The Woman in the Window
by A.J. Finn
GENRE: Mainstream Fiction, Thriller
Former child psychologist Anna Fox has been trapped in her New York brownstone for the past ten months after developing agoraphobia following a trauma. One night she witnesses a murder, but when she tells her story to the police, they don’t believe her. Anna must find a way to prove to the authorities, and to herself, that what she saw was real. This intense noir thriller will inspire discussions of perceptions, agoraphobia, and trauma.
Author Biography
A.J. Finn, pseudonym for Daniel Mallory, has written for numerous publications, including the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and the Times Literary Supplement (UK). A native of New York, Finn lived in England for ten years as a book editor before returning to New York City. - Goodreads
Library Journal
DEBUT Likened to blockbusters by Paula Hawkins, Gillian Flynn, and Ruth Ware-and billed as the breakout book of 2018-Finn's debut lives up to the hype. The title, also the name of a 1944 film noir, refers to both the protagonist, Dr. Anna Fox, and the horrific scene she witnesses from her kitchen window. An agoraphobic and former child psychologist, Anna spends her days in her Harlem brownstone drinking Merlot by the case, watching old black-and-white mysteries, and spying on her neighbors. Her latest obsession is the new family across the park, the Russells. The trio-a husband, wife, and teen son-remind Anna of her own husband and young daughter, who no longer live with her. Anna's peeping soon reveals what she's positive is a murder and hasty cover-up. But no one-including the police-believe the ravings of a hermit who consistently mixes prescription medication with large doses of alcohol. VERDICT With overt and subtle references to classic thrillers from Hitchcock to Polanski, Finn, a pen name for William Morrow executive editor Dan Mallory, crafts a tightly coiled tale that will keep fans of the genre guessing. A riveting and mature first novel that stands out in a crowded genre. [See Prepub Alert, 7/3/17.]--Kiera Parrott, School Library Journal © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly
Child psychologist Anna Fox, the unreliable narrator of Finn's gripping first novel, lives out one of the classic films that she loves so well-Hitchcock's Rear Window. In this modern update, the agoraphobic Anna hasn't left her Manhattan townhouse in more than 11 months. When she's not observing the neighbors and photographing them with her digital camera, she's watching movies, playing chess, and counseling other agoraphobics via an online forum. Then her obsession with the new family across the park begins to take over. When Anna witnesses a stabbing in their house, no one believes what she saw is real-and it's entirely possible that Anna shouldn't believe it herself. The secrets of Anna's past and the uncertain present are revealed slowly in genuinely surprising twists. And, while the language is at times too clever for its own good, readers will eagerly turn the pages to see how it all turns out. This highly anticipated debut has already received endorsements from such notables as Gillian Flynn and Louise Penny. Agent: Jennifer Joel, ICM Partners. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist
*Starred Review* Funeral March of a Marionette is heard somewhere off in the distance as the shadow of Alfred Hitchcock, for whose TV program that 1872 Gounod piece served as the theme, moves across each page of this neo-noir masterpiece. Grab a bottle of Merlot, and settle in to accompany Anna Fox on her nightmare journey, a journey confined, almost in its entirety, within the walls of her New York City home. Anna suffers from agoraphobia and has carefully arranged her housebound existence around her many medications, including bottles of wine and classic thriller films, as she keeps in contact with her husband and daughter, nurtures fellow agoraphobes in an online support group, plays virtual chess, Skypes French lessons, and maintains close surveillance of her neighbors. Safe from the world outside. Then her cocoon begins to unravel when she witnesses a murder in the house across the way. Sound familiar? However, author Finn has carefully paced Anna's internal narrative and intricately woven interactions (real or imagined?) and added a diabolical dimension that makes this story even more intense than Hitchcock's Rear Window. And when the catalyst for Anna's condition is ultimately revealed, it is far more traumatic than a broken leg. An astounding debut from a truly talented writer, perfect for fans in search of more like Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Scheduled for publication in 35 languages and with a film already in development at Fox 2000 with Scott Rudin producing, this could be the first novel that climbs highest on this year's bestseller lists.--Murphy, Jane Copyright 2017 Booklist
The Girl on the Train
by Paula Hawkins
Obsessively watching a breakfasting couple every day to escape the pain of her losses, Rachel witnesses a shocking event that inextricably entangles her in the lives of strangers.
Watching You
by Lisa Jewell
When a murder occurs in Melville Heights, one of the nicest neighborhoods in Bristol, England, dangerous obsessions come to light involving the headmaster at a local school, in this place where everyone has a secret.
The Woman in Cabin 10
by Ruth Ware
Assigned to review an exclusive North Sea luxury cruise, travel journalist Lo Blacklock witnesses a woman being thrown overboard and is baffled when all passengers remain unruffled and accounted for, a nightmare that unravels as Lo struggles to convince everyone that what she saw was real.
