One by One (2020) is a suspense/thriller novel by Freida McFadden. The novel follows Claire Matchett, her husband, and some of their close friends as they take a vacation in the wilderness together. Once the group becomes unexpectedly stranded, the friends start dying one by one, creating an atmosphere of rising tensions, mistrust, and deadly danger. The novel explores the themes of The Complexities of Deceit and Trust, Appearances Versus Reality, and The Psychological Impacts of Isolation.

McFadden is a prolific writer who has authored over 25 books, which have been translated into 40 languages. These include the Housemaid series (The Housemaid (2022), The Housemaid’s Secret (2023), and The Housemaid is Watching (2024)) and standalone novels such as Never Lie (2022), The Coworker (2023), Ward D (2023), and The Teacher (2024)). She is a New York Times bestselling author and has won the International Thriller Writers Award for best paperback.

This guide uses the 2020 Hollywood Upstairs Press Kindle e-book edition.

Content Warning: The source text contains mentions of physical/psychological abuse, violence, death by suicide, and murder.

Plot Summary

The novel opens with Claire Matchett, an elementary school teacher, packing for a trip to an inn in the woods with her husband, physicist Noah Matchett, and their friends, Jack and Michelle Alpert, Lindsay, and Lindsay’s new boyfriend, Warner. Jack was Noah’s college roommate, and Lindsay was Claire’s college roommate.

Claire is frustrated, as her marriage with Noah has soured since the birth of their second child, Emma. Claire thinks that Noah is unhelpful around the house and with childcare, which has also contributed to the breakdown of their marriage. In recent months, Claire has started having a romantic and sexual affair with Jack, who is also unhappy in his marriage to Michelle. Michelle’s work as a divorce attorney is why Jack will not seek a divorce, as he believes she would ruin his life.

As Claire packs, she and Noah argue about where she put his favorite shirt. Emma tells Claire that she had a dream that a monster ate her and Noah during their vacation. Noah assures her that they’ll be okay, but Claire perceives it as an ominous sign. Claire’s sister Penny picks up the kids to babysit them, and Noah and Claire leave in Claire’s minivan to pick up the rest of the group. Claire tells Noah that she booked them separate rooms, claiming it is to give them some space. In reality, she plans to spend the weekend with Jack. They pick up everyone else, meeting Warner for the first time. Michelle reveals that Jack tried to bring a gun to go hunting.

Noah and Claire bicker during the drive to the woods, which makes the others in the group uncomfortable. They stop for gas and Claire and Jack share a secret kiss. During lunch, Warner polices what Lindsay eats, which upsets Claire. Noah and Claire argue again, and Noah storms out. Lindsay privately tells Claire that she knows about her affair and encourages her to end things with Noah. Claire agrees that she’ll end their relationship after the trip.

The group resumes their drive, with Warner using a map to the inn that he printed out, as he claims cell service isn’t available in the woods. The van’s GPS stops working soon after, and the van breaks down. With no cell service, the men in the group decide to try to walk two miles through the woods to the inn. Lindsay and Claire are hesitant but agree to go so they are not left behind.

During their walk in the woods, the group carefully conserves their food and water. Jack also reveals that he brought his rifle against Michelle’s wishes. As they walk, Claire and Lindsay notice some strange claw marks in a tree, which make them nervous about the presence of bears or other predatory animals. Lindsay quickly grows tired and stops to eat blueberries, though Claire warns her not to eat any unidentified berries. They continue walking, but soon after, Lindsay collapses and has a seizure. Warner tries to revive her, but she dies. The group deduces the berries she ate were deadly nightshade. Claire grieves, but the group decides to keep moving.

Michelle sprains her ankle, and Jack comforts her, which upsets Claire. They make camp for the night, and Jack gives Claire his hoodie to keep warm, which makes Noah jealous. When the group falls asleep, they wake to find Michelle missing. As they search for her, they find massive amounts of blood and more ominous claw marks. Warner wants to find water and abandon the search for Michelle, which angers Jack. They retrieve water from a pond, and Jack uses tablets he packed to purify it. They look a little further for Michelle before continuing to attempt to find the inn. Noah thinks he and Claire should break off from the group, as he believes something is wrong with Warner’s map and Jack’s compass. Claire thinks they should stay, so Noah stays with her.

They camp for another night. Jack approaches Claire and tells her that he thinks Noah or Warner has a magnet that is messing with his compass, but Claire isn’t sure. They begin to argue; Claire believes their relationship was built on a lie about his lack of feelings for Michelle, so she returns his sweatshirt. Warner and Jack argue, and Noah takes the gun away from them. Noah then gives Claire his hoodie and they cuddle before falling asleep.

They wake to the sound of gunshots and find Warner and Jack missing. Noah and Claire investigate and find Jack, who insists that he did nothing to Warner and only shot his gun at a coyote. Claire and Noah are suspicious, but they decide to search for Warner with Jack because Warner has the map. They fail to find him, but they do locate an empty cabin that appears recently inhabited, as there is a partially eaten sandwich on the table. The remaining group members drink some water from the tap and eat sandwiches. Jack shows Claire that he found a truck with the cabin owner inside it, though he’s been stabbed to death. They agree not to tell Noah, as Jack thinks Noah orchestrated the killings as revenge for Claire and Jack’s affair, though Claire isn’t sure.

Later, Noah shows Claire a photo of her and the kids that he keeps with him, which surprises her. He offers to wash her clothes, and when she undresses, he compliments her. They kiss and have sex. Claire confesses her affair, and Noah reveals that he already knew and kissed another woman to make Claire jealous, though he realized he wanted Claire back. They forgive each other and confess their continuing love for each other, though Claire is concerned when she later finds a knife in Noah’s pocket.

The next day, Jack is missing. Claire panics and believes that Jack was right about Noah being the killer. When she runs to the truck, she finds Jack shot to death beside the dead cabin owner. Warner appears behind her with a gun and leads her back to the cabin, where Lindsay is holding Noah at gunpoint. Lindsay has a violent past. She found her abusive mother after she overdosed on sleeping pills, and she left her to die. In college, Lindsay killed her father by pushing him down the stairs after she discovered his affair. Lindsay also killed Claire’s cheating ex-boyfriend and other men who wronged women in her life. She orchestrated the weekend to punish Claire for cheating on Noah and to punish Noah for kissing her, as she was the woman Noah mentioned having kissed. Due to her dislike of disloyalty, Lindsay believes Claire and Noah deserve to die for dishonoring their marriage.

Lindsay recruited Warner to help her after she met him on a forum about poisons. They got a tool to leave ominous claw marks in trees, printed a fake map, and brought a magnet to throw off Jack’s compass. Warner plans to frame Noah for the killings, but Lindsay shoots Warner. She tells Claire that Warner is wanted by the police, so he’s the perfect person to blame. Claire begs Lindsay to spare her, and Lindsay admits she doesn’t want to kill Claire because of their friendship. However, she thinks Claire knows too much. Before Lindsay can shoot her, Noah stabs her with the knife Claire found earlier.

The police arrive, as Lindsay called them to orchestrate her alibi. Lindsay survives, and Claire and Noah reunite with their children. Claire and Noah decide to give their marriage a fresh start, but Claire is suspicious when she finds a magnet in Noah’s jacket pocket. In prison, Lindsay knows Claire will find the magnet that Warner planted in Noah’s jacket and believes that it will destroy Claire and Noah’s marriage through suspicion.