This book is smart and sharp and I loved the premise. Every character is unique and fleshed out and Fern, the protagonist, is a woman you can't help but root for. I was shocked by the reveal at the end (there were a few times I thought I had it figured out, only to be wrong) and it was refreshing to read a different (and super scary!) take on a missing person story. Behind the Red Door is the perfect read as we head into Halloween - dark, spooky and suspenseful.

Thanks to NetGalley, Atria and the author for a copy to review.

This was a easy to read to where I could complete the book in one sitting. One thing I truly loved about this book was how creeped out it made me feel.

Unfortunately, I did see the twists coming a little too soon and found the outcome a little too predictable. Would have loved to have not known the end result early to give it that awesome shock factor it needed.

Overall this was a good read and would recommend. Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for a copy to review.

I have heard wonderful things about this author, but this is the first time I have picked up one of her books. It did not disappoint! While I figured out half of the ending fairly quickly into the book, it took me longer to figure out the other half of what was going on. I don't want to give any more explanation than that so I don't ruin the story. Even with figuring out part of the big twist, I still really enjoyed the book. The author did a great job making you invested in some characters, and hating others.

“Unputdownable! Deliciously dark, twisty, creepy, and atmospheric. Everything you want and crave in a chilling psychological thriller.”

Enter a Book Giveaway Contest for a chance to WIN a stunning Hardcover finished copy of BEHIND THE RED DOOR. Enter now through August 3. (US Only).

Winner to be announced in the upcoming August 4, Elevator Ride with Author Megan Collins Interview newsletter! It is going to be good. Do not miss this one!

Megan Collins returns following her smashing debut (The Winter Sister), with an absorbing, intricately crafted dark psychological thriller BEHIND THE RED DOOR. I LOVED this book!

The author weaves a labyrinth of deception and family secrets, each one more shocking than the last. Atmospheric and spellbinding, BEHIND THE RED DOOR is movie-worthy—and resonates stars such as Anthony Hopkins and Kiefer Sutherland.

Meet Fern Douglas, a 30-something Boston social worker who is nervous and anxious. You know she has encountered some trauma from her past. She is married to Eric, a loving husband concerned about her wanting to return to New Hampshire--to deal with her crazy dad.

Ted, her dad, is a retired professor who has used her during his life as part of his Experiments.

She lived in fear through her entire childhood of abandonment. Her mother and father are both artistic types, eccentric and not the best parents or role models.

When Fern sees a photo of a news story, she feels as though she has seen this woman before. She cannot remember where.

She decides to return to her childhood town in New Hampshire to help her dad pack for Florida; however, when she arrives, it appears he is not even packing. He is acting stranger than average. However, she still wants to please him.

Fern soon learns this woman she thinks she knows is the missing 34-year-old Astrid Sullivan, the bestselling author of Behind the Red Door, a memoir about her teenage kidnapping ordeal in the nearby small town of Foster, N.H.

Fern runs into a school chum, Cooper, who has always been abusive and weird. He takes her to this log cabin he wants to renovate. As she walks the woods, she recalls a red door.

Between Cooper, the creepy Bishop, the homeless man in black, her crazy dad with his vintage typewriter, and his experiments to her mom with the locked pottery room— Fern is dizzy with fear and knows she must find this missing woman. She feels the danger, and she must remember.

Maybe if she reads the book and walks in the steps, she can recall her repressed memories.

Who was the kidnapper years ago?. What is it about a "red door"? Is it the same person who has kidnapped this woman again? Will Fern’s life be in danger? Can something ugly and broken be turned into something exquisite and beautiful?

What a great book!

Fans of Mary Kubica, Lisa Jewell, Christina McDonald, T. Greenwood, and A.J. Banner will find a lot to like here. Megan and these authors noted are some of my favorites. They are pros at skillfully drawing you in with vivid imagery, nature, and the unsettling, disturbing, and mysterious settings. I love the strong metaphors and symbols.

Plot-driven and character-driven, the novel is spellbinding, addictive, and hypotonic. The woods are creepy and you feel a sense of claustrophobic and foreboding. I can envision Anthony Hopkins starring in the role of Ted with his narcissistic sadistic personality, creepy, obsessive typing, and his outlandish mind game experiments.

BEHIND THE RED DOOR will hook you from page one to the very end. The setting leaves you breathless, and the twisty suspense leaves you shocked and waiting for the next door to open. The characters will haunt you long after the book ends.

