I have never read any of BA Paris' books and The Prisoner sounded intriguing. It is a fast paced book, at least Part I was, about Amelie who went from being a poor, homeless orphan to being married to an ultra rich man. Amelie and her husband are kidnapped and kept in the dark, literally, for several weeks. Her strength and wit her to survive this ordeal. This was basically Part I. Part II started to fall apart for me. This is also where so many of the supporting characters that lacked development in Part I really showed, I quickly read the last part just to finish. This premiss is a little different so fun to read. Unfortunately, the author did not take advantage of the situation. I give it 2.5 rounding up to a 3.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Star rating: 4 ⭐️
Genre: thriller
Pages: 304

Read if you like:
▪️Short chapters
▪️Fast pace
▪️Dual timelines
▪️Hostage plot
▪️London elite

I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews for this book, but I enjoyed it overall. I read it on the plane from NYC to Antigua (4 hours), and it went by very fast. While I wasn’t shocked by anything that happened, it held my attention the whole time and I remember not wanting to put it down in the last twenty minutes. Although the ending was a little abrupt, and I would have liked a little more shock factor, I thought it was, all in all, a good book to binge in a day!

Similar: Behind Closed Doors, the Town

Thank you @stmartinspress for this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Prisoner was a fast-paced thriller where we find Amelie kidnapped and locked in a small room. I was dying to find out what happened to her, why she was kidnapped, and if she would survive. This story had me hooked from the beginning, and the short chapters made it fly by. There was a good cast of characters, and the alternating timelines of past and present really brought the story together. I stayed up later than I usually do on a school night, just because I had to know how it ended. This was my first read by B.A. Paris, and it will not be my last!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the e-ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

This book releases today, November 1! Go snag a copy!

The Prisoner
B.A. Paris
Pub. date: Nov 1, 2022

Thank you to
@stmartinspress and
@netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Prisoner is the latest suspense thriller from B.A. Paris. This book was a true page turner for me. I couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen next with each of the characters.
This story is about Amelie, a young girl who finds herself alone in the world upon the death of her father. She makes her way from Paris to London where some of her new friends share their glamorous lifestyle with her. At one of the parties they attend, she meets the very successful and single billionaire, Ned Hawthorne. Amelie’s life will never be the same after that. She ends up being married and kidnapped all in a short period of time. The book is told through those two perspectives of her life as the past and the present. Both timelines are equally captivating and there is never a lull in either one.
Aside from the story itself, the author made the chapters short which I personally wish more authors would do. It kept the book fast paced and suspenseful.
There were definitely more than a few surprising events in the book that I didn’t see coming. And isn’t that one of the best parts of a good thriller?
B.A. Paris wrote a suspenseful, exciting thriller of a book in The Prisoner. If you want a book that will keep you in great anticipation this is the one for you!
It’s out now, November 1, so get your copy today!

#netgalley #stmartinspress #baparisauthor #bookstagram #newbooks #juliawoodard #bookbirthday

Happy pub day to B.A. Paris’ latest thriller!🤩 ☠️

I LOOOOVED the first half of this book. The chapters are insanely short and alternate between past and present. Could not put it down! The second half slowed down with out the past and present perspectives. The ending / reveal seemed rushed and unsatisfying. Maybe it’s going to get a sequel? Either way I really enjoyed flying through the beginning and that was worth it!
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#bookstagram #booklover #bookreview #thrillerbooks #bookobsessed #thrillerreads

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for a gifted copy of The Prisoner by B.A. Paris. All opinions are my own.

B.A. Paris is back with her new release, The Prisoner. Amelie has spent much of her life depending on herself until she meets Ned Hawthorne. After she marries Ned she starts to wonder if she made a huge mistake. Is she safe with him?

One day Amelia wakes up in a dark room. She must learn to use her sense of touch to feel her way around the room. There is only a small bathroom in the room with her. Who is her kidnapper? Why does she feel safer than she did with her husband?

I enjoyed The Prisoner. It was a fun quick read with a bit of suspense. As far as the characters, I did not really care for the main character, Amelie. I found her to be a little too naive for someone who has practically raised herself.

B.A.Paris is an auto-read author for me and I am looking forward to her next book.

Mystery & Thrillers
Release Date: November 1, 2022

This is my third thriller by this author and this one will sadly hold the bottom spot for me. What starts off strong in the beginning quickly becomes repetitive and then strays into a rushed and far-fetched ending. I wish the characters were better developed within the story, they felt way too surface based which made for my lack of empathy for any of them.

