The Boyfriend
by Freida McFadden
★ Top 25 book of 2024 · #17 on Best Books of 2024
Sydney Shaw, tired of disastrous dates in New York, believes she has finally found a charming doctor who is perfect. But a killer is targeting women he dates first, and her doubts about her boyfriend start growing.
Best for: Readers who love suspenseful dating nightmares with a looming serial killer twist
The Boyfriend is #17 on BookWard's Best Books of 2024, out of 34 2024 books that cleared our data bar.
What The Boyfriend is about
Sydney Shaw has spent a long stretch of her New York life collecting dating disasters. There was the man whose profile bent the truth, the one who left her holding the check, and the one who could not stop talking about his mother. So when a handsome, charming doctor from a local hospital starts courting her, it feels like her luck has finally turned.
The trouble is the news. A young woman has been killed in a brutal attack, the latest in a run of deaths along the coast, and the police have little to go on. The only lead points to a man who courts women before he harms them. Sydney tries to dismiss the unease creeping in about her flawless new partner, but the doubts will not leave her alone, and she begins to sense that someone is following her every step. A tense story about how far we trust the people we let close, and about the particular fears of modern dating.
The Boyfriend on the Best Books of 2024
The Boyfriend came out in 2024. Of the 34 books first published in 2024 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #17 on our Best Books of 2024 list.
Why it made the list: 326 readers have shelved it on Open Library. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2024 list
- The Great When Alan Moore, #15
- The Anxious Generation Jonathan Haidt, #16
- Playground Richard Powers, #18
- Where's Molly H. D. Carlton, #19
See all Best Books of 2024 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2023 Best Books of 2025.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 299 want to read it, 8 are reading it now and 19 have read it, according to Open Library.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 79 | 45% |
| Reader love | 79 | 20% |
| Being read right now | 79 | 15% |
| Attention | 0 | 20% |
Questions about The Boyfriend
When was The Boyfriend published?
The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden was first published in 2024.
Was The Boyfriend one of the best books of 2024?
The Boyfriend is #17 on BookWard's Best Books of 2024, out of 34 2024 books that cleared our data bar. 326 readers have shelved it on Open Library.
Why is The Boyfriend on the Best Books of 2024 list?
326 readers have shelved it on Open Library.
More of the best books of 2024
- Wind and Truth Brandon Sanderson, #1
- The Let Them Theory Mel Robbins, #2
- The Tainted Cup Robert Jackson Bennett, #3
- Lights Out Navessa Allen, #4
- The Women Kristin Hannah, #5
- Funny Story Emily Henry, #6
See the full Best Books of 2024, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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