I was so enchanted with the novel; I decided to watch the old film (2003) BEHIND THE RED DOOR (recommend) with Kyra Sedgwick, Kiefer Sutherland, and Roy Stockard. You can watch it for free HERE.

I think after reading the book and watching this film, you will be Googling “red doors” and their many meanings. A red door means “welcome” in an old early American tradition. ... Some believe a red door protects the occupants from evil. Some say it drives away evil spirits and brings good luck. You be the judge.

I am keeping my fingers crossed for a movie 🎬 based on Megan’s novel. They both are atmospheric, thought-provoking, abusive dads, strong metaphors, survival, symbolisms of the red door, evil, fear, and how growing up with this trauma carries over into adulthood, motherhood, relationships, intimacy, trust, dissociative amnesia, etc.

While watching the movie, I was always thinking about who I would cast for the book to the film. Here is my selection:

• Anthony Hopkins as Ted (perfect for him)
• Kiefer Sutherland as Cooper (YES) so mysterious – he was super in BEHIND THE RED DOOR
• Stockard Channing as Mara (also in Behind the Red Door)
• Rachel McAdams as Fern
• Ryan Gosling (swoon) as Eric
• Marcia Cross, or Nicole Kidman (maybe too tall– will think on this for a redhead) or a younger: Molly Bernard (from Younger TV) as Astrid
• Debi Mazar (Younger TV) as Rita (since she and Molly above were lovers once).
• Will have to think further about the other characters.


BEHIND THE RED DOOR is a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 Star Thriller and on my Top Books of 2020! I highly recommend for your summer reading. I cannot wait to hear your thoughts and to discuss them. The cover is stunning!

Be sure and check out THE WINTER SISTER, if you have not read, now in paperback.

#JDCMustReadBooks


A special thank you to @AtriaBooks and @Netgalley for an advanced reading copy.

This was a middle of the ground thriller story for me, but still captivating and gripping from the very beginning! It was interesting to see into the mind of Fern as she tries to unlock an event from her childhood that she only realizes happened to her after history begins to repeat itself. I couldn't help but take notice right away of Fern's relationship with her parents, especially her father Ted. For her whole life, Fern worked so hard to gain her father's attention and love, only to be neglected and feeling miserable. There was a lot of gas lightning in this story, especially with how Ted treated Fern and his passion for his Experiments.

I did enjoy the book within the book aspect of this story, I feel like that helped break up the narrative well and kept the reader engaged. The author did an amazing job of including captivating distractions that made you think you were onto the ending, only to find out you were nowhere close. While I'd like to say that I had the ending figured out quickly, other story lines would make you doubt yourself and fall off track with the correct theory.

The ending sort of fell flat for me. Nothing really amounted from the result of Fern's discovery, at least from what the reader gained from the final few chapters. I rolled my eyes at one reveal and was unsure I agreed with Fern's decision to let certain characters off the hook considering they've reeked havoc on her life over the past several days. While not the greatest thriller I've ever read, I still enjoyed myself and can't wait to see what Megan Collins writes next. Thank you to Netgalley and Atria books for this copy of Behind the Red Door in exchange for my honest review!

Big thanks to @netgalley and @atriabooks for my copy of Behind the Red Door (out now).

I don’t have extremely strong feelings for this book one way or another. General feeling: I liked it. It possesses a definite creep factor that kept me turning pages, so if you’re looking for something quick and entertaining this spooky season, Behind the Red Door might just be it.

One day Fern Douglas sees on the news that Astrid Sullivan has been kidnapped for a second time soon after publishing her memoir about her first kidnapping. Fern gets a funny feeling that she KNOWS Astrid, but her husband tries to convince her that she just recognizes Astrid from her famous kidnapping case. Fern isn’t quite so sure. Fern goes on a trip to help her father Ted, a college psychology professor with unethical views of experimentation around fear, pack for his move to Florida. While she’s there, Fern starts sleuthing to try to recover memories from the day Astrid is kidnapped when she finds out she was in the same small town on the day Astrid went missing. Collins made just about everyone Fern encounters in her hometown suspicious and potentially capable of kidnapping both Astrid and this mystery little girl, Lily, that Astrid mentions in her memoir. I found myself following each breadcrumb trail and doubting my initial gut instinct of whodunnit down each path. The final twist isn’t the most satisfying or as twisty as I found myself hoping for, a common complaint I have with thrillers/mysteries nowadays. But I did love that these characters were deranged and found myself thinking some of them belonged in the loony bin. Overall, I think the read is worth it, but there are definitely better novels in this genre.

