The Woman in the Window by A.J Finn: Review

‘I know what I saw'. Do you really Anna, do you. It’s just all the booze and the pill popping it is only common sense if we believe you do not in fact know what you saw. You are an agoraphobic with severe PTSD also an alcoholic and an a fervent abuser of prescription medication I’m really at a loss to take whatever you say seriously particularly something so dramatic and detailed as the murder of someone whom you don’t even know what her name is but you claim is your friend. Someone whom no one has ever seen before.

A.J Finn no doubt is an excellent writer, I totally enjoyed his writing and story line especially because this is my favorite genre so if you don’t like thrillers especially psychological ones then this book is not for you. I also liked the sucker punch surprises he kept introducing throughout the book it added a lot of flavor to the story. Although I must say there were a lot of unnecessary scenes in the book like the sex scene what was that supposed to achieve? I’ll tell you what, nothing. Plus it was over before it even started but that’s a story for another day.

My main grudge with the book however is the main character. Did any one else find her extremely annoying and insufferable, I know she went through a lot  but as an avid reader of novels and a very sympathetic one at that I felt no ounce of pity or even empathy towards her I really disliked this main character even. If that’s what Finn was going for I think he did a very good job of that but I know that’s not what he was going for. Throughout the book, you would find that she makes several poor judgments too much for a doctor even absurd for a children’s psychologist that the ending will make you question if she was indeed a children’s psychologist or it was all in her messed up head.

I think Finn was trying too hard to prove a point that common sense seemed to be removed from the book everything about the book is totally against common sense. Going by what we learned throughout the book, it  was supposed to end the first way he made it look like it was going to end and that was quite a relief for me because that was what made sense. However, I guess that’s not the point of a psychological thriller huh, it’s supposed to give you the shock effect but the shock effect is supposed to make sense and make you look stupid right? Well, this one did not. It ended up being more annoying than it was meant to be and the more you think about it you would see that the ending is surprising because it doesn’t even make sense you don’t see it coming because it shouldn’t be coming, she is a children’s psychologist for Pete’s sake how can something you know so well play you so well too well in-fact.

The ending left me wondering if I was missing something. I wondered what just happened. Is it me  or….like bad sex you know or something along those lines.

A J Finn is brilliant but I just feel that everyone should have sat down and thought this through before publishing. On the flip side the book was entertaining so it was worth the read.

How’s the weather (a short story)

It was raining outside. Sally hated the rain. She couldn’t place why but she’s always hated it since she was a little girl. She was sitting right at the kitchen window of her home where she liked to have breakfast with Alex. That seat was now empty.

She suddenly remembered all the reasons why she hated the rain they came flooding back with such force that she forgot to breathe and found herself gasping for air.

It was three years ago when she was walking home from work because her car broke down. She thought she could make it home before the rain but of course the rain thought something else. When she was halfway through it came down with the vengeful force it only reserved for her and she immediately was soaked. She kept her head down and kept walking all the while cursing under her breath. Suddenly a car stopped and the driver came down with an umbrella in his hand.
“I don’t mean to startle you madam but it’s pouring rain and I just want to get you to your destination safely. I mean no harm”.
She knew he was talking but all she could see were the kindest  blue eyes staring right through to her soul.
True to his word he took her home and walked her to her front door, making sure she was in and safe. Throughout the ride home they never said a word to each other except when she told him her address.

Over the next week she kept receiving flowers from the same person with a beautiful note every time. It was always something kind, something uplifting. Then one day the mystery ‘flower-sender’ decided to leave his name this time and a number. She texted him. ‘You should take me out to dinner’.

At 8pm prompt the man with the kindest eyes was at her door again. She had forgotten just how stunning he was. It was an evening that shouldn’t have ended. Alex was the first man she ever really felt a connection with and she felt completely safe in his presence. This was a new feeling because she never knew her father and all three step-fathers’ she had, had all physically assaulted her to the point that she ran away from home when she was eighteen.

Alex was everything she never knew a man could be. He was kind, honest and utterly selfless that is why when he died she knew she was not destined to ever be happy.

It was of course a rainy day two years into their marriage she was home doing the dishes on a Monday morning because she took a sick leave. She was pregnant with their first child and it was proving to be a complicated pregnancy. The home phone rang. She cheerily went to pick it up whoever it was said she needed to get to Healing Hospital it was an emergency he/she said. In an utterly confused state she picked up her keys and drove down absentmindedly cursing the rain. She got in introduced herself and proceeded to wherever the nurse was taking her to. Before she got there the doctor intercepted her.
“Are you Mrs Blackmon”
“Yes”
“I’m Dr. Chike, I’m so sorry we tried everything we could your husband passed five minutes ago”
“What happened to him”
“He was hit by a drunk driver who is in police custody right now”
“I’m deeply sorry for your loss”
“What loss”
Then it began to dawn slowly on her; “Who the hell drives drunk on a Monday morning”, she thought “why is the room spinning so much, why can I feel my legs, wha…..”

She opened her eyes and the first person she saw was her mother. This had to be bad she only saw her mum when something terrible terrible had happened and then she remembered but she did not have enough spirit in her to cry. She wished herself to wherever Alex was but if only wishes were horses.

She later learned she lost her child the same day she heard the news. Everything became a blur to her, the funeral, the doctor visits, the therapy sessions, everything was just one big blur.

She stared down at the prescription pain medication in front of her at the kitchen table and she thought this time I will be with Alex and nothing will ever take me away from him again.