Many thanks to NetGalley, Atria, and Megan Collins for a DRC in exchange for an honest review!

Fast read, but fairly predictable tale. Fern's anxiety prevents her from seeing the truth in her family and unlocking her memories of childhood trauma that could help find missing Astrid.

I know it’s early in our relationship (two books down) but Megan Collins is officially on my shortlist of bestest favorite ever authors. She had me hooked with “The Winter Sister”. “Behind the Red Door” made me a hopelessly infatuated soul.
My gosh, this book wraps itself around you. The main point of the story is solving what happened to Astrid Sullivan who has disappeared. She was kidnapped 20 years earlier as a young girl, which was never solved. But that falls to the wayside when you meet Fern and her amazingly dysfunctional family.
Fern Douglas has returned to her childhood home at the odd request of her estranged father. All her life he never showed her any attention, love, or parenting skills but now he wants her to help him pack to move. Fern jumps at the chance; finally glimmers of attention, hope, maybe even love from her cold father.
As Fern recalls her memories, they’re intertwined with what she may be imagining of Astrid’s kidnapping. Fern reads Astrid’s book, and this seems to confirm her suspicions: she was kidnapped along with Astrid when they were children.
Is this a case of a vivid imagination? The more Fern casually tells you of her childhood, the more you’re in shock that she survived, much less was willing to return and HELP her useless father. He loved playing mind games on her so he could further his studies in humans’ reactions to fear. And Fern was the perfect test subject.
Megan Collins’ writing style is like a spider quietly wrapping its silken thread around you. You’re mesmerized, you don’t fight it, and you’re hopelessly trapped. What a wonderful place to be if you LOVE dark thrillers!
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for making it available.)

The opening of Behind the Red Door will grab you immediately (I believe I emitted a "holy sh*t" before I finished the first page). It's dark. It covers some traumatizing topics, kidnapping being the least horrific, honestly.

Fern Douglas is a social worker with pretty intense anxiety (not the best mix...). Her past is a bit fuzzy, but we know she has a very strange relationship with her parents (i'll get to that in a second). The story really kicks into gear when we learn that Astrid Sullivan, a woman who was kidnapped as a child but was returned after a brief period of time relatively unharmed, has gone missing again. Did the original kidnapper take Astrid again? Will she be returned this time? Does her disappearance have anything to do with her recently released memoir detailing her kidnapping 20 years ago? And why does Fern think she's met Astrid?

We do get to read a few chapters of Astrid's memoir throughout the course of the book, and we slowly learn what really happened to her.

Fern heads back to her hometown to help Ted (her dad, but she calls her parents by their first names) pack and move to Florida. Oh boy. Ted. Ted is an academic psychologist who can't focus on anything beyond his Experiments (yes, with a capital "E"). We slowly learn that Fern's parents were incredibly neglectful, and downright horrible people. Fern can't see that she's a victim of extreme parental abuse. Ted has often drawn the line between physical (what he considers "real") abuse and other varieties - and they're all so blind to it that it's incredibly frustrating as a reader. But maybe it's rooted deeply in reality. Victims of abuse often block or downplay their experiences because they refuse to see themselves as just that - victims.

Fern decides to investigate Astrid's disappearance and uncovers some incredibly horrific truths. I had an idea of where this book was headed right from the jump, and I was (mostly) right, but the experience of uncovering the mystery of Astrid's disappearance and Fern's history was more than worth the read. I was SO ANGRY for parts of this book - it takes a great writer to elicit that kind of experience.

Content warning: abusive parent/child relationships (one with a religious undertone), abduction of a child.

WOW!!!!!! I was skeptical about reading this book because I didn't enjoy her previous book The Winter Sister . Just wasn't my cup of tea. This book though was mind blowing, insane, and you will not believe how this story plays out. I went back and forth on the whodunnit in this story and I was right but that's because one if my theories was right. Which I had a few of those while reading and I was still surprised at the end of it all. Very enjoyable thrilling reas. Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for my honest review.

