Cover Image: Behind Closed Doors

Behind Closed Doors

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This was a good quick read. It was a little predictable, but that could be because I read so many of these kinds of books. I liked the twists and turns and how it wrapped up. All in all good story.

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Where do I even begin with this book? Everything is not as it seems for Grace and her husband Jack. While they might live in a huge and beautiful house, go on fabulous vacations, and look like the perfect doting couple, they are in fact not. Grace is actually a prisoner in her own home and tried desperately to escape multiple times. Will she ever be able to escape her sadistic husband?

This book is definitely not for the faint of heart. It's pretty graphic with the abuse that Grace sustained being married to Jack, which wasn't terribly violent but terrorizing is the perfect way to describe it. The book went back and forth between the past and present which I liked, although it did get a little confusing at the end.

I think that I was so horrified by everything that was happening that I couldn't put the book down and read it super fast. Definitely pick this up if you're in the mood for a psychological thriller!

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Oh my goodness. Behind Closed Doors wound me so tight, I had to take breaks during my reading (and still read it in one day.)

Jack and Grace have the perfect marriage, the perfect life. They live in a beautiful house, Grace doesn't have to work outside the house, and they are very happy. But...all of that is only appearances.

In reality, Jack literally keeps Grace locked in a room as his hostage. Grace has a sister with Down Syndrome who Jack holds above Grace's head anytime she won't behave. Because Jack has custody of Grace's sister. How will Grace ever get out of this situation? Jack is preparing for Grace's sister to come live with them so he can literally torture her, and Grace has to figure something out before it's too late.

The books is told flipping from past to present scenes, which works beautifully to explain how Grace got herself in the predicament. And eventually, past and present come together for a spectacular ending.

I do have to make one comment that really bothered me. I was reading an ARC, but it is of the paperback release. The book is already out in hardback. And Paris says the sister has "Down's syndrome." The proper name of this genetic abnormality is "Down Syndrome." I can't believe someone didn't catch that.

This book made me very tense. Like I said, I had to take a couple of breaks. And I did read it in a day (I was on vacation, so that helped.) Some of the situations were a little contrived. How Jack was so easily able to convince everyone Grace was emotionally unstable was a bit to easy. But the end result was a great, suspenseful read. Jack is so diabolical. The way he sets up Grace to try to escape, just so he can punish her is fascinating and horrific.

And the ending was perfect. No ambiguity here, everything ties up neatly. Highly recommended. I think my older teens will like Behind Closed Doors too.

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I've been looking for a good psychological thriller for a while, and this hit the spot. It's a very fast read, and I couldn't put it down. The chapters alternate between past and present, which speeds it up too. It took me a bit to get into the author's writing style, but it wasn't bad.

It's hard to say too much about what the book is about without spoiling it. Basically, Jack and Grace appear to have a perfect marriage. In reality, it's not what it seems. The reality is difficult to wrap your head around.

I will warn that Behind Closed Doors is not for the faint of heart. It gets very disturbing at certain points, and I know a few people who couldn't make it all the way through. I'd be hesitant to recommend it to strangers at work. I have a pretty high tolerance for violence, and a few scenes were right at my limit. If you're able to soldier through, though, I do think it's worth it.

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Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to review this ARC.

This was NOT an easy read. I had to go in increments to get through it.

Jack Angel is the perfect husband to Grace. He's handsome, charming, wealthy and an overattentive partner. Way too overattentive. It turns out that Jack is harboring a secret which turns Grace's life into a horrible game of cat and mouse that she must escape before her sweet disabled sister comes to live with them.

I would consider this to be a domestic thriller. But while their situation was an extreme case of emotional abuse, there were aspects of it that were a bit too realistic for me to stomach. I cringe to think that I may know someone that is suffering in this way. I was happy with the ending, but dang. Proceed with caution, I'm exhausted.

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I read this book in less than 24 hours. The author drew me into the story with a subtle tug here, a mild pull there, and I was hooked. I had to know where the story was headed, and although she revealed a lot throughout, I was still surprised by the end. I enjoyed the parallel storylines of past and present. I would definitely recommend for fans of thrillers.

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Had me on the edge of my seat right up until the end. One of the best psychological thrillers I've read in a long time!

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I hate to say this, but as much as I enjoyed this book it really did feel predictable.
It kind of felt you just knew right away the way it was going to go. As I say I did enjoy it to some degree, but it wasn't gripping and to be honest I read bits of it in between reading other books.
​Covering domestic abuse has got to be difficult, but if I'm honest I though Grace who is held captive by her husband, was really annoying. To all on the outside they are the absolute perfect couple. But inside, behind closed doors things are very different.
​Jack is a serious control freak, and on more than one occasion I wanted to stick a knife in his head.
​I feel that Grace certainly had a handful of opportunities to get away from her husband, but she never seemed to attempt it and just seemed to go along with everything that was thrown at her.
​I really have mixed views on this book, on one hand yes I kind of enjoyed it, but not to the extent that I couldn't put it down. On the other hand I feel it could have been done so differently.
I was also a little lost with the sudden end.
​But it is a readable book, and don't let all the 1 and 2 star reviews put you off, if you want something readable, that is a little different yet predictable then I think you'd enjoy this. If you want a page turning psychological thriller, then I'm not sure this is the book for you.