THINGS I LIKED ABOUT THIS ONE:
📖: Short chapters made it easily bingeable
🪝: A captivating beginning that gets the reader hooked
🔎: POV that changes between the past and present

The author’s writing style worked a lot better for me this time around compared to BEHIND CLOSED DOORS and THE THERAPIST. This gives me hope that I’ll hopefully enjoy what she writes in the future! Sadly the story for this one just didn’t work for me.

Special thank you to @stmartinspress for an early copy of THE PRISONER, publishing today!✨

This was such a suspenseful story. I loved the past and present timelines, and how everything came together. I was expecting the present to be different than it ended up being (trying to be vague to not give anything away), but I really like how it turned out. I was guessing the entire time, and couldn't stop reading. I highly recommend reading this fast paced thriller!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This story hooked me from the beginning and kept me guessing as to what why Amelie was taken and by whom. I enjoyed how the story toggled between the past and the present. Also, the short chapters made the reading quick and left you wanting to know what was going to happen next. What I did miss was a little more character development and why Ned went down the path that he did. Overall it was a good story.

𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝘆 𝗕.𝗔. 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨/5
𝗣𝘂𝗯 𝗗𝗮𝘆: 11/1/22

This is my second B.A. Paris book with the first being 𝘽𝙚𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝘾𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝘿𝙤𝙤𝙧𝙨 which I absolutely loved.

This one fell flat for me. Amelie was kidnapped along side her brand new husband Ned Hawthorpe. They are kept in dark separate rooms while held for ransom.

Dual timelines show us that Amelie came from absolutely nothing. No friends, no family, no money. But she managed to find a few good friends who helped jumpstart her life. After landing a job at 𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴, a high end magazine, she soon ends up married to Ned, the head of the company. Immediately after, her world comes crashing down when she realizes who her husband really is.

She suddenly feels safer being held prisoner by her captor than she ever did with Ned. But who took them, and why?

This story felt very lukewarm. While you of course want to see the main character survive the kidnapping, I just wasn’t all that concerned for her. I was really hoping there would be more suspense with this one.

🚨My biggest gripe is a spoiler- this is your warning 🚨

I hate when a thriller/mystery/suspense is wrapped up by one side character explaining everything that happened to the main character. It feels like an easy way out.

Thank you @netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced reader copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book as I do all BA Paris books. Well written, exciting and held my attention! A 4 star read!

I have loved all of B. A. Paris’s books since her debut novel, Behind Closed Doors. So I’m sad to say that The Prisoner was a huge disappointment. Paris is a talented author, and her plotting was on point with this latest novel.

The story has a promising beginning. We meet the protagonist, Amelie, as she and her new husband, Ned, are being kidnapped from their bedroom in the middle of the night by some silent men. She soon finds herself bound and locked in a strange room in complete darkness. Her husband is being kept in another room.
The novel then shifts to seven months in the past, and Amelie is tending to her Papa, who is in hospice. Amelie is soon orphaned at just sixteen years of age. With no relatives to take her in, she goes on her own to London in hopes of securing a waitressing job while she saves money to put herself through college. She is destitute.

Happily, Amelie soon meets Carolyn, a woman in her thirties whose husband has just left her. Carolyn is taken with Amelie, and after a brief chat, she offers her a job as her live-in housekeeper/personal assistant. Carolyn also introduces Amelie to her two best friends, Lina and Justine, who both work at a magazine called Exclusives. Exclusives is run by Ned Hawthorpe, and after meeting her at a company party, Ned ends up offering Amelie a job as an assistant at the magazine.

Things get really strange though when Ned gives Amelie a last minute opportunity to travel with him to Las Vegas where he is trying to secure an important interview. While in Vegas, Ned makes Amelie an offer. He wants to get his father off his back about marrying someone, so he asks Amelie to marry him. In exchange, he will give her $100,000, which she can use to go to school full-time. It’s to be strictly a marriage of convenience, and they will get divorced after a month.

The story pivots between the Amelie’s recent past and her present situation of having been kidnapped. At a high level, the plot was well executed, and the writing kept me reading to the end. However, it was just because I wanted to see how Paris would pull all the pieces together for a satisfying ending.
I had several issues with The Prisoner. First, the ages were off. A penniless sixteen year-old just up and gets to London, sleeps on strangers’ floors, and gets a job. Really?? Then, this girl manages to connect with three sophisticated 30-something women who make her their new best friend and give her a lovely place to live. Really?? Some 30-something rich boy then notices her, gives her a job, flies her to Vegas, and pays her to marry him. Really?? Secondly, the timeline just didn’t work. In seven months, Amelie travels to London, gets a job, is befriended by three women in their 30s, gets another job, gets married, and is kidnapped. Seriously?!? Every thriller goes a little over the top and asks the reader to come along for the ride, but this one was just too over the top for me. And I haven’t even mentioned the part where Amelie goes to New Zealand. What?!?

