*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. This highly anticipated debut has already received endorsements from such notables as Gillian Flynn and Louise Penny. 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. The secrets of Anna's past and the uncertain present are revealed slowly in genuinely surprising twists. 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. Then her obsession with the new family across the park begins to take over. 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. In this modern update, the agoraphobic Anna hasn't left her Manhattan townhouse in more than 11 months. No redistribution permitted.Ĭhild 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. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. Kiera Parrott, School Library Journal © Copyright 2017. A riveting and mature first novel that stands out in a crowded genre. 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. But no one-including the police-believe the ravings of a hermit who consistently mixes prescription medication with large doses of alcohol. Anna's peeping soon reveals what she's positive is a murder and hasty cover-up. The trio-a husband, wife, and teen son-remind Anna of her own husband and young daughter, who no longer live with her.

Her latest obsession is the new family across the park, the Russells. 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.

Anna Fox, and the horrific scene she witnesses from her kitchen window. The title, also the name of a 1944 film noir, refers to both the protagonist, Dr. 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.

Book woman in the window