62 pages • 2 hours read
A. J. FinnEnd of Story
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial Context: A. J. Finn
A. J. Finn is the pen name of Daniel Mallory. His first thriller, The Women in the Window (2018), was made into a film by Netflix in 2021. Finn notes that both books are influenced by classic film noir movies, such as Hitchcock’s Rear Window and Vertigo, which are also set in San Francisco.
Mallory was born in New York City in 1979. Before becoming a writer, Mallory studied at both Duke University and Oxford University and worked for major publishing houses, including William Morrow and Company and Little, Brown and Company.
In 2019, an article in The New Yorker accused Mallory of lying about his health and the deaths of family members to gain social advantages. Allegations were also made about plagiarism within The Woman in the Window. Mallory has defended himself from these allegations, citing his diagnosis of severe bipolar II disorder as causing him to make false statements. Mallory also stated that many thrillers hold similarities.
Genre Context: The Psychological Thriller
End of Story is a psychological thriller within a mystery novel. The character of Sebastian Trapp clarifies that End of Story is “not […] a traditional mystery. You’re in a psychological thriller” (310). Trapp is correct, despite the quoting of mystery novels, references to mystery writers, and the desire to solve Hope and Cole’s disappearance. While a mystery typically starts with a crime and works backward to solve it, a thriller typically uses a crime to create suspense about what will happen next, working forward toward a climactic ending. Both mystery novels and psychological thrillers often contain surprising outcomes, but psychological thrillers typically also contain twists and revelations, particularly at the end, that dramatically alter perceptions of the plot or characters. In End of Story, Nicky’s revelation that she is indeed Cole—having gone through gender-affirming surgery—and Madeleine’s admission that she killed her mother align more closely with the psychological thriller genre.
Additionally, the suspense that is essential to the genre is built into every major aspect of End of Story, from the setting and weather to the appearance of the cryptic messages supposedly sent from Cole. The ticking clock the characters must race against, as well as the high stakes, are also typical of the genre. Sebastian’s fatal illness increases tension by presenting a finite period through which to solve the case and poses the question of whether the truth will die with him. Most mysteries present a clear threat or question for the protagonists to confront. However, in End of Story, the psychological nature of the plot intertwines the central mystery—what happened to Hope and Cole Trapp—with the looming threat of Sebastian’s possibly being a murderer.
