This is a devastating book.

I will break your heart a dozen times - and then break it a dozen more.

While I did figure out the truth well before the reveal, I was so invested in our characters that I kept reading.

This is definitely not a feel good novel, but it did make me grateful for my own good fortune.

Good read.

Heather is abused by her husband, a police officer, until she finally escapes. Jill is living with a secret backstory of abuse. No spoilers from me. It's a tough read in spots but well written and you will feel for these women. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

I was first attracted to this book purely on its title, it didn’t disappoint and was a real page turner, would recommend this book to those who enjoy a good psychological thriller

Behind a Closed Door was a great book that I struggled to put down. A moving story about domestic violence and abuse and the difficulties that can arise in trying to escape from it. A fab read.

I really, really enjoyed this book - I was completely gripped and addicted to the story!

The characters are great and I loved the plot, the writing style was spot on for the book and the pace was superb, it had just the right amount of tension. I felt I was reeling by the time I got to the end - what an emotional rollercoaster I went on with the story!!

It is a great psychological thriller, lots of suspense, tension and so well written - five stars from me and very, very highly recommended!!

An old friend of mine had the perfect marriage. He and his wife got along in all respects, and she shared his love for adventure. Suddenly they got divorced, and I will never forget his words when I was shocked and asked why? "You don't know what happens in my house when the front door closes".
The words have always haunted me, because that is so true. You don't really know what happens in another's person's house or life.
And that is so true in this book. Heather gets beaten daily by her perfect copper husband. The slightest thing would set him off.
I honestly don't think its a way to live, and this made this book even more horrific (in the good way, the way a book should be!)
Well written, and gripping from beginning to end!
Recommended.

The title itself was what drew me in.  Who of us doesn't like to know what really goes on behind a closed door?  We may think we know things about certain people, but this book revealed that is not always the case.

This book was crazy!  And I mean that in a good, couldn't-put-down, suspenseful way!  This is the first book I have read by Adele O'Neill. It really grabbed me within the first chapter, and within a few minutes, I was almost in tears (this book has graphic, descriptive scenes of physical and emotional abuse), but knew there was a heroine that I wanted to see to the end!

There are two locations, and two time periods, so the book does jump back and forth between them.  However, the writing is done very well to keep you on track as you're following along.  The characters were extremely believable, and realistic.  Heather's husband, Mike, is consistently the resident jerk, wearing the proverbial mask and acting like all is well, meanwhile, the battered wife, Heather's  behavior fits the mold for what you'd expect from someone in that type of environment.  

I enjoyed the plot, the way that things lined up, the dramatic moments of fury and failure, but also the successes along the way, and the slow reveals.  I didn't feel that the ending was super climactic, I just felt like it tied up all of the loose ends nicely, and as a reader of this type of genre, I could see the link ahead of time, but that doesn't mean the ride wasn't worth it.  I would read another book by this author, and have already downloaded Brothers and Sisters.  

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Aria Fiction.  I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions expressed are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 (http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html): “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

A 5* review for Behind A Closed Door by Adele O'Neill, which she allowed me to read and review via NetGalley. I thoroughly enjoyed her first novel Brothers and Sisters, but was a little disappointed with this one because it did not have the emotional punch of the first one for me, but that is my personal opinion.

The story is told in two different timescales and from the point of view of both Jill and Heather.

DUBLIN "For the past two years Jill Ryan has tried to keep her darkest secrets buried and remain relatively anonymous, whilst being haunted by her tragic past and struggling to keep her life together, she is living a secret life as she is petrified her past will catch up with her. Now in a loving relationship with Ben she is trying so hard to move on from her past and domestic violence, but then the nightmares start, and things begin to unravel.

KILKENNY "Heather's husband Mike is a detective, but as is often the case, he hides a darker side when he physically beats her. Heather's father used to work with him and always suspected a nasty streak, but he now has Alzheimer's and is living in a care home, can she leave Mike and disappear, and in the process leave her father too?"

When Detectives Louise Kennedy in Dublin and Tony Kelly in Kilkenny begin to investigate cases of domestic abuse, their stories collide, dark discoveries are unraveled with a web of secrets that stretch far and wide."

