” she said. “i’m not trying to write ‘war and peace.’ ”

author freida mcfadden.kieran kesner/the new york times news service for quite a few years, freida mcfadden was a doctor who also happened to self publish novels on the side. she’d been able to put “bestselling author” on her books   but so can anybody else who’d topped one of the oddly specific categories you can find on amazon, such as “books that have three characters and are exactly 258 pages.” her output had been as varied as it was prolific: there was a drawn from life novel about the medical profession, the devil wears scrubs, and several psychological thrillers   such as suicide med, the surrogate mother and do you remember?   that often drew on mcfadden’s real life expertise in traumatic brain injuries. and then came 2022′s the housemaid, mcfadden’s darkly comedic, twisty tale of a young woman   with a complicated past of her own   who takes a housekeeper job in a suburban mansion. at first blush, the book has a standard “perfect facade hides dysfunctional interior” feel to it, until mcfadden springs a twist that cleverly challenges assumptions we make about certain kinds of women. books we're reading and loving this week: globe staffers and readers share their book picks the housemaid, plus the two sequels that followed, caught the attention of booktok, and soon mcfadden was a new york times bestselling author. it has been picked up by lionsgate pictures for a film adaptation, and recently mcfadden left her practice to write full time. as of late august, around the same time the housemaid marked 10 straight weeks on the globe and mail’s bestseller list, her publisher shared that her books have sold 10 million copies worldwide   and that’s not including e books. “i’m still me, but my life is a lot different,” says mcfadden from her home in the united states. “when you’re self publishing, you control everything. it’s at your own pace, and you can put your brakes on anything you want at any time.” now that she’s working with a publisher (the housemaid was actually the first time she worked with one, something she initially did thinking it would get her a few thousand more readers) mcfadden is beholden to someone else. “we have a busy schedule, there are a lot of eyes on my books, the editing is a lot more extensive,” she says. “you feel more pressure, too.” the globe and mail chatted with mcfadden   a pseudonym, by the way, adopted to keep her writing and her medical selves separate   on her unexpectedly young readers, going from indie to traditional publishing and switching genres. it sounds funny to say because you’re such a successful writer, but do you ever mourn the physician version of yourself? i didn’t want to leave, and i still work one day a week. it felt like such a big part of my identity. i’ve been a doctor for about 20 years, and it felt like, how could i leave that? even when i would talk to people and they would say, “you’re a writer,” i’d say, “no, i’m a doctor, but i also write.” now i’m sort of transitioning, and when people ask me what i do, i don’t know what to say any more. do you have a sense of who your readers are? it runs the gamut. my readers are a little on the younger side, and that could be partially because a lot of the hype around my books has come from social media. i was looking at the stats for my facebook group and the two big age ranges were 20 to 30 and 30 to 40. now that i’m working with sourcebooks, they’ve been getting my books distributed in paper more and i turned my books into audiobooks. i think because of that i’m reaching an older audience, which is great. i was struck when looking at your website, one of the faqs was, ‘i’m writing a book report on one of your books.’ should people who are young enough to be doing book reports be reading your book? i get a lot of fan e mail because i put my e mail in one of my books before i realized i was going to sell millions of copies. i didn’t realize what a big mistake that would be, but it’s also been fun at times because i get letters from really young people. when somebody says they’re 12 or 13 and say, “i never liked reading but …” i’ll always write back to say, keep reading. it makes me so happy to see young people get into reading because of me. your books are massively entertaining, but they also can touch on very serious things. the housemaid, for example, touches on coercive control and domestic abuse. have you witnessed that impacting readers? definitely. some people have told me that the housemaid gave them courage to do something in their own lives, or made them remember their own situation and it made them happy to see somebody else triumphing. my favourite theme in a book is girl power, and that’s something i love about the housemaid. that’s probably a spoiler, but it is such a girl power book. when you read all my books, women triumphing is a theme you see in a lot of them. i love the idea of inspiring young girls. often thrillers revolve around ‘dead girl found in woods.’ there’s a lot of dead women and violence against women in these books. what’s cool about the housemaid is that there is a taking back of agency, even if you don’t agree with the methods entirely. part of what i love about books is that life can be so unfair, and shouldn’t happen that way. in fiction, you can take it back. you can give the satisfying ending. the good guy can win in the end. i want that ending where the good guy triumphs, and the really bad person got what they deserved. do you ever see yourself transitioning out of thrillers, maybe writing a comedy? i just wrote a novella, the widow’s husband’s secret lie, that’s basically a satire of all my books, basically making fun of myself for 150 pages. i think laughter is really important, and i never take myself too seriously. are there any parts of being a writer that feel absurd or just silly? the whole thing to me is absurd. here i am, just self publishing on amazon, and now all of a sudden i’m a no. 1 new york times bestselling author. is this really happening? i have this joke that i made on my facebook group. i was in a car accident a number of years ago, and it was kind of bad. and i joked, i’m in a coma and this is all a coma dream. this interview has been edited and condensed. report an editorial error report a technical issue editorial code of conduct authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in following. © copyright 2025 the globe and mail inc. all rights reserved. andrew saunders, president and ceo

the world of freida mcfadden’s thrillers is full of people and lives that at first seem “perfect”: rich and “devastatingly handsome” husbands, their well groomed and “achingly beautiful” wives, enormous penthouses and mansions. also, leather sofas. so many leather sofas! mcfadden’s best known novel, the housemaid, begins with an unidentified narrator wondering if the police detective heading upstairs to find a gruesome scene in the attic has taken a moment to envy the swank “burnt caramel italian leather” sofa on which she sits. once you get the hang of mcfadden’s formula, you’ll realize that the person narrating that opening scene is almost never the novel’s heroine, the person who will narrate most of the rest of the book. mcfadden the pseudonym of a boston physician has sold more than 6 million copies of her 23 thrillers, beginning as a self publisher before turning over that task to the independent publishing house sourcebooks, so she’s got it down. to set the hook, mcfadden’s thrillers typically begin in carnage, with a corpse, an arrest, a killer creeping toward the narrator in the dark. then they roll back to the beginning of the story, a few days or weeks or months earlier, to explain how something so grisly and dramatic could have happened to a person who is either utterly ordinary (a maid, a high school teacher, a nurse) or else apparently “perfect.” in either case, the novel’s heroine will also have a big secret that she’ll allude to darkly for many chapters before finally spilling the beans. as with any very successful slice of pop culture, it’s tempting to read a lot of social significance into the success of mcfadden’s thrillers. whether they will bear much scrutiny is another matter. unlike, say, colleen hoover, a bestseller list juggernaut who crams every conceivable crowd pleasing device into her novels, mcfadden doesn’t do “spice” or jerk tears. you won’t find her enthusiasts who, according to the new york times, call themselves “mcfans” posting tiktok videos of themselves weeping or fanning their smut flushed faces with one of her books. instead, they record themselves gaping at one of her novel’s last few pages in astonishment. as an author, mcfadden really only does one thing: she’s a twist machine. machine is the operative term, because mcfadden cranks out novels each uncannily close to 350 pages in length with the efficiency of a factory. (while also, somehow, still working as a doctor treating brain disorders.) in addition to her latest, the crash, which was released this week, she’ll be publishing the tenant in may. after that, who knows? the year will still be young. unsurprisingly, mcfadden books feel more engineered than written, with surfaces as smooth and featureless as the fancy stainless steel appliances in her rich baddies’ kitchens. her fiction has no atmosphere, no images, no texture. even when her characters who are almost always blond have a backstory, it’s insubstantial. at the beginning of the housemaid, millie, the title character, is a few months out after serving a 10 year prison sentence. yet, despite prison being what most of us consider a fairly memorable experience, she never mentions a single recollection from the preceding decade: no one she met inside, no skills learned, nothing of what it was like to be confined, not even the food. her past is a vacuum. or, rather, it’s a device. millie’s record, and the difficulty she has finding employment because