This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I definitely was not blown away by this book. I thought that it had great potential with Delta Dawn's character as an obsessive psychopath, but it was not executed well. I wanted more about her interactions with the Straub family, and I couldn't understand her attraction and obsessions with them, especially since Amelia is an extremely flawed and unlikable character.

I was unimpressed overall, but I found myself wanting to read this and know the ending.

I absolutely loved this book! I couldn't put it down! The story line grabbed me from the beginning! This gave me Single White Female vibes, but in a different way. Delta Dawn took stalking to a new level. I gave it four stars because I saw the ending coming. But I would highly recommend to others!

Finished the book but honestly didn't really enjoy it - so, two stars. I would consider this book to be more disturbing than to be a thriller. Ending was predictable. Some of the nonsense with the main character was simply... stupid. There felt like so many of the storylines went on brief tangents - and were never picked back up. Unsatisfying read.

“You have no idea who I am.”

“Does anyone?”

When the Straub family hire Delta to photograph their 11 year old daughters birthday party, they have no what is in store for them.

Well, I finished this novel over the course of a day as it was hard to put down! Addictive and obsessive, this is wickedly entertaining. While there are times that things edge on unbelievable, I found Delta to be written fantastically unhinged and living inside her mind was a treat. Single White Female meets The Hand that Rocks the cradle - this is a great popcorn thriller!

Thank you Netgalley & Minotaur for the ARC!

After being hired as a photographer for their child's birthday party Delta starts to place herself into the family dynamics of the Straub family in this twisted thriller by Mary Dixie Carter

After doing photography for the Straubs, Delta starts to offer to help the family with little tasks like babysitting their daughter Natalie. She then starts to becomes friends with the Amelia. When she finds out how she can get closer to the family Delta starts to manipulate everyone involved to get where she needs to be. And will go to some extremes to keep it that way.



This story was a little bit unsettling at times but in the best way. Delta is a woman desperate to be excepted and forms an unhealthy obsession with the Straub family. Her character was so well written in the way she watches and figures out how to manipulate the family. I feel like my brain was screaming red flag constantly when the character would talk about the family.

The story is not deep in a make you think hard way but has a good suspense build up and flow. It reminded me a lot of a story like you in the creepy watcher way.

It's a solid story for a slow build suspense and definitely makes you think about who you let into your home.

This was a quick and entertaining read for sure. My skin was crawling throughout a majority of the story because it was just that creepy. Delta's level of obsession was wild.

Some of the decisions made by these characters was a little disbelieving, but I was still able to enjoy the story. I flew through the book because I just had to know what was going to happen and how everything was going to turn out.

The Photographer

Thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own. Review on bookstagram to come.

Quick synopsis: Photographer Delta Dawn is hired for Natalie Straub's birthday party at her family's NYC home. While there, Delta feels a strong bond and pull to the family, and will do whatever it takes to remain in their lives.

When I got invested: end of chapter 1 into chapter 2

Ooh how I love a crazy, delusional narrator and entering their mind. (What does this say about me?!🤣) Seeing things from Delta Dawn's viewpoint was a wild, fun ride, as she weasels her way into the Straub's lives. Amelia and Fritz both take advantage of Delta's love for them; Delta is fully aware of this and a willing participant. This is another instance of a book being labeled a thriller, when really it's more of a slow burn domestic suspense, so just know that going in. I loved the end and cackled a bit, but I did want more of Delta's backstory and why she is the way that she was.

Content warnings: infertility, failed adoption, talk of miscarriage

This was such a good slow burn suspense book. It keep me turning the pages (while I listened to the audiobook) because it gave such a sense of foreboding. I had to find out what was going to happen. It was so creepy how Delta inserted herself into the Straubs' life, first through her photos and then in their actual lives, and how she justified her actions. I did want to know more about Delta's background and how she made it to New York. I also wanted to find out the reason she acted how she did. That would have made the book even more interesting. Still, overall, I enjoyed The Photographer! Check it out if you want to read a slow burn, stalkerish suspense.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance readers copy in exchange for my honest review!

