The Man

• Author: Laura Sims
• Genre: Thriller
• Publication Date: July 7, 2026 
• Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Thank you to NetGalley and GP Putnam’s Sons for providing me with an ARC of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

From the highly acclaimed author of How Can I Help You, a New York Times Best Thriller of the Year, a singular take on the domestic suspense novel that follows a 1960s housewife turned amateur photographer who begins to fear for her life when she notices the dark silhouette of a man in the background of her self-portraits.

The photos Judith Stanley takes are just for her, a private passion to fill her suburban days. But when she shares them with Paul Sorenson, her new photography instructor, she’s unprepared to hear his astonished praise. “Stunning,” he calls her photos. “Extraordinary.” She has an uncanny eye, he says, and should consider publication. He could help. Except Judith has no interest in sharing her work; in fact, the mere idea of it frightens her.

Still, emboldened by Paul’s encouragement, Judith ventures out beyond her quiet neighborhood to the city in search of increasingly striking images. When she starts to notice the dark shape of a man in the corner of her self-portraits, Judith is certain he’s an attacker from her past. She doesn’t know why he has returned, but she’s sure of his the hoarse sound of his breathing, his hard grip on her elbow. Perhaps it would appease the man if she were to put her camera down and give up her private passion. But she can’t; she refuses. Until one night when the man finally emerges from the shadows, and Judith’s story suddenly and irrevocably becomes his own.

Chilling and heart-poundingly propulsive, The Man is a phenomenal and timely novel exploring the inescapable fear of living as a woman, the tantalizing seduction of artistic freedom, and the very real dangers that lurk both inside and outside the confines of the mind. The Man marks Laura Sims as an extraordinary talent at the top of her game; and this, her third novel, is her greatest achievement yet.

I was really looking forward to starting this read, and I was primed to love it. A thriller featuring a potential stalker, a middle-aged housewife, and an emphasis on photography and composition sounded like the perfect read for me. There were some things I liked, but others that I didn’t like as much.

To start with, I found Judith a little hard to get to know. There is trauma in her past, but it’s not addressed directly. Instead, she joins a photography class to indulge her artistic talents. Judith is a traditional 1960s housewife, so there are elements of historical fiction in the story, but in some ways she really struggles with her place in life. She’s an empty nester and her husband is the breadwinner, while she takes on traditional duties with the exception of her photography. 

I really loved watching Judith reclaim a sense of independence, which seems to be sorely lacking in her life. As an empty nester, she decides to take a photography class to develop a hobby. Her instructor Paul doesn’t expect much from her, but is absolutely blown away by her innate talent, especially her self-portraits. I’ve taken photography in school, and it isn’t an easy art to learn unless you have some natural ability (which I did not), so it makes me even more impressed with Judith’s photography. There’s only one small issue: there is a shadowy figure of a man in the background of her self-portraits. She crops them out of the finished photos, although it sets her mind spinning.

Judith is very set in the ways of the time: she doesn’t drive, and relies on her husband for most things. There is a pretty significant trauma in her past, where she was assaulted in her own home as a teenager, and was left with significant scarring. I got the feeling that this trauma was never addressed in a healthy way, while her grandmother seemed to blame Judith for the assault. It affects her adult life as well, and you can see Judith becoming more paranoid over the first half of the story as it feels like her past is returning to haunt her.

The first half of the book is told through Judith’s POV. It’s a slow-paced story, and it is more of a character-driven book than plot-driven. At times, being in Judith’s head was exhausting, and I noticed that I often feel that way when there is a lot of anxiety or repetitive thoughts, so this book wasn’t very different. The second half changes perspective to that of Paul, her photography instructor. It was a dramatic shift, and the dual perspectives offer increased insight into the inner world of both major characters.

While Judith wasn’t hard to like and emphasize with, she became more scared and paranoid over the course of the story, making her feel like an unreliable narrator the further I read. Paul isn’t much better—he’s pushy, entitled, and a huge jerk, but you don’t get to see much of this until the second half of the book. He was significantly less likable and I hated reading his perspective when his entitlement revealed itself. However, his part offers a lot of insight into not only who Paul is underneath it all, but also how distorted his thinking was. 

Overall, this was an interesting read, but it was a very slow meander through the lives of the main characters. I had quite a few questions while reading—who attacked Judith as a teenager? Who is the man in the background of her photos? What is going on? Those were my main questions, and unfortunately, they weren’t answered clearly. Instead of following a plot that answers any questions that arise, this was more of a character study than anything else. The side characters are flat and don’t play a major role in the story, especially Judith’s husband. I didn’t mind the slower pace as it allowed me to immerse myself in the story, but I would have liked some of my questions to be answered, which they weren’t. Instead it is more of a slow journey through the lives of Judith and Paul at a turning point in each of their lives. Neither of them turned out to be reliable narrators, and I was intrigued by how they reacted to various situations in their lives. Much of the story was slow, but the end felt a little rushed and unresolved to me. 

Bottom line: An interesting dual narrative, told through the eyes of a middle-aged housewife and her photography instructor, that steadily builds tension throughout the story.

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