This instant New York Times Bestseller psychological drama has a similar style from previous New York Times Bestsellers, "Gone Girl" and "The Girl on the Train". The book is so riveting and addictive from the first page. It contains everything a psychological thriller usually has. The broken and sad unreliable narrator witnessing something they shouldn't have seen and ends up being right all along. The readers always leave, understanding more about the dynamics of marriage, guilt, memory, lies, and betrayal. One of the main components to why these types of stories are fascinating to me is the central female character. Females get shed a different type of light in this genre, that being positive. This book kicked off 2018 with a very good start. It was so highly anticipated and definitely lived up to its hype. It got overwhelming advanced praises from critics and respected authors like Stephen King and Gillian Flynn. When I went to Costco in the beginning of January, I immediately bought it and started to read.
The story, itself, has a reflection from Alfred Hitchcock's classic "Rear Window". Film buffs would appreciate the amount of references to the good old classic thrillers. Like many of the books in this genre, the less you know going into it, the more fun to read. So I will say as little as possible. Anna Fox lives all alone in a lonely apartment suffering from agoraphobia, meaning a phobia of going outside. She spends her days watching old movies, drinking wine, and spying on her neighbors. Then the Russells consisting of a father, mother, and a teenage son move into the house across the way. It seems like a perfect ideal family situation. But when Anna gazes into their house one night, she sees something she shouldn't have seen. Can we, the readers and the characters in the story, trust her?
The book has become such an instant hit, it even got sold for the film rights. The lovely Amy Adams, who is going to star in the highly anticipated summer hit "Sharp Objects", is attached to the film playing Anna Fox. There already are a director and writer attached. They proclaim October 4th, 2019 as their release date, subject to change. The book alone has sold more than 1 million copies in the US so the film should live up to its title. While I was searching who the author is, I was more than shocked to find that A.J. Finn is a male. Normally, all these psychological dramatic stories are written by females in the perspective of a female. I was reading this book and I totally grasped the idea and inner monologues of this central female character, Anna Fox. I thought a female wrote this book because of how understanding she would be to her main character, but I'm pleasantly surprised a man wrote this female character. I'm not saying men can't write well in the eyes of a female, it's just not something you read everyday.
Now, I recommend this book to anyone who loved reading "The Girl on the Train" and watching "Rear Window". Also, to anyone loving a good twist here and there. The last 3/4 and ending of the book had my jaw dropped for several days. I was beyond speechless and shocked to what I have read. I will be honest that the middle section did drag a bit. It's 427 pages and somewhere in the middle, the ball gets dropped, but boy, does it bounce back up for one heck of a finale. Go out and buy this book. Read it before the film comes out next year because it could have the next "Gone Girl" like success. It's already having a great start. I loved this book so much and you will too.
Rating: 9.0/10