Mind chilling and disturbing

As a photographer myself, I was interested in this from the get-go. However, it did not live up to my expectations. I don't really know what I truly expected, but I felt underwhelmed, and felt more terror should have been done.

Delta (as of Delta Dawn) is a certified photographer and likes to photograph people. After a birthday shoot with a family's daughter, she becomes obsessed with them.

I couldn't really connect with a lot of the characters and it felt very forced to how exactly it played out. But I can appreciate how creepily well Delta managed to control and twist the situation to her benefit.

I did like how we were told the story from Delta's point of view, so we mostly knew what she was lying about and her way of thinking.

Overall, the story and how it plays out in the end is very creepy and a bit disturbing, but I appreciate how chilling it was. I did like the fast pace, but felt things were moving a bit too fast, as the mom takes a complete 180 in the span of two seconds.

A good debut novel by Mary Dixie Carter.

Thank you to NetGalley, Mary Dixie Carter and Minotaur Books for the chance to review an ARC copy.

3/5

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an review. Creepy, weird and can't look away. That is the best way to describe this book. Delta Dawn is a photographer who becomes obsessed with this family. The layers and secrets of this one character will keep you craving the next chapter. A great thriller and would make a good Lifetime movie.

What’s creepier than someone who inserts themself into the heart of your family without even knowing you?

Find out in The Photographer! Delta longs for the perfect family, but is there such a thing?

With a little bit of a Single White Female vibe, this story takes you on a trip of what one person will do to find their perfect family.

It's been a while since I've come across a protagonist that was so depraved, so effed up, and incredibly icky for lack of a better term, but Delta Dawn, the photographer in question was truly something else.

It doesn't take long to see there's something wrong with her. From the moment she comes across the family shell eventually attach herself to, it's clear she's got some major issues. She convinces herself she's just what their family needs and manipulates the picture of their life to justify her presence.

Obviously, things go wrong, and the end was a little predictable, but otherwise, this story was well written. I totally recommend it if your into books that take a deep dive into the heads of really messed up people.

This one was creepy at times but it ultimately fell really flat and didn’t do much to distinguish from the other thrillers out there.

The Photographer from Mary Dixie Carter📖
This book was incredible good, it was both character and plot driven and I was here for it all the way! My attention was grabbed by the first chapter and never faltered a second after. All of the characters were interesting and twisty in their own way, especially the main character. This book has yourself questioning yourself about why your rooting for them and if you should be…
Honestly, a great book and I highly recommend if you enjoy twisty domestic reads. Rating: 4.5/5⭐️

Whoa. This psychological thriller is eye-opening, twisted, and manipulative.

Delta is the ultimate manipulator. Sick of being the outsider always looking in, she's taking things to the next level and placing herself front and center in Amelia's place. Babysitting for Natalie is just to get her foot in the door. From there, she's all eyes and ears and she works to wiggle into every aspect of the family life.

Mary Dixie Carter shows the reader that if you aren't watching, aren't guarding, you can easily be manipulated and when your eyes are finally open, it might be too late. It was naturally very thrilling. Kudos to the author for her characters and well written book.

Thank you for allowing me to listen and offer my opinions.

3 1/2
So here we have a wily, maybe slightly (or more) psychotic photographer, Delta Dawn, named perhaps after the song sung by Tanya Tucker about a woman who may not be all there mentally, who takes pictures of family birthdays and then integrates herself into the photos via photoshop. Is any part of her life real? The Photographer by Mary Dixie Carter is definitely an adventure into a twisted world of believe and make-believe by a photographer who knows how to make it all happen.

From the get-go, the reader is on alert regarding Delta’s behavior. Delta is always observant, trying to be a few feet ahead of what other people might be guessing. She’s always trying to be superior, probably because she’s always felt inferior since her parents were janitors at Disney World and she was that kid looking on others from the outside. She manipulates and lies with ease. She seems to feel very little sense of conscience, unless it comes to being caught and then the lies pour forth.

