🔒 Book Review: Death Row by Freida McFadden (Kindle Edition, Alibis Collection)
A taut, psychological short story that blends unreliable narration, emotional tension, and a mind-bending twist—Freida McFadden delivers a chilling one-sitting thriller that keeps readers questioning reality until the final page.
🧠 Overview
Published in June 2025 as part of Amazon Original Stories’ Alibis Collection, Death Row is a short-form psychological thriller centered on Talia Kemper, a woman convicted of murdering her husband, Noel. With her final appeal denied and execution looming, Talia insists she’s innocent. But when she sees a man in the prison visiting area who looks exactly like Noel, everything she thought she knew begins to unravel.
Is Noel alive? Did she kill someone else? Or is her mind playing tricks on her in her final days? McFadden masterfully blurs the line between memory, hallucination, and truth, creating a claustrophobic narrative that mirrors Talia’s prison cell.
🔍 Key Themes & Highlights
- 🧠 Unreliable narrator – Talia’s perception shifts constantly, keeping readers off-balance.
- ⏳ Dual timelines – Flashbacks to her marriage and the crime build tension as her execution nears.
- 🧨 Psychological suspense – Reality bends, dreams bleed into memory, and nothing is quite what it seems.
- 🧬 Twist-driven plot – A shocking reveal reframes everything, typical of McFadden’s style.
- 🧑⚖️ Justice & identity – Explores how truth can be manipulated, ignored, or lost entirely.
“A locked cell, a ticking clock, and a narrator you’re never quite sure you can trust…”
💬 Reader Reception
- ⭐ Goodreads rating: ~4.0/5
- 📖 Readers praise the tight pacing, emotional punch, and signature twist.
- 🧾 Some found the story too brief, wishing for more depth or a slower build—but most agree it’s a satisfying, unsettling ride.
⚠️ Considerations
- 📄 Short format – Designed for a one-sitting read; don’t expect extensive character arcs.
- 🧠 Mental health themes – Includes hallucinations, trauma, and moral ambiguity.
- 📚 Part of a collection – Stands alone, but shares Alibis’ focus on deception and truth.
🏁 Final Verdict
Death Row is a compact, cerebral thriller that showcases Freida McFadden’s talent for psychological misdirection. Perfect for fans of twisty domestic suspense and unreliable narrators, it’s a haunting meditation on guilt, perception, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.