The story begins in 2018 quite dramatically and draws you in straightaway and you immediately empathise with Jill who is trying therapy to understand her nightmares and move on from her past life. Her boyfriend Ben and his sister Lisa who run the restaurant where she has worked since arriving in Dublin two years ago, are trying to understand and help her, but have no idea how.

We then switch to 2016 and meet Heather who is struggling to survive in a nightmare of relentless domestic abuse, which is so well written it actually upset me to read some of the incidents, where her husband Mike beats her, intimidates her, controls her, threatens her and seems to have no remorse for his actions. Mike is so well written that I could hear his voice in my head and started to understand how these things can go on behind closed doors where the victim is made to feel it is all their fault and they brought it on themselves. Heather realises that something must change if she is to survive and she has a moment of clarity when she hears her father's voice in her head saying "If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got", which resonated with me strongly. She realises she has to leave to survive and so with the help of Martha at the nursing home, she does so. The ending had me on the edge of my seat and kept me up until the early hours because there was no way I could sleep until I reached the last page. For suspense, psychological thrills and tackling of a difficult but very real subject, this is a must read.

It had hints of the film Sleeping With The Enemy in places, but as I love the film that was no problem for me and, in fact, allowed me to visualise certain scenes so much better.

One of my favourite lines from the book, which again made the tears flow, was in reference to her father's Alzheimer's, the disease which is known as the long goodbye. Heather was aware that his memory was slowly slipping away and his lucid moment were few and far between. However she asked him once if he knew who she was and he had answered "I don't know who you are, but I know I love you". I know Adele O'Neill's book is not necessarily about Alzheimer's Disease, but I felt this moment was a poignant reminder of how difficult it was for Heather to leave, so worth highlighting. A brilliant book on all levels, well done Adele O'Neill, bring on the next one soon.

This is the story of a woman told from two time frames. The first is the wife of a police officer. He is beyond abusive and she knows for sure that he will kill her one day. When one beating causes her to lose her unborn child, she decides she's had enough. With the help of a woman who is helping her father who has Alzheimer's she finally runs.

The second part deals with the woman she is now, almost two years after leaving. She's changed her name and no one knows who she really is .. not even the man she's fallen in love with.

Suffering PTSD and horrific flashbacks in nightmares, she finally seeks help from a therapist. Still mortally afraid that her husband will find her, she tells the therapist only a small part of the horrendous treatment she survived.

This is such a brutal story of the worst kind of domestic violence. This author has handled the subject very well with the character development of all those involved. At times it's gut-wrenching and sad, at other times I became angry, and the ending, although a little anti-climatic, left me emotionally exhausted. This book held me in its unrelenting grip from the very first page.

Many thanks to the author / Aria / Netgalley for the digital copy of this psychological thriller. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

A well-written book which brings to life the problem of abuse which many women suffer but have no-one to turn to so suffer in silence.

I thoroughly enjoyed. A gripping read from beginning to end

Thanks to Netgalley for my copy.

This was extremely repetitive and frankly quite boring in places. Very predictable and drawn out.

“… If I always do what I always did, I will always get what I always got.”

I got this ARC in exchange of an honest review from Netgalley. Thank you Aria and Netgalley for this wonderful chance!!

Recently I have been craving thrillers a lot, so when I stumbled upon this one and I checked the synopsis, I just had to try it out!! And I don’t regret it at all!!

Its a haunting survival story of two woman from different time and place, fighting the same battle “Domestic Violence”.

I am just in love with Adele’s writing! Well DONE!!

As it deals with a gruesome topic, there are some extremely graphic contents that could be unsettling, but thats how it is, thats how Domestic Violence effects a victim’s body and mind.

It’s an amazing psychological thriller.

Rating:
4.5/5

A good read but I did find it a bit confusing as it moved back and forwards between Heather and Jill's stories

Behind a Closed Door is a great intro read for those wanting to explore psychological thrillers such as 'Gone Girl' and 'Girl on the Train'. The multi focal style spanning timelines uses dynamic and well developed characters to take the reader on a journey that they will find a way to relate to.

