In DEAR DEBBIE, Freida McFadden brings us the story of an advice columnist who is having the worst day of her life.

It all begins when Debbie Mullens learns that her youngest daughter has been dropped from the soccer team. When she finds out that the reason may have been Coach Pike and the discomfort he causes with his creepy watching of the girls, Debbie knows she must take action. She is always giving valuable advice to other people through her column, Dear Debbie, and now she must follow through when it comes to situations in her own backyard.

"The beauty of reading this book comes from the way that Debbie responds to all of the situations that have left her reeling.... [T]errific plot twists are thrown in along the way that impacts a storyline already full of surprises."

Throughout the novel, we see unpublished drafts of sarcastic and sometimes violent responses that Debbie gave to people who reached out to her for advice. Debbie is extremely intelligent, boasting an IQ of 178. She knows that she is the smartest person in any room she enters. She can quickly figure out people and situations and respond appropriately.

To make matters worse, Debbie’s neighbor, Brett, comes pounding on her front door and accuses her of cutting the power to his home office. He insists she did this to prevent him from blasting the music that she has complained about. Of course, Debbie claims to be just a housewife who knows nothing about dismantling electrical boxes in the middle of the night.

Debbie’s husband, Cooper, is also having a bad day, which will impact her as well. He confronts his boss about not being recognized after a decade of hard work and demands to be considered for a promotion. His boss does not concur, and the meeting goes south quickly, with Cooper ultimately giving his two weeks’ notice.

Thing continue to snowball when Debbie is forced to deal with her older daughter’s unsavory boyfriend. Then she finds out that her boss has terminated her employment due to a complaint from a consumer that her column suggested his wife leave him.

Now, with two job meltdowns combined with the suspicion that Cooper may be having an affair with a female trainer they know from their local gym, Debbie’s life has quickly spun out of control.

The beauty of reading this book comes from the way Debbie responds to all of the situations that have left her reeling. She is definitely not someone to be trifled with and possesses a dangerous sense of vengeance that she exacts upon everyone she holds responsible for ruining her life on this fateful day. I will leave her revenge plan under wraps in this review as some of the things she does will raise more than a few eyebrows. Of course, terrific plot twists are thrown in along the way that impacts a storyline already full of surprises.

Freida McFadden continues to keep her promise of never having gratuitous sex or violence in her novels. Since all of her books are dynamic psychological thrillers, there is frankly no need for it. She allows her superior plotting and complex characters to ring true, and that’s all you need to satisfy readers. DEAR DEBBIE is no exception.