The Inmate

A thriller is a genre with suspenseful and urgent plotting; these works often feature crime or espionage. A psychological thriller is a subgenre that involves characters under severe mental stress as they face dangers or are under enormous time pressure. Like other kinds of thrillers, psychological thrillers use plot twists and turns to keep readers guessing what might happen next. To heighten the sense of disorientation, other literary devices used in psychological thrillers include unreliable narrators and red herrings. Psychological thrillers often feature darker themes, focusing on death, mistaken identity, and the limits of perception.

McFadden includes many of these features in her novel. There is a horrific crime in her main character’s past. Brooke’s recollection of the events of the night of the murders is suspect, making her an unreliable witness. At the same time, Brooke is involved romantically with the only other survivor of the crime, and she renews her acquaintance with the ostensible murderer—relationships that increase her inability to fully trust her memories of that night. The plot positions both men as potentially guilty, shifting reader suspicions from one to the other and depicting Brooke’s emotional turmoil at reliving her trauma and being in danger once again. The novel’s ending offers one last plot twist—another common trait of psychological thrillers.