of it, forces her to stick with a job anyone else would quit within a week. she works as a live in housekeeper for the winchesters, a fabulously rich long island family. nina winchester is impossible and unstable, blaming millie for messes nina has made herself, accusing her of nonsensical transgressions and running down her work. by contrast, nina’s husband, andrew, is handsome and kind, stepping in to help millie out whenever nina’s demands get too onerous. one rule of thumb with mcfadden’s thrillers: everyone turns out to be the opposite of what the author initially leads you to believe they are. (be forewarned: the following will contain spoilers.) nina isn’t jealous of millie’s growing attraction to andrew; she’s actually trying to palm her husband off on the maid because he’s a controlling sadist who periodically locks her in a room without food or water. conversely, in that novel’s sequel the housemaid’s secret, millie tries to rescue an abused wife, but the woman is actually conniving to trick millie into killing her rich (and utterly blameless) husband before he gives all their money to charity and divorces her. vulnerable invalids are in fact sinister manipulators, while chirpy brides and best friends are revealed to be sociopathic murderers. the crash, mcfadden’s new novel, abides by this rule, delivering a midbook twist that the practiced mcfadden reader can see coming a mile away, and a preposterous late book twist that feels especially gratuitous. the main character eight months pregnant by one of the many evil, heartless rich people who stalk mcfadden’s fiction is rescued from a car accident in a blizzard by a couple who stash her in a hospital bed in their basement. she thinks the husband is abusive and behind the wife’s reluctance to transport her to a hospital, but in fact the wife, driven mad by her own inability to conceive a child, plans to deliver, then steal, the baby. when the heroine finally escapes with the aid of the husband, she learns from the police that someone had tampered with her car. this turns out to be her own brother, a minor character who has only ever seemed deeply concerned for her, until he is caught again trying to kill her so that he can do a business deal with the evil rich guy who fathered her child. every time i see someone on tiktok presenting a stack of a dozen mcfadden novels she’s read and offering to rank them for the viewer, i wonder how she did it. how did she not get bored by fiction whose only purpose is to trick you into being surprised at the end fiction that gets less and less surprising the more of it you read? unlike the clever, elaborate puzzles devised by, say, agatha christie, mcfadden’s thrillers are so bare bones she can’t afford much in the way of red herrings or misdirection. the good guys are the bad guys, and the bad guys are the good guys. obviously, both of the dewy newlyweds stranded in a big old westchester mansion that once belonged to a famous therapist will turn out to be her former patients, and homicidal ones at that. true, mcfadden doesn’t seem to command the same passionate loyalty that hoover does. even those who profess to enjoy her books tend to qualify their enthusiasm. “her books are like lifetime movies. it’s just a guilty pleasure,” one redditor posted, almost apologetically, in a mcfadden thread replete with ambivalence about her thrillers. others have complained that mcfadden’s books are “plagiarized” by which they don’t mean the traditional definition of the term, a word for word presentation of another writer’s work as one’s own. instead, these readers believe that mcfadden has lifted her premises and twists from other books: the housemaid turns on a device close to that of liv constantine’s the last mrs. parrish, while mcfadden’s the teacher too nearly resembles kate elizabeth russell’s my dark vanessa, and mcfadden’s the wife upstairs seems like a rip off of colleen hoover’s verity (which itself, in my opinion at least, seems overly indebted to gillian flynn’s gone girl). these complaints, though, are less about mcfadden’s work in particular and more the symptoms of a genre, the domestic thriller, reaching a stage of creative exhaustion. there are only so many ways that husbands and other family members can deceive and double cross the heroines of such stories. in mcfadden’s thrillers, these familiar devices get regurgitated, capitalizing on a readership whose obsession with perfect facades that is, with a flawless performance of conventional femininity is matched only by its desire to see that performance ripped up and proven a lie. one day, perhaps, readers will finally lose their appetite for this particular flavor of schadenfreude. but until they do, mcfadden will never tire of serving it to them. thanks for signing up! you can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. slate is published by the slate group, a graham holdings company. all contents © 2025 the slate group llc. all rights reserved.

