Book Review

Patty Pick for 2/8/17 is “The Woman in the Window” by AJ Finn

I had heard and read very good press about this book, but as you all know sometimes a book may not live up to it’s hype. “The Woman in the Window” will grab you by the heart and proceed to squeeze it with fear until you can’t take it any longer. Then it proceeds to pluck those same heartstrings and make you cry.

Anna Fox, renown child psychologist, can not leave her home due to the agoraphobia she now suffers. She is doing therapy, taking medication, talking to her family, anything and everything to help her find the courage to leave. In the meantime, she spends her days watching the neighbors through the windows of her home. She is watching the vacant house across the park when a new family moves in with a teenage son. She did not know she would soon put herself in their cross hairs.

Anna slowly unravels her story to you when she communicates with her tenant living in her basement, shares her wine with the neighbors, participates in her computer community and interacts with the few people she allows into her house. But don’t think this is a slow, winding read, because that could not be further from the truth. This “woman in the window” will grab you and twist and turn you until you are not sure who is alive, dead, or guilty. I don’t want to give too much away, but there are surprising twists and turns and the finale kept me reading it so I could finish it during the first quarter of the Super Bowl. I could not put it down! You need to meet Anna and live with her a few days or however long it takes you to read this book. Believe me, you will not want to put it down until you are finished! 5++++ Stars!

Patty W. Warren is the author of ‘Junebug’ in the award-winning anthology, Feisty Deeds: Historical Fictions of Daring Women. She is working on other short stories and novels. Patty writes stories of everyday women who make decisions in the face of doubt and conflict which change their lives. Her stories are seeded in the South where she grew up and centered around strong women and their family relationships, with a touch of mystery. Patty is a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, where she does a weekly newsletter for the Historical Fiction Affinity Zoom Group. She is also a member of the N.C. Writer’s Network and the Historical Novel Society. She lives on the southern coast of North Carolina where she enjoys the beach, writing, reading, and several writer’s groups. More information about her writing can be found at www.pattywwarren.com.