This was a decent thriller! The end was so obvious to me that I was waiting for more of a twist that never came. It was still well written and you could definitely picture the characters.

I enjoyed this read.... it was engaging and kept me pulled in. I look forward to reading more of this author's and appreciate the opportunity to review this one!

Thank you, NetGalley, for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Gee, I love stories with "broken" characters! Fern definitely falls into that category. At first you think she has it all together, but then it spirals down quickly. You find out fast that there is something wrong with her mental health and her family. The entire time I thought her husband was somehow involved in all of the things that unraveled. He was totally unlikeable, just like Fern's dad. Oh, don't get me started on her parents! What a deranged family to be raised in! I felt for Fern and wasn't surprised that she has mental issues.

So, I really enjoyed reading this story. While I couldn't quite connect with Fern or any of the other characters, the story itself was unique and the book well-written. The entire time, I did what I usually do when I read mystery/suspense novels--I try to play Sherlock Holmes, look for clues, draw my own conclusions, and then see if they are right. There were many times when I thought I knew what had happened and how Fern fits into all of this, but in the end, I found that I was wrong. That is a good thing! That means there are unexpected twists and turns that keep you guessing until the very end.

This is a riveting novel that will keep you guessing the whole time. I like that anxiety was included in the novel as it is so important to bring awareness to mental illness.

I really loved this book! It was different from any thriller I’ve ever read before and I would recommend it to anyone who’s looking for a twisty thriller.

I read The Winter Sister last year and loved it! I was eager to get my hands on Megan Collins new book Behind the Red Door :)

I have to say that I enjoyed the Winter Sister better then this one but am a big fan of Collins! She has quite the writing style and LOVED the atmosphere creepy vibe in this one. Both Fern and her father drove me nuts hahah! I don't think I liked any of the characters in this one... but felt that this was the point of the book.

I struggled a little bit in this one because it's a slow burn type of thriller and tend not to do well with those. The only issue I had was it's very predictable from the beginning and I saw the ending coming. The main twist was pretty obvious and saw that coming a mile away.

I have seen many people love this one.. so I'd say give it a shot!

Overall, 3/5 stars.

Thank you so much to Atria and netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Pub date: 8/4/20
Published to GR: 9/20/20

2.75 stars, rounded upward.

I enjoyed Collins’s debut, The Winter Sister, and so when I was invited to read and review this second novel, I jumped on it. My thanks go to Net Galley and Atria Books for the review copy. This book is for sale now.

Have you ever had someone in your life that’s a hot mess and makes terrible decisions, one after another? This felt a little bit like that, at least during the periods when I believed the character; and I did, some of the time. But whereas The Winter Sister held together beautifully until the implausible ending—a common issue with mysteries and thrillers—this one is riddled with difficulties throughout.

Fern had a traumatic childhood. Her father used her to conduct cruel experiments, deliberately terrifying his daughter in a variety of ways so that he could write about her responses. Now she’s grown and gone, though not surprisingly plagued by serious mental health issues, but healing nonetheless, and he summons her home. He says he needs her. Against the advice of stable people in her adult life, Fern packs her bags and comes a-runnin’. Who knows? Maybe her daddy wants to say sorry; perhaps he is terminally ill and set on making amends.

Well, um, no.

Upon her return, three terrible things happen almost immediately. First of all, her father, Ted, has not changed a bit, and he only called her back because he’s moving and doesn’t have time to pack. He wants her to pack for his move. He doesn’t plan to help pack his own crap, and he doesn’t plan to pay her for her time. Plus, he still plays cruel tricks on her, just like bad old times.

On top of this, her best friend’s sadistic brother, Cooper, is still around, and he’s still not a real nice guy. She discovers this almost immediately firsthand.

And on a trip to the store, she runs across a book, a memoir written by Astrid Sullivan. Flash! Bang! She knows that face, doesn’t she? Did she know Astrid? Now Astrid has been murdered, and Fern has been having dreams about her, which might be flashbacks. Has she buried memories of the murder? And…WHO would have DONE such a thing? Nobody SHE knows would do a mean thing like that! Unless…naw.

Oh dear.