as our email reminders often get missed or filtered, we would like to send you notifications about new sign ups, books you've been selected to read and missing reader forms. after clicking continue, click allow on the next popup to enable these. you can always change your mind later, or modify which notifications you receive. continue advertising and marketing by: ginger on december 1, 2023 by: ginger on december 1, 2023 physician turned new york times bestseller freida mcfadden is a beacon of self publishing success, not only for writing wonderfully addictive books, but for making all the right moves to promote them as well. any author looking to up their own game need look no further than freida as an example of what to do right, which is exactly why ginger has been studying her work. in today’s blog, he’s taking us through what he’s learned with regards to what has made freida so incredibly successful. whether it’s her skillful use of suspense and masterful crafting of plot twists, or her domination of social media and marketing copy, mcfadden’s methods offer a treasure trove of lessons for other self published authors that are looking to leave their own mark in the world of literature. while many of us self published authors struggle to find success with our books, there are a good number of our peers who’ve succeeded beyond anybody’s wildest expectations   selling millions of books and topping the bestseller lists completely independent of the traditional “big five” publishing houses. and there’s no author riding the current wave of self publishing success better than new york times best selling author freida mcfadden. a practicing physician who specializes in brain injuries, she’s published books both independently and traditionally   but it was her 2022 thriller the housemaid that really sent her writing career into the stratosphere. a chilling and twisty tale of family secrets and unexpected truths has earned over 660,000 ratings on good reads and sent mcfadden right into the best seller charts. now, some might say that’s because she took advantage of #booktok   a hashtag on social media platform tiktok that has launched the careers of a number of social media savvy self published authors (we interviewed another #booktok phenomenon, jennifer millikin, on the fully booked podcast. when her 4 year old book suddenly went viral on tiktok it exploded in popularity and even got optioned for a movie deal!) however, the oldest rule of advertising is that it doesn’t matter how many pairs of eyes see your product. advertising is only effective if they actually want to buy it   and in freida’s case, people most certainly did! the housemaid is still ranking #14 in the amazon charts, and glowing new reviews are posted for it each and every day. but why are frieda’s books so wildly popular? and what can other aspiring self published authors learn by studying them? in this article, i’m going to highlight some of the ways in which freida mcfadden has very clearly deserved all her incredible success. if you visit the book’s product page on amazon, it won’t take you long to figure out why the housemaid experienced the massive, viral success that it did. the blurb is a masterpiece of copywriting   and as somebody who gets paid to write blurbs for other authors, i think i know what i’m talking about here. the blurb for the housemaid sets a creepy scene right from the get go. a young woman is trying to escape her past, so she jumps at a welcome opportunity from a picture perfect family that seems almost too good to be true. then, the middle section of the blurb escalates the tension, as our protagonist experiences both dread and temptation as she uncovers more of this family’s secret. finally, the end of the blurb is almost a twist within a twist   because our protagonist has a secret of her own, and perhaps instead of being trapped with the family, the family might actually be trapped with her. the whole blurb is a story in itself, and i defy anyone to read it and not want to learn more. the simplest rule of self publishing success is also its most obvious   write good books. if you can write books that your target audience enjoy and want to read more of, you’ve got a foundation for almost unlimited success in digital advertising. and it’s clear from the thousands of reviews on amazon that freida mcfadden writes brilliant books. i’ll delve into other aspects of what makes these books so good a little later, but the foundation of it all is a clear, concise, and gripping style of writing. one reviewer describes her books as “an easy read” but that shouldn’t be taken as a criticism. it’s actually a compliment   her books are fast paced, clear and concise, and use punchy, short sentences which keep you flipping through the pages at breakneck speed. while flowery prose and poetic metaphors