This was hard for me to get into. I had a hard time with the father and his "experiments". It was a fun thriller and exciting, but I had a hard time getting passed those parts. I felt the book was a bit predictable, I was able to figure out some events before they were revealed, but it was still fun along the way. I liked that the characters were flawed, but I still was able to root for them along the way and I had a genuine interest in how the story was going to turn out.

I don’t know what I want to say about this one. I went into it so excited because I liked the winter sister so much, but ugh. This one was a swing and a miss. Completely predictable once the initial all over the place-ness cleared a little. I get that the girl was high anxiety and I think that was what the author was going for, but man, that was hard to get through. I seriously debated DNF trying to work through the initial 25% but I decided to stick it out since I had been waiting to read it for ages. While I don’t wish that I had, because some parts were entertaining and worth reading, over all i was just disappointed in this altogether. I knew exactly what the end result was going to be before I even got 50% through it. I’m sad to have to write this review because I wanted to like it so much, but i just didn’t.

When a woman from Fern’s hometown goes missing again years after she was returned home safely the first time, Fern begins to have nightmares that lead her to believe she might have ties to the woman and her kidnapping. As Fern’s nightmares become more vivid and as she begins to piece together recollections of her past, she realizes that danger might just be closer than she thinks.

With this being the 2nd Megan Collins book that I’ve read, I think it’s safe to say that she can create some supremely messed up parental characters. I mean, Ted and Mara?!?! Wowwwwwww. After liking (but not loving) The Winter Sister, I was cautiously optimistic about this one. And I’m happy to say that I really enjoyed Behind the Red Door! This one really hit the mark of a solid psychological thriller for me. I loved the atmosphere of the creepy woods and the uncovering of the mystery as Fern’s memories started to fall into place. It was slightly predictable for me, but that didn’t slow down the page turning at all! I definitely recommend checking this one out when it hits shelves on August 4th!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Someone was abducted and returned and went missing again a few years after, very suspicious isn’t? It was not easy to figure out what is going on in this story; every page and event is like a piece of a puzzle with a thousand pieces: a well-developed plot, exciting characters, and one hell of a hair-raising story. If you’re into twisted, thrilling read, this is for you.

Fern Douglas can’t shake the feeling that she knows a local missing woman, Astrid Sullivan. Fern’s husband is sure it’s because Astrid was kidnapped as a child, then set free which drew national headlines. As an adult, Astrid published a memoir which sparked new interest in her story. But it also sparked interest in her kidnapper because she’s missing again. Fern starts having vivid dreams about Astrid, that feel more like a memory. As Fern travels to her childhood home, she begins to experience flashbacks and a feeling of kinship with Astrid that uncover repressed memories. Fern is sure that if she can remember more clearly, she can find Astrid before her fate is sealed. ⁣
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This book made me picture changing leaves, cold weather, and creepy little towns. I loved all the fall vibes. The plot of this story was so eccentric and unique. I say that a lot, but this one truly was unexpected. This book brings ‘psychological thriller’ to another (very literal) level and doesn’t fit the mold of many other suspense books. The characters really stand out and there’s a purpose for each one of them. There could have been an entire other book on Fern’s childhood and relationship with her parents because it’s such a strange dynamic. The character personalities certainly added to the creep factor of this story. This one is out on August 4, and is so perfect for fall!⁣

A great storyline with exceptional characters, which keep the reader enthralled to the very end. I highly recommend this read.

I received this ARC through Netgalley for a honest review.
4 Stars

As Fern Douglas is sitting eating dinner with her husband Eric, she sees a face flash across the television, that face belongs to Astrid Sullivan. Astrid Sullivan, who was abducted and returned at the age of 14, is missing again. Fern begins to have a feeling that she knows Astrid personally and that Astrid is the person in her vivid nightmares that have be enlightened after her father, Ted, calling her to come back home.

