aj finns 2018 debut novel the woman in the window was an instant bestseller the book was on the new york times bestseller list in the very first week of being published the woman in the window is a psychological thriller with an unreliable woman narrator it is written by dan mallory executive editor at william morrow under the pseudonym aj finn to withhold his identity and gender and possibly avoid the readers judgements considering the debut novel was on the lines of other psychological thrillers like gone girl and the girl on the train which are written by female authorsthe story of the woman in the window revolves around the protagonist dr anna fox who is a child psychologist by profession but after a traumatic experience in her past anna has become severely agoraphobic due to which she is terrified to step outdoors she lives alone in new york city and spends her days watching suspense movies playing chess online selfmedicating and drinking wine excessively spying on her neighbours through her camera and occasionally talking to her estranged husband and daughter on the telephone anna is quite intrigued by her neighbour the russells on a seemingly normal day when anna was extremely drunk she believes she witnessed a murder in the neighbouring family but she isnt sure of her recollections and the police also dont believe her confused disoriented and frightened anna wonders if she really saw a murder take place or was it all a figment of her imaginationthe books powerful unreliable narrative excels at not only tricking anna but the readers too in deciding whats real and whats imaginary thus making it an interesting read after a stellar debut last year the book is being adapted into a movie which is being directed by joe wright the film will feature amy adams julianne moore gary oldman wyatt russell brian tyree henry fred hechinger and anthony mackie and is scheduled to release on october 4 2019how critics view the bookconstance grady writes for voxcom the woman in the window is predictable funlloyd sachs writes for chicago tribune like all highconcept thrillers the woman in the window can afford nary a misstep or risk falling apart like a tower of playing cards to the authors credit the plot is very nearly airtight and for all the narrative effects finn never loses touch with the fear and insecurity of a woman who has suffered a great loss and feels abandoned and alone in the worldkristina wright writes for bookbubcom the woman in the window is a twisty psychological thriller where nothing is quite what it seemsjoyce carol oates writes for the new yorker like its great predecessor henry jamess the turn of the screw the classic tale of the seemingly unreliable female narrator witnessing events she cannot explain or make plausible to others the woman in the window presents two mysteries theres the filmnoir mystery glimpsed in tantalizing fragments through the window and theres the more engrossing though less explicable