She Treads Softly: The View from Here

Friday, May 29, 2026

The View from Here

The View from Here by Rachel Howzell Hall
6/22/26; 287 pages (re-release)
Thomas & Mercer

The View from Here by Rachel Howzell Hall is a recommended psychological thriller. This is a revised re-release of the novel originally published on 11/7/2010.

Nicole and Truman Baxter have been married for eleven years and are having relationship problems. It seems Truman is always too busy and they are having problems communicating and making time for each other. Truman flirts with other women at his birthday part angering Nicole. Nicole has an early miscarriage and Truman doesn't have a clue. She also has a fling with a neighbor. Before she has a chance to talk to Truman, he disappears, presumed dead, after a scuba diving accident near Catalina Island. This is followed by Nicole seemingly losing her mind while grieving, as she begins to see Truman, along with signs of him being in the house. Is he haunting her?

The pace moves quickly and the plot is basic, so easy to follow. The plot could basically be summarized as: couple has marital problems, husband dies, woman grieves and thinks she's going crazy or is haunted. Truman doesn't disappear until the 35% mark in the book. Normally I wouldn't disclose this information considering it a spoiler, but it's part of the description and really the whole point of the story is he dies/disappears and she is grieving/haunted. It is disconcerting and should be noted how much Nicole depends upon and takes prescribed medication.

Really, none of the characters seem to be trustworthy as doubts are placed throughout the narrative that encourage questioning the motives of every single one of them. I guessed what was going on and my suspicions were proven correct. The plot felt like a familiar, widely used trope and the characters are all caricatures of a type of person. The page count is low and the pacing is fast, so the action does move relatively quickly.

The View from Here will best be appreciated by those who like fast-paced psychological thrillers with paranormal undertones. Thanks to Thomas & Mercer for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.