Summer reading is supposed to be fun and The Woman in the Window is fun, for the most part. At the same time, though, its derivative, predictable and repetitive. It follows the tradition of recent summer romps like Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train so closely that despite the pristine prose, I kept feeling cheated: it takes a lot of convincing to show a skeptic like me that this isn't just some calculated effort to run down a trend. Even Daniel Mallory's pseudonym, A. J. Finn, is so similar to Gillian Flynn (author of the much better Gone Girl) that you can't help feeling a little duped. And what's wrong with his own name in the first place? To me Daniel Mallory is a perfect novelist name, albeit a male one that might not look as convincing on the cover of a book about a woman aimed towards women in general.
Anna Fox is an agoraphobic - someone who fears open spaces - and spends most of her time indoors in her town house in Harlem, New York. From her window, she spies on her neighbors with a long lens camera. When she witnesses a murder across the street, she has to deal with her phobia and past trauma to work on finding the killer. The framing of the story is standard Hitchcock by way of Agatha Christie and overall I had a hard time seeing the forest from the referential trees.
Here's a list of references to give you an idea of how The Woman in the Window "pays homage" to other books and movies: almost all of Hitchcock's films (most notably The Rear Window, Vertigo and Strangers on a Train), The Girl on the Train (especially the alcoholism, the voyeurism and the titling), and perhaps even The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair (the interactions between an obstinate protagonist and a good-guy cop). These are just the ones that I recognized. The New York Times review is almost exclusively dedicated to describing how The Woman in the Window fits in with the wider tradition. It's more a gala of dignified references than an actual book review.
As a simple summer read, The Woman in the Window is perfectly adequate and I imagine that the obligatory, fast-tracked movie version will be as good or even better. Its above most detective fiction because it is so well built. Pacing and exposition are excellent, the reader is hooked with shocking revelations and a surprisingly humane touch. A mid-book aside about a skiing trip is haunting and a definite highlight. Mallory overdoes the alcohol and prescription drug aspect of Fox's persona, however, so much so that readers of The Girl on the Train are already plenty familiar with the drill. Was the murder just a product of an over-active imagination and unscrupulous use of medication? The answer won't surprise you.
All that being said, there seems to be nothing stopping The Woman in the Window from becoming a success both in print and on film. It makes for perfectly pleasant reading, especially if you haven't seen Vertigo. Its faults will be pointed out by critics, but as a product of today's pop culture, we could do worse. It's the Bruno Mars or Robin Thicke of detective fiction. You can't really complain about production values, but don't be surprised if copyright infringement lawsuits start popping up.
Anna Fox is an agoraphobic - someone who fears open spaces - and spends most of her time indoors in her town house in Harlem, New York. From her window, she spies on her neighbors with a long lens camera. When she witnesses a murder across the street, she has to deal with her phobia and past trauma to work on finding the killer. The framing of the story is standard Hitchcock by way of Agatha Christie and overall I had a hard time seeing the forest from the referential trees.
Here's a list of references to give you an idea of how The Woman in the Window "pays homage" to other books and movies: almost all of Hitchcock's films (most notably The Rear Window, Vertigo and Strangers on a Train), The Girl on the Train (especially the alcoholism, the voyeurism and the titling), and perhaps even The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair (the interactions between an obstinate protagonist and a good-guy cop). These are just the ones that I recognized. The New York Times review is almost exclusively dedicated to describing how The Woman in the Window fits in with the wider tradition. It's more a gala of dignified references than an actual book review.
As a simple summer read, The Woman in the Window is perfectly adequate and I imagine that the obligatory, fast-tracked movie version will be as good or even better. Its above most detective fiction because it is so well built. Pacing and exposition are excellent, the reader is hooked with shocking revelations and a surprisingly humane touch. A mid-book aside about a skiing trip is haunting and a definite highlight. Mallory overdoes the alcohol and prescription drug aspect of Fox's persona, however, so much so that readers of The Girl on the Train are already plenty familiar with the drill. Was the murder just a product of an over-active imagination and unscrupulous use of medication? The answer won't surprise you.
All that being said, there seems to be nothing stopping The Woman in the Window from becoming a success both in print and on film. It makes for perfectly pleasant reading, especially if you haven't seen Vertigo. Its faults will be pointed out by critics, but as a product of today's pop culture, we could do worse. It's the Bruno Mars or Robin Thicke of detective fiction. You can't really complain about production values, but don't be surprised if copyright infringement lawsuits start popping up.