(73)Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris

Saturday, August 13, 2016



Grace considers herself lucky to have found a husband who would accept her and her teenaged sister, Millie, as a package deal.  You see, Millie has Down Syndrome and has been living at a special home. Grace has always been honest with the men she dates and careful about bringing anybody into Millie's life that won't accept her as she is.   Meeting Jack seemed like a true miracle.  He was so good with Millie and was perfect in so many ways.    Jack and Grace Angel seem like they have a perfect life, but little does anybody know what goes on Behind Closed Doors.  Since meeting Jack and getting married Grace has quit her job, moved out of the city, and always cancels on her friends.  She claims that her life is perfect, but really who knows what goes on Behind Closed Doors.

I have never read a book that infuriated me more than Behind Closed Doors.  More than once I wanted to stop reading and put it in the "DNF" pile.  But I couldn't stop.  I would put it down for a few days and then pick it back up.  I just had to know what happened to Grace, Millie, and Jack.  Grace is the narrator of the story and moves from the present to the past.  In the past,  we get to see Grace before she met Jack and the early days of their marriage.   In the present, we get to see the marriage as it is now.   I want to be careful and not give away too much at, but know this, while there is never any graphic descriptions of violence, make no mistake, this book needs one giant "Trigger Warning".  CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS.   The end was brilliantly simple and by the time I made it to the final page I was surprised how quickly it had ended.

Bottom line - I usually reserve my "Best of" designations for books that make me cry or laugh. Books that evoke strong emotions from me.  While Behind Closed Doors did not make me laugh or cry, it did create such intense anger and hatred for one character that I had to add it to the list.   An author that can evoke that kind of emotion from their readers is one talented author.

Details:
  • Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris
  • On Twitter
  • Pages: 304
  • Publisher:  St. Martin's Press
  • Publication Date: 8/9/2016
  • Buy it Here!
Brandie said...

I completely agree with you on this one! It was such an intense and infuriating read. And that ending! Very impressive.

Charlotte's Web of Books said...

Glad I am not the only one who thought it infuriating! Can't wait to see what this author does next.

Unknown said...

I LOVED THIS BOOK! I am dying for her next one!

Anonymous said...

The ending of Jack was good but the ending was terrible. How did Esther knowvright from the start at the dinner that something was wrong? How did she know what Grace had done and took her to the coffee shop to coach her? Unless I missed a HUGE chunk of text I have no clue about how Esther knew. Or about the red room/Millie connection? I was totally disappointed in the book for that one reason.

Anonymous said...

I feel like an idiot. Same as Anonymous. I am confused at the ending. Can someone explain ?

Anonymous said...

Jack's "red room" gaffe was he had mentioned that Millie's room in the house was going to be red, her favorite color. He talks about it a couple of times at social events, because it's a way of torturing Grace with the knowledge that the sweet yellow room will not be Millie's after all. And then when Grace engineered their friends coming to Millie's birthday party, Esther had gotten Millie a red box as a gift so it would match her red room; Millie corrected her to tell her that it was a yellow room, and Jack tried to play it off. But then when he's found in a terrifying red room in the basement, Esther puts together that that red torture room was the one he intended for Millie all along.

Esther had an instinct about Jack and Grace's relationship from the beginning, it seemed too perfect. And she does go out of her way to say her cell phone number aloud so Grace can hear it. She's one of the only people in the story who was capable of putting the clues together.

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