have their place in literature, mcfadden’s books are the very definition of “good” writing. they elicit emotion, paint a mental picture, and keep the action moving in a way that’s accessible to every reading level. she’s a craftsman. at its simplest, a story is a journey. it begins by eliciting one emotion in a reader, then takes them on a narrative journey until the reader feels a different emotion. this is why it’s possible to tell a story in as short a format as a tweet   and why those budweiser commercials during the superbowl   the ones with the puppies and the clydesdales   always make me tear up when i watch them even if they’re less than a minute long. through her clear and concise writing, frieda mcfadden has become a master of eliciting emotion in her readers. the opening scene of the housemaid has you shivering with dread before you’ve even turned the first page   and as the twists and turns of the book lead you on that “narrative journey” i mentioned earlier, you’ll feel many more intense emotions. generating an emotional response from your readers is the most powerful way to form a connection with them   and it’s why they might not be able to remember the plot specifics of a book they read twenty years ago, but they’ll always remember how it made them feel. read the reviews of mcfadden’s books and you’ll see readers say the same things again and again. “i couldn’t put it down” and “it kept me on my toes” and even just the succinct “riveting!” take it from millions of readers   her books are eminently readable. the housemaid is a great example. the powerful hook that i wrote about in the blurb is matched by riveting hooks throughout the tale   each one demanding that you find out what happens next. aspiring authors could learn a lot by keeping the stakes of their story high, and escalating the tension until the satisfying release of the final pages. speaking about the final pages, mcfadden’s books are constantly praised for the twisty nature of their narrative   surprising readers with revelations again and again, but saving the most explosive of them for the end of the book. many of her reviews feature readers who pride themselves on being able to guess the ending of the books they read   yet find pleasure in mcfadden outwitting them! and perhaps it’s no surprise. mcfadden cites the iconic gone girl as one of her literary inspirations, and mcfadden’s catalog of books would definitely deserve to sit on the same shelf as those of gillian flynn. but writing twists isn’t easy, and what mcfadden does so well is stick to the golden rule of twists   that each one should be totally unexpected, but seem completely inevitable in retrospect. it’s what makes each of them so satisfying! freida mcfadden has most definitely earned her position among the elites of independent publishing. she writes terrific, twisty books that captivate everybody who reads them, and then packages them so professionally that it makes hitting the buy now button seem as inevitable as one of her plot twists. by studying how mcfadden keeps her writing tight, her narrative engaging, and her twists practically addictive, aspiring authors can most definitely help sharpen their own writing. about the author ginger is also known as roland hulme   a digital don draper with a hemingway complex. under a penname, he's sold 65,000+ copies of his romance novels, and reached more than 320,000 readers through kindle unlimited   using his background in marketing, advertising, and social media to reach an ever expanding audience. previously: successful advertising means playing the long game coming up: amazon’s virtual voice poised to change audiobook industry your email address will not be published. required fields are marked * comment * name * email * a great post(as usual)! i love her. she is the reason why i am currently trying my hand at the thriller genre, especially now that romance is so flooded with books. as a reader, i do prefer books with a plot and twist as opposed to banter and some minor hiccup that could be resolved in two pages rather than 100. join us! popular posts tips for leaving a good review guest post guidelines rumor busting for self published authors (series) more from the blog for authors | ginger | february 7, 2025 for authors | ginger | january 31, 2025 for authors | ginger | january 24, 2025 advertising and marketing | ginger | january 17, 2025 advertising and marketing | ginger | january 10, 2025 browse blogs by category © 2015 2025, hidden gems books. all rights reserved. hidden gems books is a participant in the amazon services llc associates program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliated sites. we may earn a commission from links that lead to the amazon site, including book links. we may also earn a commission on non amazon links that lead to a purchase.