While I found this book to be a quick and easy read, it is by no means light, and some readers may find the subject matter unsettling. O'Neill creates a great connection with the protagonist and strong supporting characters.

It is delightful to see strong women, in their own right, fight for themselves, for what is right, and for a better life.

This book takes you on a roller coaster of emotions. The subject is domestic abuse, not easy to write about. Heather's life with her husband Mike, a detective, is filled with fear and violence. The story is told from two points of view Heather's and Jill's. It is well written and certainly is graphic at times. The characters are good and I loved the plot. Thank you Net Galley for my copy. I reviewed on Goodreads, Amazon and Facebook.

I really loved this book! Excellent story with brilliant main characters. I would recommend this book.

Every once in a while I come across a new author (well new to me anyway) whose book blows my socks off. I can’t believe that I haven’t discovered Adele O’Neill before but that’s a situation that has been rectified. ‘Behind A Closed Door’ blew my socks off and is a very cleverly written and addictive read. I loved it but more about that in a bit.
The story mainly focusses on the lives of two women called Jill Ryan and Heather Martin. Both women are the unfortunate victims of domestic violence but from two different places and in two different periods of time. The author writes from the point of view of the victims and this has maximum impact on the reader. I was initially unsure as to how the different stories were related but I just needed to have a little patience as it all became clear in the end. I don’t really want to write too much about what happens to them as I don’t want to give away too many spoilers. I must admit that I really felt for Heather as not only is her husband abusing her but her father has Alzheimers and is in a home so in a way she is being made to suffer from both directions and in different ways. I so wanted to jump into the pages of this book to give the domestic abusers a dose of their own medicine to see how they liked living in fear. In ‘Behind A Closed Door’ we also meet Detectives Kelly and Kennedy, whom we first met in ‘Brothers & Sisters’. Their relationship has changed slightly since the first book and we actually learn that they are together in a relationship. This doesn’t really affect their work because they work in two different places. However, it isn’t too long until the detectives work together and work to expose a secret that has remained hidden for years.
To say that ‘Behind A Closed Door’ is addictive reading has to be a mahoosive understatement. Once I started reading, I found that I just couldn’t stop and my Kindle had to come everywhere with me, as I couldn’t put it down. I wanted the abusers to be found out and stopped. I was also intrigued as to what connected the two women. The writing style is such that you can’t fail to be drawn in to the story from the first page. Yes ‘Behind A Closed Door’ is about domestic violence but the author has written it with great care and sensitivity. The author shows how the victims are not just affected physically but how their mental health and emotional wellbeing are also affected by domestic violence. ‘Behind A Closed Door’ certainly put me through the emotional wringer as I felt a whole range of mostly negative emotions. I was certainly on the side of the victims and there were several times when I wanted to jump into the pages of the book to support them.
In short as I mentioned above ‘Behind A Closed Door’ just blew my socks off as the quality of the story, the writing and the characters were spot on. It’s certainly a difficult but necessary read, which I would recommend to others. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a well deserved 5* out of 5*.

This story of a woman who flees from an abusive husband and is living with the uncertainty of not knowing if he is alive or dead. The story timeline switches between her back story leading up to the event that makes her run and the present where she is trying to rebuild her life but is suddenly suffering from PTSD. I kept waiting for a big,plot twist but it never happened. I would recormmend this book to someone who likes some suspense wihout too much graphic violence but who also likes a story with a satisfactory ending.

This book was pretty good.it is told through two different perspectives but both are done very well.
Both women have been the victims of domestic abuse at the hands of their husbands. The one thing
I didn't like about this book was I didn't like how they changed perspectives I thought it was a little
jarring and took me out of the story. Two timelines, and to points of view made the story a little hard
to follow. I also found that this story struggled to hold my attention. While I usually like thrillers
something about this one just couldn't keep my interest. I think that it was the change of perspectives.
Great concept but I wasn't a fan of the execution. I did like the main characters however I found
all of them very intriguing for different reasons. Not my favourite book but it did have some really
good parts to it. I think my favourite part was how it all came together in the end. Great story, it
really showed you a different side of things.