The Coworker

The Coworker is a psychological thriller that utilizes established tropes to create a compelling mystery and an atmosphere of unease. A key feature of the genre is the presence of flawed and complex characters. McFadden provides two multifaceted protagonists in Dawn Schiff and Natalie Farrell. Both women have committed serious crimes, and the narrative provides extensive psychological insights into the sources of their fears and motivations. The dark side of human nature is also aptly represented in the mind games that Dawn plays with Natalie, for Dawn not only frames her coworker for murder; she also taunts her with silent phone calls and the mysterious appearance of turtle figurines. The novel therefore employs the classic “cat and mouse” scenario to heighten the narrative tension as Natalie attempts to discern and escape the traps that Dawn has set for her.

A further common conceit of the psychological thriller involves employing an unreliable narrator whose statements are deliberately designed to create false impressions and mislead the reader. Untrustworthy narrators add many layers of complexity to mysteries that are already convoluted and insidious in nature, and to further heighten the effect of this common stylistic device, McFadden provides two narrators who are unreliable for very different reasons. Like most literary examples of unreliable narrators, Natalie displays a tendency to withhold any information that would present her in an unfavorable light. For example, she fails to admit that she is guilty of embezzlement and that her bullying behavior in high school drove her “friend” Amelia to die by suicide. Meanwhile, the unreliability of Dawn’s series of emails is much more calculated, and it also provides the central plot device of the novel. Although some of her content is likely accurate, such as her accounts of distressing childhood experiences, all of the incidents involving her work-related conflicts with Natalie are either completely invented or represent distinct distortions of the truth. The challenge therefore lies in the attempt to discern the real facts behind her deliberate fabrications.

In addition to creating complex and often dysfunctional interpersonal dynamics, psychological thrillers frequently adopt domestic or everyday environments as a background to the story in order to inject an element of danger into otherwise mundane locations that readers commonly encounter in their own lives. Throughout such narratives, locations typically associated with safety, normalcy, and routine are wildly disrupted by disturbing events, and sudden the intrusion of danger or chaos into a seemingly mundane and relatable world has a deeply unsettling effect. McFadden uses this technique frequently in The Coworker, for much of the narrative unfolds at Vixed, a blandly conventional nutritional health company, and the mystery of Dawn’s disappearance unfolds against a backdrop of work cubicles, sales meetings, and break room gossip. In this way, McFadden crafts a narrative that deliberately challenges the perceived safety of the workplace, and she also exploits this setting to explore the dark undercurrents inherent in everyday life. Despite the wholesome image that Vixed attempts to portray, the offices are soon revealed to be a toxic environment rife with jealousy and discrimination. As the side-effects of the company’s product, Collahealth, proves, the company also profits from marketing potentially harmful products to an unsuspecting public, and thus the company itself takes on sinister corporate overtones. With all of these strategically unsettling elements, the novel’s backdrop ultimately challenges the idea that the ordinary is always benign.

As the complex plot unfolds, red herrings and plot twists emerge, and these are also classic hallmarks of the psychological thriller. Red herrings, or false clues, challenge the reader’s critical thinking skills by employing misdirection to falsely foreshadow events that never come to pass. Ultimately, the mystery can only be solved by analyzing conflicting information and sifting the genuine clues from the red herrings. Meanwhile, the primary function of a plot twist is to subvert the audience’s expectations, and both techniques add to the elaborate nature of a narrative that is designed to keep readers guessing until the very last page. In The Coworker, the discovery of a dead body that appears to be Dawn is the primary red herring, for it seemingly confirms her murder and is only later revealed to be the body of someone else entirely. McFadden also employs several plot twists, the most crucial being the revelation at the beginning of Part 2 that Dawn is alive. The information forces readers to reevaluate previous events and recalibrate their judgments of the characters’ actions before they can effectively move on with the story and fully appreciate the elements to come.