All of this prepares the reader for something that never quite happens because Carter has not made the stakes high enough, in my opinion.

Perhaps one of the best manipulative female characters of all time in a thriller is Alex from Fatal Attraction. She manipulates and we know bad things are going to happen. As readers and audiences, this is what we expect. If events are twisted enough, we expect bad things to happen. And they do.

In The Photographer we get mediocre things. I’m afraid to say that despite how well written the novel is, the author just doesn’t take us far enough. The climax and the outcome are a bit on the yawn-worthy side and that is so unfortunate. I felt like Carter just didn’t want anything bad to happen anywhere despite how she set everything up. She wrote this novel so well and wove a really great tapestry of character weirdness that was just never lived up to because she couldn’t let bad things happen. Yes, some things happened. But, for me, they were not enough.

For all of you writers out there: let bad things happen.

I’m waffling on the rating for this one. Writing and characterization is better than the plotting. 3 1/2 to 4.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Delta Dawn’s photographs say so many words, but none of them are true! She is a sought after photographer by affluent parents who admire her work. Will Delta go too far when she tries to photoshop her real life the way she does in her photos? This was an immersive, obsessive read! Well done!
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

This book did not do it for me at all. The characters were unbelievable, the plot did not make sense with the characters, and some characters just completely changed personalities halfway through the book with very little explanation.

This was a highly engaging read. While some things could be considered unrealistic, everything ties up pretty nicely at the end. Also, we don't get a resolution until the final chapters, which made the story engaging from beginning to end.

The book is written from Delta's point of view so we get to read her internal struggles and decision-making process. The first few chapters give us insight into Delta's life and the events that led her to become a brilliant photographer who ends up shooting Natalie Straub's eleventh birthday party. We are immediately made aware that she has some serious boundaries and attachment issues. She is lonely and has no support system since her ex-husband has taken her five-year-old son Jasper to the other side of the country. So, she immerses herself in her work and develops an obsessive and unhealthy attachment to the people she photographs getting as far as photoshopping herself into the images she has captured.

The Straubs have the life she has always wanted, so she becomes fixated with the idea of being part of their family. Delta goes to great lengths to insert herself into the family, and she succeeds pretty soon thanks to Amelia's struggle with her fertility and declining emotional well-being caused by her inability to have a baby. We get to see how Delta develops a plan and takes the steps to achieve it.

I was somewhat taken aback by the decisions that many of the characters made throughout the book. For starters, I was puzzled by Delta's lack of interest to see her son. While she mentions him a lot, she doesn't seem to want to pursue a relationship with him. She blames the father for taking him away, but she has just gone along with whatever her ex-husband decides. On the other hand, she's extremely interested and engaged in Natalie's life, and it feels like she's using her as a replacement for her unfulfilled motherhood journey.

The other thing I had a hard time wrapping my mind around was the lack of logic some of these characters have. While Amelia's choices can be easily blamed on her declining mental health caused by fertility issues, Fritz just goes along with his wife's choices. Opening the doors of their home to a stranger and letting her babysit for their young daughter seems like a very bad idea. Both Amelia and Fritz are very trusting of a person they just met, and neither of them questions why she's constantly showing up in their home and offering to do things for them. Usually, wealthy people are apprehensive of letting strangers into their trusted circle, so it was baffling they just let this person in their lives without question.


I liked the way these characters were written.

We get a pretty clear idea about each character's state of mind, and their struggles within the family dynamic. Amelia and Natalie are both dealing with genuine feelings of disappointment and despair caused by Amelia's desire to have another baby. They both have very realistic responses to the choices that Amelia is making to fulfill her desire.

Delta is irrational, and at times, extremely unlikable. She manipulates situations to her advantage and ends up getting what she wants, which made me so annoyed. Her character is written wonderfully, and it makes the story engaging and deserving of praise.


It was a fast and easy read. The story is captivating from the first page, and it only gets better. It's also shorter than the last few thrillers I've read so I was able to finish it in two sittings. Very well-developed story with a satisfying ending.