Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris

• Title:  Behind Closed Doors
• Author:  B.A. Paris
• Genre:  Thriller
• Pages:  304
• Published:  August 2016 – St. Martin’s Press
• Source:  Publisher

Description:  Everyone knows a couple like Jack and Grace: he has looks and wealth, she has charm and elegance. You’d like to get to know Grace better. But it’s difficult, because you realize Jack and Grace are never apart. Perhaps it’s simply true love?

Now, picture this: a dinner party at their perfect home, the conversation and wine flowing. They appear to be in their element while entertaining. And Grace’s friends are eager to reciprocate with lunch the following week. Grace wants to go, but knows she never will. Her friends call—so why doesn’t Grace ever answer the phone? And how can she cook such elaborate meals but remain so slim?

And why are there bars on one of the bedroom windows?

The perfect marriage? Or the perfect lie??  (publisher)

My take:  Not wanting to reveal more than the description I’ll keep this brief. I don’t like feeling anxious and that’s exactly how I felt while reading Behind Closed Doors. That said, I couldn’t stop reading this novel.  B.A. Paris’ debut novel is addictive like no other book I’ve read this summer.

Alternating chapters between Past and Present was a good way to reveal the story of Grace and Jack. Paris drew me into this story with a seemingly normal scene then quickly grabbed me with a 180° turn. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I was interested to learn that the author was inspired to write this novel when she suspected a friend was caught up in a situation with very little control. That led Paris to imagine Grace’s predicament.

I found Behind Closed Doors to be well-paced and suspenseful and I read with a figurative hand over my eyes. I think fans of psychological thrillers will gobble it up. I read it in two days and felt satisfied as I turned the last page. I’m not surprised that movie rights have already been sold in the US.

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About the Author: B.A. Paris is from a Franco/Irish background. She was brought up in England and worked in London for three years before moving to Paris, where she worked in corporate banking and as a trader in an international bank. After the birth of her first daughter, she became a stay-at-home mother and went on to have another three daughters. She spent four years in the Netherlands, where her fifth daughter was born. Returning to France, she decided to re-train as an English teacher and worked for some years in an international school and then at the Université de Marne la Vallée, teaching English to Architecture students. In 2009 she set up a language school with her husband and now teaches Business English in Paris.