The Man

by Laura Sims

From the highly acclaimed author of How Can I Help You, a New York Times Best Thriller of the 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.

304 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication July 7, 2026

About the author

Laura Sims’s third novel, THE MAN, is due out from Putnam in July of 2026. Her novels HOW CAN I HELP YOU (2023) and LOOKER (2019) have been on Best Books lists in The New York Times, Vogue, People Magazine, 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, Lit Hub, and Electric Lit. She lives in New Jersey, where she works part-time as a children’s librarian.

Reviews

[Leisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

✨Wow! This is a truly haunting and disquieting, yet quite powerful, read. It’s an absolute page-turner delivered with a pervasive sense of dread and a point of view shift that left me with my jaw on the floor.

✨The book is suspenseful thriller, but it’s also a scathing examination of female agency and gender power dynamics that confronts the ways vulnerable women are exploited or dismissed. While the timeline is 1960s, the themes continue to ring true today.

✨Complex topics like mental health, untreated trauma and women in middle age heightened the tension and have me thinking on this book days after turning the last page.

✨I think this is a book everyone will be talking about when it comes out July 7.

🌿Read if you like:
✨Domestic suspense
✨Psychological thrillers
✨Historical fiction
✨1960s era
✨Photography
✨Atmospheric tension
✨The art world

[Eman Elkwisni · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Man by Laura Sims was so riveting, I couldn’t put it down. This story lingered long after I finished, leaving me deep in thought. We follow Judith Stanley, a housewife with a passion for photography, as she navigates past trauma while taking a photography course. She's incredibly talented, and her professor, Paul Sorenson, pushes her to share her art with the world. As Judith works on her craft, she becomes tormented by the unsettling feeling that someone is watching her from the shadows and the events that unfold are truly haunting.

What makes The Man even more gripping is experiencing the unfolding events through the eyes of deeply unreliable narrators. You’re left questioning everything, what really happened, who can be trusted, and how much is shaped by perception. There’s a rawness and creepiness woven into this story that gets under your skin in the best way. Following the characters’ thoughts and unraveling their psyches through their shifting points of view is deeply compelling and eerie. We come across themes of self-discovery and how trauma can linger for years, resurfacing as fear and self-doubt. The paranoia of surveillance and being watched pulses through these pages. There are powerful explorations of perception, blurred realities and entitlement. This truly is psychological thriller at its finest!

[Cindy Bokma · Rating 3 out of 5]

This dark, domestic suspense novel centers on a 1960s housewife named Judith. She has some trauma in her past and is working through it by taking a photography class.

Her professor, Paul, encourages her work and compliments her talent. She loves taking pictures, however, the mysterious face of a man in her photos creeps Judith out. Who is it?

And then the POV switches and things get even more tense, even more dark. It's disturbing, and you will be looking over your shoulder long after you've finished reading the book.

[Brielle Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Man is about a woman, Judith Stanley, a photography student that keeps seeing a man in all her self portraits. It’s based on real life stalking cases from the 1960s, but it is also about so much more than that.

“Photography is art, and art can be a razor blade, peeling back layers of civility to reveal stark truths.”

The stark truth of this novel explores the inescapable fear of living as a woman with the tension of artistic freedom. The push and pull of this thriller examines identity, agency, and often blurs the lines between past trauma and present dangers. It’s also about men, and what they think they deserve/are entitled to.

This was a thoughtful and impactful story. My only complaint was too much time spent on Paul’s POV and not Judith’s.

✨4 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Putnam for this arc. The Man comes out July 7, 2026.

[Andrea Bartz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haunting, atmospheric, and relentlessly unnerving, THE MAN kept me up late reading...and had me looking over my shoulder on dark corners. Beneath the muscular prose and quiet sense of dread is a thoughtful exploration of power imbalances, our relationship with art, and the roles we allow women to play.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great book that I had to read it over and over and over and over...and over again. And now I'm done.
I hope you enjoy it!

[Mayleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creative and intense. Kept me on edge throughout. Will be recommending it to patrons.

[Robyn Harding · Rating 5 out of 5]

A jaw-dropping POV shift, and elegant yet propulsive prose, make THE MAN a chilling page-turner that explores art, ambition, gender dynamics, and true fear. Creepy, disturbing, and dripping with dread, I had to force myself to put it down!

[Char Grell · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

Thank you NetGalley, Laura Sims and Putmam for the Advanced Readers copy.

The Man by Laura Sims is an upcoming domestic suspense novel (expected July 2026) that blends psychological tension with artistic exploration. It follows a 1960s housewife whose private passion for photography becomes a chilling confrontation with fear when a mysterious figure begins appearing in her self-portraits.

I love a twisty novel! This one definitely kept me guessing. It should be split into "before" and "after" because it took turns that i was not expecting! I don't want to give much away here but it left me thinking..... what.. did.. I .. just.. read? What happened!? I'm still not sure!

This will be a favorite for many readers!