Fern is a woman wrapped in anxiety and paranoia that is latched to the experiments Ted use to perform on her to study fear and how fear made her feel. As Astrid remains missing, Fern picks up Astrid's memoir titled. "Behind the Red Door". Astrid details her kidnapping and the events that happened leading up to and during her abduction along with Lily, a girl that Astrid is adamant was in the basement with her. Fern's vivid flashbacks start to become increasingly real as she remembers features of the basement, the abductor and Astrid. Fern starts to wonder if she could be Lily. Could she have been in the basement with Astrid? If the abductor came back for Astrid could he come back for her?

My attention to this book waned and I wanted to skip to the last few chapters to find out if my guess of who the abductor was right. I felt this novel had great premise but was easily predictable. The characters were well developed and plot was inviting but did not live up to the psychological thriller aspect.

Thank you to Net Galley, Megan Collins, and Atria Books for allowing me to read this ARC.

3.75 stars! This book had a great premise and was a fun read but at times my attention waned and I wanted to skip to the end.

Behind the Red Door was a little too predictable; I had hoped there would be a different ending than what I predicted in the beginning. I would still be interested in reading Megan Collins third book, whatever that happens to be.

Big thank you to NetGalley and Atria for inviting me to read, Megan Collin’s second novel, Behind the Red Door.

I wanted so strongly to like this one because the premise sounds amazing and it has been getting really great early reviews. However, I figured out the twist very early on and it was not surprising at all. I never really connected to the main character even though she did go through a very traumatic experience as a child. Her father was just an awful person and the way he kept taking advantage of her for his benefit throughout her entire life was heartbreaking. It was so nice to see that she did have a loving husband in her corner though, I did appreciate that. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an advanced reader's copy to review, all opinions are my own.

There are a lot of words that accurately describe this book: atmospheric, somewhat oppressive, alarming, hard-to-put-down and vivid. The author definitely has a way with words and knows how to lead the reader step by step, slowly and carefully, into becoming fully immersed in the book.

Aspects of this book were so realistic I was more than a little alarmed. Fern definitely had a rather odd set of parents, and the more I learned about how they treated her, the more I came to understand why she was so filled with anxiety and has trouble trusting what she thinks or sees. She is prone to spiraling facts in her mind until they come to mean something else to her.

The obvious choice for who kidnapped Astrid would be Ted; all signs point to him. For awhile, all I can think is, of course it’s Ted, but then again, it could be Cooper or a total stranger. With thrillers like this, your first second and even third choice can be completely wrong, or completely right. The author will twist your mind this way and that coming up with a conclusion that’s more than a bit unexpected.

Well played Megan!

The only thing I'm sure about after finishing this book is that just about every character in it is a psychologically screwed-up mess. The end brings some semblance of hope for one, but even then, a return to "normal" seems all but out of the question. And while parts of the book - specifically descriptions of a mother and father from hell - were almost horrifying, nothing that happened came as what I'd call a big surprise.

Fern Douglas, a social worker whose angst is off the charts, is heading out to visit her father Ted in Maine. Most of the way there, she kicks around the pros and cons about leaving her sweet, ever-understanding husband and whether or not she should have shared a big secret with him. But all her life, when daddy called, daughter answered - and this time is no exception. Separated from his wife, Fern's mentally antiseptic mother, he claims he needs her to help him pack up his belongings for his upcoming move to Florida.

On the news, Fern learns that Astrid Sullivan has gone missing; this is devastating because she disappeared 20 years earlier, only to be dumped, basically unharmed physically, along the side of a road near her home roughly a week after her disappearance. She'd been kidnapped, she confirmed at the time, but the perpetrator was never identified amid her shaky recollections. In the intervening years, she found herself a loving wife and wrote a relatively successful memoir outlining her kidnapping, which included mention of being kept in a room with a red door and a young girl Astrid calls "Lilly."