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me an eGalley. I’m still a fan of B. A. Paris, but The Prisoner was a big miss for me. 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 because of the author.

Definitely not her strongest book. Could have been a little more engaging. I think it was just the time and maybe it's a me problem and not the book problem. While this wasn't a bad book, it wasn't memorable. Like there's nothing in the book that would make me scream to my friends to read it. It's just decent?

I explained the whole lost access to Netgalley, but this was another that I remembered thankfully! Fantastically written, with tons of twisty turns, chilling chills, and gasp worthy shocks, but emotional and beautiful as well! A mind blowing, fast paced, unputdownable read, which is sure to have you on the edge of your seat and not putting down until you finish! Prepare, for a hangover though, as I promise it’s coming!

Well use my Amazon Vine Top reviewer and loud mouth to buzz around!

First, I would like to thank the author for the preview of their new book on Net Galley. As I had yet to read this author, I was excited to start. And, once I did, I had a hard time putting this book down.

I had much in common with the main character of the book who started off young, with many hardships. Her plight was not so troublesome, after she was able to find some good friends. But, blindsided by a nefarious boss with plans for her friends and then, her, to cover his bad deeds, only set her down a path that looked like it would lead to her demise.

The author has developed a strong main character, a heroine we can be proud to read about, who fights tooth and nail not only for herself, her life, her friends, but, to remain hopeful, above all that goes on, that she will be a survivor, even though she is a prisoner for most of the novel.

Wow this is an amazing thrilling novel that you won't be able to put down!!!!!!!!! 5 stars all the way to the best seller list for B.A. Paris

Thank you to St. Martins Press and Net Galley for the opportunity to read the prisoner by ba Paris. BA Paris is an amazing author who write thrillers that are hard to put down. The prisoner is a fast paced thriller, its chapters are short and want you to keep on reading.

Amelie lost her mom at a young age and then her father when she was sixteen. With no other family to turn to, she spent some time living on the streets before she was befriended by someone who needed a live-in housekeeper. Carolyn became more than just an employer - she became a best friend, and she opened doors, & new opportunities for her. Amelie marries the handsome billionaire Ned Hawthorne, as purely a business transaction. After she marries him, she realizes there is a darker side to him that she never saw before. Than Amelie is kidnapped and she has no idea why, and even more worrisome is the fact that she feels safer with the kidnappers than she did when she was at home with Ned.
I am a huge fan of this author, but this book wasn't my favorite book of theirs. The story is told in alternating chapters between past and present. The first part of the book took off out of the starting gate exciting, and full of promise, but it quickly lost steam. The plot became overly complicated at some parts, dragged along at other parts, I didn't care for the way it ended, but maybe that was just me, This won't deter me from reading everything she writes in the future, but overall this was just good, not great.

I tend to shy away from using the term "gripping" for thrillers, but when you can't put a book down and can't stop thinking about what will happen next when you DO have to put it down, I think the term is apt. Orphaned at age 16, Amelie moves to London to make her way on her own. She ends up in a marriage of convenience to her handsome billionaire boss, not realizing his true nature. When he is kidnapped, she is taken as well. Amelie is held prisoner in a pitch dark room, uncertain of her fate but even more terrified of being returned to life with her husband. B.A. Paris does an excellent job of setting a moody, tense tone and ending each chapter in a way that makes it almost impossible to not continue to the next. Amelie is a smart woman who makes some questionable decisions, but she is very young so that isn't necessarily surprising, and I like that she takes action rather than wallow in self pity. This is my first book by this author but it certainly won't be my last!

You will not be able to put this book down. With the amount of suspense this book packs you will be on the edge of your seat the entire time.

The story goes back and forth between the present day and the past. Amelie is kidnapped and put in a small room in complete darkness. The only light is in the tiny bathroom within that room and it has a timer.

You will learn about Amelie’s past, and how and why she got kidnapped. You learn that she recently married billionaire Ned Hawthorpe as a business deal to get money to go to college. So many secrets start to unravel after she agrees to marry him.

Make sure you have a clear schedule because once you start The Prisoner you won't be able to do anything else until you race to the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.