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Who hasn't met what seems to be that perfect couple, they have money, looks and class. Jack is a successful lawyer and Grace a stay at home wife, gardener and protector of her disable sister. The couple seems to love to entertain but it's not easy to get Grace away from Jack, to get to know her better, in fact it's impossible. Although still newlyweds, Jack has taken total control over Grace and she doesn't get to leave the shuttered, gated house with tall shrubbery that Jack has purchased for her. Unless she is with him, she is a prisoner in her own home, no cell phone or means of communication unless Jack is in earshot. Jack is seriously disturbed and as the plot unfolds things take a very bizarre and sadistic turn. The audio book was well done but disturbing to listen to at times. This debut, psychological thriller will disturb some readers but, I found it difficult to put down. (4/5 stars)

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Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris is a taunt thriller whose slow reveal will have your pulse racing to the end, once it actually gets started. Let's get one thing out of the way, and honestly this crap has got to stop. This is not the next Gone Girl. Seriously can we hire a marketing department with some originality? There is no next Gone Girl! Gillian Flynn hasn't even written another book (and no The Grownup does not count) since Gone Girl and that was in 2012. Five years ago. Enough already, get over it!

But Behind Closed Doors is the first book by B.A. Paris and the one an only Behind Closed Doors. Given its due and an opportunity, this book will hook you and have you flipping pages as fast as your mind can process what is happening. Then you will go back and think wait, did I miss that? How is this happening now? Twists come strong and fast and the secrets when revealed will amaze and stun.

"...I look around the room that has been my home for the last six months. There isn't much, just a bed, a barred window and another door. It leads to a small bathroom, my only portal to a different world, where a shower, basin and toilet stand, a tiny cake of soap and towel its only ornaments.
Although I know every inch of these two rooms, my eyes continually search them, because there is always the thought that I might have missed something that would make my life more bearable, a nail that I could use to etch my distress on the edge of the bed, or at least leave some trace of me should I suddenly disappear. But there is nothing. Anyway, it isn't death that Jack has in mind for me. What he has planned is more subtle than that and, as always when I think about what is coming, I pray frantically that he'll be killed in a car accident on the way home from work, if not tonight then before the end of June, when Millie will come to live with us. Because, after that, it will be too late..."

Jack and Grace are the perfect couple, there is one in every neighborhood. Jack works hard all day, his looks and wealth brimming with self confidence and Grace, sophisticated and charming. They throw the perfect dinner parties and she prepares the most exquisite meals. Never a place setting that isn't perfect or a hair out of place. Jack seems to spoil Grace, flowers and endless attention. But as the saying goes, who knows what really goes on behind closed doors.

Grace's life completely changed the day she married Jack, and so did he. Grace cannot make a move without Jack's prior approval and as he begins to reveal the depths of his true depravity, Grace fears what is to come. For soon her younger sister Millie is coming to live with them and if Grace doesn't do something soon, Jack will have Millie as well.

As is the case with most first novels, there are plenty of moments in this book that could have done with a second go over. The easy way Grace falls for Jack. His attention to her younger sister Millie being the once thing she fell most in love with him for. Ladies, is a man pays undue attention to your younger sister, it probably isn't a good thing. His attention though at first seems so thoughtful and loving soon reveals itself as a way of controlling her. Then the big reveal into his dark and violent nature. Through it all she plays her part as the dutiful and loving wife.

But Grace isn't the scared little girl that Jack thinks she is. No Grace is plotting and waiting for the moment to act. This too rings false. There was ample opportunity to reveal who Jack was, even with his threats of harming her family, her fake friends didn't believe that Jack was all that good anyway and they probably would have loved the chance to expose him and bring down the facade of the perfect couple.

The little sister Millie is a terrific character. How she quickly sees through Jack and plots with Grace to get rid of him.

There are some really good characters here. Jack is truly disturbing and Millie heroic. Grace goes through so many phases that the one that finally emerges is a relief and a joy. But the situations that keep her in check just don't ring true. Even then, the characters drive this novel and make it very much worth the reading.

A good, good read.

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When I started this, I really wasn't in the mood for a book that was going to make me feel stress. I almost set this one aside for another day, but by that time I was SO completely sucked into it that I had to finish to find out how it ended -- stress and all. This is one of the best psychological thrillers I've read in a long time. I loved Millie's character and how she added a hopeful dimension to the story. And one of the best last lines ever! Can't wait for her next book!

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A great page turner that I will recommend friends read!

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