Surprise (not!), Fern starts getting sensations and mental images of something similar, prompting her to begin agonizing over whether she may have had some connection to Astrid all those years ago or (gasp!) might even be the girl to whom Astrid refers. Complicating matters (at least in Fern's already mixed-up head is her father; a retired behavioral scientist, now that she's come back home it seems he's keen on continuing the mental "experiments" that became the only childhood stability she ever knew.

Interspersed amid the happenings in Fern's world (which includes reality and musings from her mixed-up mind) are "chapters" from Astrid's memoir, which Fern is now reading for the first time, as well as Fern's recollections of her interactions (or lack thereof) with her own parents. The endings for all the characters were cleverly written - as was the rest of the book - but predictable.

Bottom line, to me at least, is that this is a entertaining book I'd love to have read while basking on a beach which, alas, I was unable to do this season because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As such, my usual reading spot on the sofa had to suffice, though I'm sure I'd have enjoyed it a little more with sand washing between my toes while looking forward to a restaurant chef cooking our dinner. That said, it was hard to put it down (I even stayed up past my bedtime to finish), and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-publication copy.

This is one of those books that relies on a creepy sensation that something is wrong. Fern has anxiety issues. Serious anxiety issues. And Collins does a great job of making you feel that anxiety. The book has an almost horror show quality to it.
You know Fern has had an unusual upbringing just because she calls her parents by their given names. And it doesn’t take long to realize how warped her childhood was. Let’s just say I wouldn’t have been as obliging as Fern when her father asks for help in packing up his house so he can retire to Florida.
When a news segment discusses the disappearance of a woman who went missing for a month and then reappeared, drugged, twenty years ago, Fern has the weird sensation of having known that girl. She’s not a reliable narrator; another in what seems a long string of unreliable narrators. Memories continue to come back to her as the chapters progress. Unfortunately, the ending seemed a foregone conclusion. Fern seemed particularly dim witted by the end. I rarely figure out the who in a whodunit, and even I knew from about the ⅓ mark.
Sorry, too many good psychological thrillers for me to recommend this one.
My thanks to netgalley and Atria Book for an advance copy of this book.

Fern Douglas group in an interesting home. With a father who studied fear and a mother who was an absent artist, Fern had the complete opposite childhood from me and because of that I was glued to the story from page one. Fern is watching the news one evening and Astrid Sullivan has gone missing from her home in Maine, but this isn't the first time that Astrid has gone missing and the news story sparks something in Fern. At the same time she is summoned home by her father to help him move and she goes running and oh what a story!

This book is a twist on the unreliable narrator, but partly because you can't trust the truth coming from Fern's parents. Time and time again, I would find myself reading with my mouth open appalled at the style of parenting that Fern had as a child and still dealt with as an adult. This book really highlights that there are many ways to parent!

I loved the inclusion of Astrid's recent release of her memoir. I am so glad the author included because it added so much to the story. To read the words that Fern was reading and see the exact words that were affecting her was so great. Because Astrid can't help narrate the book, this gave Astrid the opportunity to tell her story.

What a great book. I can't wait to see more from Megan Collins.

I LOVED this book! Not my normal genre (thriller), but so well written and captivating and not gratuitiously scary, it completely sucked me in! Collins is such a gifted author, with a wonderful ability to write characters who are realistic, yet interesting and unusual. I greatly enjoyed this one!

This was a good thriller but unfortunately I actually figured out what was going on. When Astrid goes missing for the second time in her life, Fern believes she knows her. Fern's husband just thinks it's because of Astrid's original disappearance. As Fern pieces together the mystery, it makes for a good mystery. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

This book was okay. I just could not connect with the main character, Fern. The ending of this book frustrated me to no end. It is absolutely unrealistic. Not the “who did it” because 20 pages in I figured that out, the actual ending of the book. I wish I could elaborate but I don’t want to ruin it for anyone else. I did like that it was a fast paced read!