The Perfect Son, Freida McFadden

I always approach a new novel by Freida McFadden with mixed feelings, but with The Perfect Son, she genuinely managed to impress me.

Both The Housemaid and The Coworker had moments that felt weak or illogical, but here the momentum never really disappears. The story keeps moving with confidence almost until the very last page — and yes, it was definitely worth it.

On one side, we have Erica’s narration about her seemingly perfect family. Her son Liam is an attractive and intelligent sixteen-year-old. Her husband Jason is a successful businessman. Their daughter is… less perfect, but no family can have everything.

Of course, perfection here is only an illusion.

Erica is the classic suburban housewife who takes care of the children and supports her husband, while occasionally writing articles for a small newspaper. What makes her particularly interesting is that she openly admits she favors Liam, despite years of troubling incidents that suggest he may be prone to violence and incapable of genuine emotional attachment.

Then, during what should have been a perfectly ordinary school day, a teenage girl named Olivia — the same girl Liam has shown romantic interest in — disappears.

One more important detail: Liam is the last person known to have seen Olivia alive.

Very quickly, Liam becomes the prime suspect in the investigation. And perhaps the novel’s strongest psychological layer is that Erica herself seems convinced her son may actually be guilty. Every piece of evidence points toward him — but is the truth really that simple?

McFadden’s signature formula is fully present here: short, punchy chapters, relentless pacing, cliffhangers, and constant twists. But unlike some of her previous novels, The Perfect Son feels far more controlled structurally.

While reading it, I constantly thought about the TV series The Undoing starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant. Just like I impatiently waited for each new HBO episode back then, here I found myself racing toward the ending.

What particularly worked for me is that the finale feels earned rather than artificially constructed for the sake of a “big twist.” Erica is also one of McFadden’s strongest unreliable narrators so far — the reader doesn’t just question her judgment, but genuinely sympathizes with her.

BOOKLOVERS Rating: 4/5

McFadden herself has admitted that she writes quickly but edits slowly. And honestly, if she had spent just a little more time refining several rushed developments, The Perfect Son could have become an almost flawless thriller.