Actress Amber Tamblyn, one of the founders of the Time’s Up movement, picked a surprising topic for her debut novel. “Any Man” (Harper Perennial), out Tuesday, is about a female serial rapist written from the point of view of her male victims.

So why, when discussions about male violence toward women are at an all-time high, did Tamblyn flip the script? “So few men come forward and report being the victims of rape,” she said. “You can only imagine how many more stay silent.”

Plus, removing gender stereotypes allowed her to explore the act of rape and its effects without having it muddied by sexual politics.

“It’s very rare you find a female protagonist that is violent and volatile without reason. I wanted to shatter that as an archetype. I wanted to create someone who did it for the reasons that people actually sexually assault other people. It’s not about sex; it’s about power.

“It’s important to remember that sexual assault knows no race, no gender, no class. It’s something that harms all of us.”

Tamblyn’s rapist character, who only goes by her online name, Maude, is a phantom pursuing victims on dating sites, in crowded bars and via home invasions. Her male victims comprise the full racial and socioeconomic spectrum — including a married New York City poet, a young biracial college student, an older failed comedian and a gay right-wing conservative commentator. Each attack is also unique, from leaving a man bloodied in a dive-bar alley to handcuffing an older man to a radiator and sodomizing him with his own broom.

How these men deal with the extreme violence of their attacks is Tamblyn’s focus, while authorities pursue a seemingly fruitless search for the villain. The only crime-scene evidence is a particularly disturbing 6-foot-long strand of female hair.

Was she worried that presenting a female rapist in the age of #MeToo might be deemed insensitive? “I started writing this three and a half years ago, and there was part of me that wondered if I should wait to put it out,” said Tamblyn, best known for her role in “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” which may soon be made into a third movie. “But I thought no, this is where the zeitgeist is. I’m not the only one who’s been feeling this way for years.”

Still, Tamblyn is concerned that some readers might react negatively to a female rapist at a time when female victims of rape and sexual assault are finally being given the sympathy they deserve. “I feel scared for my book, protective, terrified but also emboldened by it,” she said. “I hope this book leads to more conversations and that we broaden them. This is so important that we include all genders. To me this book is a work of action.”

Tamblyn will be in conversation with Jodi Kantor at 92Y on Tuesday, June 26 at 7:30 p.m.