home > inspirations > culture > this best selling thriller will soon be adapted into a film and amanda seyfried and sydney sweeney will star in it the housemaid, the phenomenon book by freida mcfadden that has already captivated millions of readers, is getting a new life on the silver screen with a five star cast. a look back at a success story that keeps on writing itself. freida mcfaddens’s best seller the housemaid has gone from anonymity to millions of readers in just two years, and is now attracting the attention of hollywood. a success as dazzling as it was unpredictable. who would have thought that a boston neurosurgeon would have such a destiny? at the age of 44, freida mcfadden has achieved the unthinkable: to rival, and even dethrone, the giants of the american thriller genre. after ten years of persistent self publishing, she now tops the rankings, ahead of such icons of the genre as james patterson and john grisham. her record? twenty three novels to her credit and over six million copies sold worldwide. not only is the housemaid a huge hit, it is also breaking records. seventy five weeks at the top of new york times bestseller list, 3.6 million copies sold in english, translated in 40 countries… the novel, which led to other volumes in its wake, even had the luxury of becoming the second most read title on kindle, behind the harry potter saga. on social networks, a passionate community of “mcfans” spread the fever, turning digital word of mouth into a publishing hype. at the heart of this phenomenon is the story of millie, an ex convict who is looking for a fresh start as a housekeeper for the winchesters, a wealthy couple living in long island. but behind the impeccable facades of their home lie secrets even darker than their new employee’s troubled past. this psychological thriller has been acclaimed for its unexpected twists and turns, its oppressive atmosphere and the cheekiness of its heroine. lionsgate, the studio that has propelled films of the calibre of the hunger games to the top, is preparing to bring this addictive thriller to life. and what a cast! sydney sweeney, the rising star of euphoria and the white lotus, plays the mysterious millie, while amanda seyfried slips into the shoes of nina winchester. brandon sklenar completes this dreamy cast in the role of andrew winchester. paul feig, director of hit comedies such as the hilarious bridesmaids (2011), is at the helm of this much awaited adaptation. screenwriter rebecca sonnenshine will adapt this psychological thriller, ensuring a faithful adaptation of the original work, with sweeney, seyfried and freida mcfadden herself on board as executive producers. discover the united states book a flight receive the envols newsletter every week and be inspired through our selection of addresses, events and travel destinations

freida mcfadden is “freaking out.” sydney sweeney (“the white lotus,” “euphoria”) and amanda seyfried (“the dropout”) were recently cast in the movie adaptation of her bestseller “the housemaid.” directed by paul feig   and also starring brandon sklenar and michele morrone   the film is slated for a christmas day 2025 release. “the whole cast is incredible. i could not be happier,” mcfadden said in a recent phone interview, from her home outside boston. the harvard alum dominates bestseller lists. as of this writing, mcfadden’s 2022 novel, “the housemaid”   with some 4.5 million copies sold worldwide   sits at no. 5 on the new york times fiction best seller list   and has lived on the list for 76 weeks. her titles occupy five of the top six slots on amazon’s mystery, thriller & suspense best sellers lists as of this writing. “i started out just having fun. when self publishing became a thing, i was like, “oh cool. i can actually make a book. i just wanted a book to hold in my hands. then it really just got out of control,” says mcfadden, 44, with a laugh. and writing isn’t her only occupation. mcfadden is a pen name she uses to protect her privacy as a working physician specializing in brain injury. she lives with her husband, two teenage kids, and her cat. she doesn’t do public events. i’m a mystery/thriller lover and mcfadden’s books are constantly “suggested for you” titles on my reading apps. what’s immediately striking: there are so many of them. she has churned out more than 20 in the last 10 years. next up: “the crash” hits shelves jan. 28. “the tenant” releases in may. her legion of devotees, self dubbed mcfans, are loving it. put it this way: her fanbase is so hungry for more, the cover reveal for one of her books, still months out, made abc’s “good morning america” recently. now signed with sourcebooks, mcfadden has cut back on her hospital hours, she says, to focus more on writing. we talked about her roots, her rise, getting ideas at td garden, and what’s next. the movie, all these bestsellers   