The Crash

October 28, 2024
A pregnant young woman seeks shelter from a winter storm and finds herself in far more harrowing circumstances in this solid if familiar outing from bestseller McFadden (The Boyfriend). Tegan Werner, 23 and eight months pregnant, lives alone in Lewiston, Maine, where she barely stays afloat by working double shifts at a supermarket. On a dark December evening, she sets out to visit her brother; soon, a gentle snowfall worsens into a full-blown blizzard, and her car spins out and crashes into a tree. Alone in the middle of nowhere, nursing a painful ankle injury and desperately anxious about the safety of her unborn child, Tegan is approached by a burly man who introduces himself as Hank and invites her into his nearby home. With no other option aside from freezing to death in her car, Tegan accepts—to her tremendous detriment. Narrated in alternating chapters by Tegan, Hank, and Hank’s wife, Polly, McFadden’s Misery-esque setup grows increasingly absurd on its way toward a preposterous series of late-stage twists. Still, the narrative’s brisk pacing and frequent cliffhangers make it easy to wolf down in a single sitting. McFadden’s fans will enjoy themselves. Agent: Christina Hogrebe, Jane Rotrosen Agency.