‘The Man’ by Laura Sims

Published by Verve Books,
23 July 2026.
ISBN: 978-0-85730950-1 (PB)

Before you open this book, switch off your phone, lock your door and set the TV to record, because once you have started you won’t want to put it down. 

This fast-paced psychological thriller tells the story of Judith Stanley.  She is a middle-aged housewife, looking for hobbies to fill her time now that her son has left home.  She decides to hone her photography skills and enrols on a course with Professor Paul Sorensen. 

The book starts with a poignant view through Judith’s lens as she photographs random people at the annual Columbus Day parade.  She has the rare gift of exposing the hidden depths of her subjects’ personalities through her perfectly framed shots, and her work is arresting. The reader learns that there is pain and trauma in her past, which she skilfully reveals on the faces of others in her devastating portrait shots. 

Paul Sorensen is more or less paying lip-service to his job.  He knows that most of his students are only there to earn an easy grade. Few, if any, will become professional photographers. When he sees the quality and artistry of Judith’s work he is stunned.  He pleads with her to publish and exhibit, but she steadfastly refuses. She does not want to share her photographs with anyone. 

What she tells no-one is that in the background of her self-portrait shots there is always a man, lurking and watching. She fears this is the same man who caused her terrible pain and trauma as a child. How has he found her?  How is he managing to stalk her wherever she goes, and whatever she does? 

The story becomes darker as it twists the lives of Judith and Paul together in shocking and unexpected ways.

Fans of authors such as Harlan Coben and Ruth Ware should enjoy this intricate and well-written story.
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Reviewer:  Jane Andreoli 

Laura Sims's previous novels How Can I Help You and Looker have been featured on Best Books lists in the New York Times Book Review, Vogue, People, Entertainment Weekly, Real Simple, Publishers Weekly and more. An award-winning poet, Sims has published four poetry collections; her essays and poems have appeared in the New Republic, Boston Review, LitHub and Electric Lit. She lives in New Jersey, where she works part-time as a children's librarian.  

Jane Andreoli. I have been in love with words ever since her mother read her bedtime stories before I could read for myself. As a writer, I enjoy creating mysteries with twists in their tails, and I love a well-crafted plot. My literary heroes are Jane Austen for her superb social observations, Shakespeare for the amazing way he crunched the English language into new shapes to express his emotions, Margery Allingham for her satisfyingly convoluted plots and Phil Rickman for his masterful command of supernatural atmosphere.  I also love Douglas Adams and Sir Terry Pratchett for their humour, satire, and social commentary. I have an honours degree in English, but fortunately that was so long ago that I have forgotten all those pretensions and rediscovered the joy of creative writing.  I am now a published author, currently working on my next book. I have just reached that delicious stage where the characters become autonomous and start making their own decisions.  Anything could happen and probably will