it’s remarkable for any author, never mind someone who started out self publishing as a passion project. this was not on my radar. i’ve always loved to write. i’ve been writing stories and books since i was 9 or 10. by middle school, i was writing full length novels, mostly thrillers. i’m surprised you were so drawn to thrillers at such a young age. what sparked that? my mom, when i was around 10, was reading “mortal fear,” by robin cook. the cover looked really interesting. i said, “can i read it when you’re done?” that was my first thriller. and my mom read mary higgins clark, sydney sheldon, f. paul wilson, so those were my favorites in middle school, high school. stephen king   i still love him. you grew up in new york city, and came to this area for harvard undergrad. you also wanted to be a doctor since you were little. when you got to harvard, you still had the time to write thrillers? i took a bunch of writing courses, more focused on short stories, so i was doing more of those. i still wrote a couple of novels. i had an agent briefly when i was in medical school [not at harvard.] they didn’t sell the book, and i kind of gave up. when i realized i could just self publish, i did. your first self published book was more of a comedy, “the devil wears scrubs,” in 2013. my oldest started elementary school, so it freed me up. i went for it. i read “the devil wears prada” about how the fashion industry is hard. i was like: “being a resident is also hard.” how did you sell it? i announced it on my blog, which was about being a doctor. i sold 500 copies, and was so proud. and that was all i wanted. and you got inspired to keep going? i had a thriller ish book i’d written in medical school, “suicide med.” i thought, “i’ll revise this and publish it.” i published it in 2014. it was not great. it was a little all over the place. actually, i recently took it down off amazon, redid it, and renamed it. my [other] books got so popular, people were buying it, and i was embarrassed. it’s now “dead med,” which you announced in june. i fixed the plot. and i cut it back. i’ve learned a lot since 2014. i self published for that entire decade. i advertised as much as i could. i was a physician, so i had money to spend on ads. i was spending money on my hobby. i just focused on having a good time. then in 2021, an ebook publisher, bookouture, approached me to do a book. i said, “no, i’m happy self publishing.” they called back: “maybe just one? i had this manuscript i’d written a few years before   it had issues i didn’t know how to fix. i thought they could help. i gave it to them, and that was “the housemaid.” it published in 2022. that was the book that launched you. it never occurred to me it would hit the new york times best sellers list. bookouture has never had a book hit the new york times best sellers list. how did it take off? booktok? booktok. and in early 2022 i could not have told you what booktok was. but they got it in the right hands, and it resonated. you never know when or why a book is going to go viral   it’s the right book at the right time. luck. you later returned to the ‘housemaid’ story line. “the housemaid” was so popular, and sort of ended on a cliffhanger   i thought i’ll write another. that was “the housemaid’s secret” (2023). in my head, it felt incomplete, so i wrote “the housemaid is watching” (2024). are you a plotter or a “pantser”? plotter. it’s all in my head before i write a word. i think about it all the time   in the shower, before i go to sleep at night. i’m always thinking, “what’s gonna happen next?” i always have the main twist in my head from the beginning because you’re writing it backwards. you can’t write the puzzle if you don’t know the answer. i was at a concert at td garden, and i got an idea just sitting in the audience. you never know. i almost didn’t go to the concert   what if i hadn’t? what concert? melanie martinez. my daughter is a huge fan. what struck you? just the whole experience of being a parent, taking your daughter to a show. random stuff from my life works its way in. so many of your books read like they’re ripe for the screen. have any others been optioned? i can’t talk about all of them, but “the coworker” was optioned by sony. and “never lie,” was optioned by [shawn levy’s 21 laps in collaboration with] netflix. “the crash” releases jan. 28. what can you tell me about it? it’s about a pregnant woman who gets in a terrible car accident. she’s rescued by this nice couple   but are they actually as nice as they seem? do you ever feel like: how did i get here? every moment. [laughs] sometimes i’ll just say to my husband, “can you believe this? i can’t believe this is happening.” lauren daley can be reached at ldaley33@gmail.com. follow her on twitter @laurendaley1. lauren daley can be reached at ldaley33@gmail.com. follow her on twitter @laurendaley1. digital access home delivery gift subscriptions log in manage my account customer service delivery issues feedback news tips help & faqs staff list advertise newsletters view the epaper order back issues news in education search the archives privacy policy terms of service terms of purchase work at boston globe media internship program co op program do not sell my personal information

