End of Story by A.J. Finn

Publisher: William Morrow

First Publication: 2024

Book Summary: End of Story by A.J. Finn

“I’ll be dead in three months. Come tell my story.”

This is the chilling invitation from Sebastian Trapp, renowned mystery novelist, to his long-time correspondent Nicky Hunter, an expert in detective fiction. Welcomed into his lavish San Francisco mansion, Nicky begins to unravel Trapp’s life story under the watchful eyes of his enigmatic wife and plainspoken daughter.

But Sebastian Trapp is a mystery himself. And maybe – probably – a murderer.

Two decades ago, his first wife and son vanished, the case never solved. Is the master of mystery playing a deadly game? If so, who will be the loser?

And when a body surfaces in the family’s garden, they all realize the past isn’t buried – it’s waiting.

Book Review: End of Story by A.J. Finn

A.J. Finn’s latest novel End of Story is a tantalizing and twist-filled literary thriller that will keep readers guessing until the final pages. Finn has crafted an intricate and multi-layered mystery entwined with family secrets, fragmented identities, and the dark motivations that lead people to commit the unthinkable.

The story centers around bestselling mystery novelist Sebastian Trapp, who is dying of kidney failure. Seeking to document his own life story before his impending death, he invites young writer Nicky Hunter to live in his San Francisco mansion and chronicle his life and career. But Sebastian harbors ulterior motives – he wants Nicky to investigate the decades-old disappearance of his first wife Hope and teenage son Cole on a fateful New Year’s Eve in 1999. As Nicky digs deeper, uncovering new clues and re-examining old evidence, she is drawn into the twisted familial web of the Trapps.

Finn deftly switches perspectives between Nicky, Sebastian’s daughter Madeleine, Cole (now identifying as Nicole after transitioning decades ago), and excerpts from Cole’s childhood diary. This rotating narrative viewpoint allows the reader to peel back the layers of this dysfunctional family onion, exposing buried traumas, simmering resentments, and the psychological scars inflicted by toxic patriarchal control.

The shifting viewpoints and fragmented timeline can occasionally make the story feel disjointed and even confusing at times. Just when you think you have a grip on a particular thread, Finn deftly pulls the narrative rug out from under you. This can be both engrossing in building mystery and suspense, but also frustrating when you just want some solid footing in the story for a while.

That said, Finn is a talented writer who excels at vivid psychological Characterization and evoking the unique atmosphere of San Francisco. His depictions of the Trapp family home with its maze-like geography of hidden rooms and secret passages conjures a palpable sense of claustrophobia and dread. The bustling streets and secret hideaways of the city almost become characters themselves.

The strongest element of the novel is Finn’s brilliant rendering of the Trapps as a family aristocracy of poisoned privilege and inherited trauma. Sebastian is a compelling character study of genius, narcissism, and the collateral damage caused by putting art before family. His mercurial shifts between charm, callousness and literary pretension are riveting.

But it is Madeleine who emerges as the most complex and heartbreaking creation. Consumed by guilt over her role in her mother’s death and desperate for her emotionally withholding father’s approval, her anguish practically bleeds off the page. Her relationship with her sibling Nicole/Cole and their shared wounding by their father’s cruel indifference to Cole’s identity is a particular standout.

Where the book stumbles is in its uneven pace and that constantly shifting viewpoint which can make it challenging to gain momentum. There are times when the story gets mired in excessive backstory and introspection at the expense of driving the central mystery forward with sufficient urgency. Finn’s literary ambitions occasionally work against the more pulpy thrills that readers might be craving from this type of novel.

The book also doesn’t fully stick the landing of its finale, which feels overly convoluted and contrived in tying up all the disparate threads a little too neatly. The final ‘aha’ reveal doesn’t quite pack the mind-blowing punch it aspires to, though your mileage may vary on whether you find it a satisfying conclusion or not.

In the end, End of Story is a rich and cerebral mystery that explores the painful legacy of family dysfunction with insight and empathy. The novel grapples poignantly with themes of guilt, identity, redemption and the power of storytelling to both obscure the truth and finally reveal it.

Though the constant perspective shifts and languorous pacing may test some readers’ patience, Finn’s skill at peeling away layers of deception and crafting compellingly human characters makes this a gripping and immersive read. It’s a wonderfully twisty tale about the lies we tell ourselves in order to go on living – right up until we can no longer outrun the past’s lingering ghosts.

Those with a high tolerance for a slow boil and fractured chronology will likely find much to savor in this darkly lyrical, unusually avant-garde take on the mystery genre. While not quite reaching the masterful heights of Finn’s smash debut The Woman in the Window, End of Story solidifies Finn as one of today’s most ambitious and psychologically insightful thriller writers. Its tangled web of family secrets and tragic consequences casts a lingering spell.