Freida McFadden's The Intruder: A Novel Study Deep Dive
See how a #1 bestseller is built. A detailed craft study of Freida McFadden's The Intruder — the opening hook, an in-depth look at one chapter, and a structural analysis with 5 charts.
Freida McFadden is one of today's bestselling novelists, with multiple titles on the charts at any given time. The Intruder, published in October 2025, was an instant bestseller and made Amazon's best-books-of-the-year list. This free Novel Study Deep Dive shows you exactly how it works.
Inside you'll find:
a close read of the opening and how it hooks readers
a scene study that breaks one chapter down to its component parts
a structural analysis with 5 charts that reveal how the book works
my chapter-by-chapter craft notes, so you can see the techniques I track in detail
craft-focused discussion questions you can use on your own or with a book club
If you're working on a thriller — especially one with a surprise twist — it's worth studying The Intruder closely. But the lessons here aren't only for thriller writers: any writer or editor will find craft tools to borrow, especially in the charts and graphs of the structural analysis.