The story is told in alternate narratives, Fern’s and Astrid’s, courtesy of her memoir. This method does build a sense of dread, but it feels a little choppy in the telling. In addition, I had difficulty believing the character’s motivation. I could see reflexively running home—I’ve known people that would do the same—but what I cannot understand is why, when she found out what Ted’s big emergency was, she didn’t toss her bag back in her car, say Buh-bye and good luck with the move, and hightail it home.

There’s a lot of extraneous business here; we have Fern’s mental health problems, and on top of it all, she’s pregnant. (Oh, good idea. A baby. What could possibly go wrong?)

I believe Collins has a great book in her, but this isn’t it. That’s okay; back to the drawing board. Life is long. But reader, as for you, I recommend you either pass this one up, or read it free or cheap.

Behind the Red Door is a well written thriller that... falls victim to what many thrillers do, it was too predictable (from very early on). Even that being said, I still enjoyed it! It was a breath of fresh air during my COVID reading slump. Not quite as good as The Winter Sister, but still a very solid read from Megan Collins.

A taut revealing tale of psychological experiment , twisted and unrelenting. Fern an adult with recurring nightmares was the subject of experiments in behavior by her father Ted all under the guise research. All with the goal of advancing his academic career. A kidnapping of a young girl named Astrid is back in the news . It seems the Astrid in the news has written an account and is now missing,again. The story and picture have evoked a rise in memory for Fern , who is helping Ted move to Florida. The nightmares have turned to day remembering and put Fern on the trail of a real epiphany. Ferns parents were never warm by any account and this time real hardened secrets come to the surface as Fern relives a nightmare of her own, bot physically and psychologically. There are passages here that will leave you cold and filled with a bit of wonder how Fern survived the Experiment “ process.

What a quick and twisted read we have between this very attractive and intriguing cover! Behind the Red Door follows the daughter of a psychologist who suddenly begins to have recurring thoughts when a girl goes missing again! Yes, again - she originally went missing when our protagonist was a young teenager, from the same area in which she lived. Gong back home, she hopes to remember more by going home to help her father pack for a move. The small bits of memories revealed gives the reader just enough to pull them deep into this story, like a trail of bread crumbs you have to follow deep into the woods, even if the woods are a bit scary... oh did I mention... of course there's a set of woods in this story! The characters are well developed and the storyline wraps up in a very well thought out plot line. This is an author we all should be watching closely as I am sure she has more up her sleeve for future readers of this psychological thriller genre.

This book was gripping, I was on the edge of my seat. My eyes kept trying to look ahead so I could see what was coming next. There were so many twists and turns. The author has an incredible talent for building suspense; I could feel my heart racing as I was reading certain chapters. The atmosphere the author set only added to that suspense.

I also felt that Fern Douglas was relatable; the depiction of her anxious mind was well executed. I found myself highlight a lot of passages.

This story was riveting and the author presented it beautifully. One of my favourite aspects of the book was how the author provided an internal dialogue for Fern, this really showcased how tough it was for Fern to navigate the outside world with her anxious mind.

I love stories about dysfunctional families, secrets, hidden pasts and mysterious atmospheres. This book delivered and I loved every second of reading Behind the Red Door.

Omg, I freaking loved this book! I knew that it would be incredible, because her last book was so great! Fern is probably one of my favorite characters in a book that I've read recently. I saw this book all over Instagram, and it absolutely lived up to the hype. I think that Megan Collins is going to be an autobuy author.

There was so much that I want to scream about with this book, but I don't want to spoil anything. Great plot twists, great writing, great pace, great character development. I really didn't figure this book out, like I do with a good amount of Thrillers. So Kudos to Megan!!

Winter Sister was my first read by this author, so I was thrilled to get an ARC of Behind the Red Door.. Not to mention I’d heard and read great things about this book. I was not disappointed. I thought I figured who had kidnapped Astrid, but then I wavered back and forth all through the book. I’ve never read a book quite so different. I loved every single word and each idea that was put into this topic.
And for Ms Collins, this book was definitely worth my time ..
Thanks to Netgalley, Megan Collins, and her publishing team for this ARC.

The premise of this book sounds amazing however, I figured out the twist very early on and it was not surprising at all. This is a "book within a book" about a woman desperate to unlock her repressed memories in order to save another woman who’s gone missing. It was well written and atmospheric but entirely too predictable for me.