Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden is yet another reminder of just how relentless her publishing pace is — it feels like there’s a new title hitting the market every other month. I deliberately gave myself a break after The Perfect Son, which I read earlier this year, and I’m glad I did. Otherwise, I might have dismissed this one too quickly because of the surface-level similarities. In reality, the two books share nothing but the author’s name.

At the center of the story is Debbie — a housewife in her early forties, raising two teenage daughters. She is married to Cooper, an accountant who provides for the family, while she contributes modestly through her advice column in a local newspaper. In it, Debbie offers guidance to married women struggling with husbands who fail to appreciate them.

But Debbie is far from a typical housewife.

She’s a computer prodigy, capable of building complex applications in no time — including one that allows her to monitor her family in real time. Yet that’s not even the most unsettling thing about her. Debbie has her own very particular sense of justice.

If a neighbor plays loud music, their expensive sound system somehow ends up destroyed. Even if suspicion falls on her, no one truly believes a woman like Debbie could be responsible — not even her own husband.

But these acts seem almost harmless compared to what follows, when Debbie executes a meticulously planned act of violent revenge.

With Dear Debbie, McFadden delivers something close to a near-perfect thriller. Debbie herself is a fully realized portrait of a psychopath — one of the most compelling female characters of this kind I’ve come across in a long time.

This time, the narrative doesn’t rely on an unreliable narrator in Debbie. Instead, that role is taken by her husband, Cooper. The reader is fully aware of Debbie’s thoughts and motivations, which creates a different kind of tension — one where you understand everything… and still find yourself unsettled.

In fact, there are moments where Debbie’s actions might make even the most morally certain reader hesitate. She’s the kind of character who catches you thinking like her — and that’s exactly what makes her so disturbing.

McFadden still reserves a twist for the final pages — one that will undoubtedly surprise. That said, in her attempt to outdo expectations, the ending does feel slightly over-constructed.