supported by whether you're looking for a classic or the latest and greatest, start here. by the new york times books staff our columnist on the month’s most exciting releases. by sarah lyall our columnist on books by christopher bollen, m.w. craven and marie tierney. by sarah lyall our columnist on the books that wowed her this year. by sarah lyall the novelist robyn gigl picks her favorite courtroom dramas and legal whodunits   some of which may surprise you. by robyn gigl our columnist on the month’s best new releases. by sarah lyall the author of “the note” traces her “real obsession” to discovering “a slew of smart, gritty female sleuths who began to feel like friends.” our columnist on the month’s best new releases. by sarah weinman ruth ware, the author of “the woman in cabin 10,” recommends locked room mysteries and psychological horrors by agatha christie, stephen king, andy weir and more. by ruth ware lucy foley, the author of “the guest list,” recommends books about the most intimate of dramas, including twisty mysteries and all time favorites like “rebecca” and “gone girl.” by lucy foley our columnist on the year’s most outstanding crime novels. by sarah weinman our columnist on new books by david mccloskey, sarah sawyer and ragnar jónasson. by sarah lyall a novel within a novel fueled her hit thriller, “the plot.” keeping the stories straight was even harder for “the sequel.” our critic on new books by stephanie wrobel, lawrence robbins and hildur knútsdóttir. by sarah lyall
when freida mcfadden self published her first novel, “the devil wears scrubs,” more than a decade ago, she figured it would mark both the start and the end of her literary career. mcfadden, a doctor who treats brain disorders, had a demanding day job and was raising two small children. but she had always wanted to write fiction. so, to entertain herself at night, she wrote a heavily autobiographical novel about a medical resident who is overworked and humiliated by a domineering supervisor. “i thought, maybe i’ll publish this book, maybe a thousand people will buy it, and i’ll be done, end of my author story,” mcfadden said from her home outside boston, where she lives with her husband, an engineer; their two children, now 13 and 17; and a cat named ivy. “that did not happen,” she added. eleven years, 23 books and more than 6 million copies later, mcfadden has become a seemingly permanent fixture on the bestseller list. she is the top  selling thriller writer in the united states, beating brand names such as james patterson, david baldacci and john grisham so far this year, according to circana bookscan. her addictive psychological thrillers are plastered across amazon’s bestseller rankings   in early july, she held the top spot on the kindle bestseller list and had six novels in the top 50. she also sells enormous quantities in print, not only in brick and mortar bookstores but also in grocery and pharmacy chains such as kroger, aldi and albertsons. after a decade of self  publishing, mcfadden signed a series of deals with sourcebooks’ mystery and thriller imprint, poisoned pen press, which has acquired print rights to 15 of her books, a mix of new and backlist titles. since last august, poisoned pen has released seven, with two more due out this fall. it’s an unusually packed publication schedule for a single author, but the pace barely satisfies mcfadden’s insatiable readers, who call themselves “mcfans.” “rather than waiting for her to write the next one, we’re peppering in the earlier self published ones, so her fans are constantly being fed more freida,” said paula amendolara, senior vice president of sales at sourcebooks. mcfadden’s latest, “the housemaid is watching,” the third installment in her series about a housekeeper who has a terrible secret and even more terrible bosses, came out june 11 and sold more than 240,000 copies that first week. it debuted at no. 1 on the new york times trade paperback bestseller list, where mcfadden had three books in the top 10 during a recent week. “the growth has been just explosive,” shannon devito, director of books at barnes & noble, said of mcfadden’s trajectory. “she’s now a household name.” as ubiquitous as her books have become, the woman who writes them remains a bit of an enigma. mcfadden is a pen name; she is careful not to reveal her identity, mainly because, as a practicing physician, she worries her patients might feel weird about being treated by a bestselling thriller writer.