This was a big miss for me. I did finish it in one day, but I was struggling with the ending. The whole thing just felt so disjointed, and then the ending was just one character explaining to another what had happened. Felt like a cop-out of an ending to a book with unrealistic dialogue, zero characters to root for, and a story that dragged along.

Amelie has lost everything… her family and her home. She sets off on her own just trying to survive. She finally makes a friend that changes her life…. And it turns a full 180. Until one day she is kidnapped and everything she thought she knew is spun on its head. Soon, she wonders if she will ever escape the room she is locked in, and does she even want to escape? Thanks to NetGalley for the early ARC.

This book was everything I wanted it to be. It had me turned pages without even realizing. It was so good!

B.A. Paris does it again! The Prisoner feels along the same vein of Behind Closed Doors which was one of the first books to hook me on domestic thrillers. For me, Paris books are very page turning and highly digestible. I could not stop reading and needed to know what was happening. This story was full of twists and turns to the last chapters. I had to knock off a star for the way the book was wrapped up. I liked the direction of the story and the story and explanation of the twists but I did not like how they were given to us, the readers.


//What I Enjoyed\\

-Plot- This plot-line felt completely unique and something I had never read before.

-Villain- A very dislikable and unpredictable villain. I can see that this may turn some readers off but it kept the story so interesting and kept me on the edge of my seat.

-Dual timelines- I’m always a fan of a dual timeline. I enjoyed the timeline leading up to the main conflict, and the timeline during the main conflict. I was so invested in finding out how they ended up in their current situation and then why.


//What I disliked\\

-Pacing- It felt as though the first 3/4 of the story was very drawn out and even repetitive at times and then the ending was rushed and even disjointed at times. By the end, it felt like I was reading a completely different story and I didn’t feel like it felt like it made sense to unfold the way it did in certain parts.

-Confusing and underdeveloped side characters- I found Amalie’s three friends very indistinguishable and hard to keep straight. Through all the chapters in the “past” timelines, not enough was given to the reader to make me feel attachment. Their were things that unfolded that I found hard to care about because of feeling detached. I also felt no attachment toward Ned for the same reasons.

-Unrealistic decisions/explanations- the marriage, the “whys” behind the plot, the seemingly easy forgiveness.


In the end, I felt more positively about the work than negatively and look forward to this author’s future work! I feel like her work gets better each time.

4/5 page turning, twisted, well written STATRS!

Big thanks to St Martins Press and NetGalley for providing me with this e-ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts and review!

The Prisoner by B.A. Paris
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this and leave my opinion. Good storyline, good characters quick and easy read that kept my attention.

3.5 stars

This book had good pacing and a good plot but the "heroine" was naïve and some of the stuff was just too far fetched to believe. This author is kind of a hit or miss for me but good enough that I keep reading her.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my free copy in exchange for an honest review.

There's a LOT going on in this one. It started out a little slow, but this was one of those books where you stop and think "whoa."

If you're a fan of alternative time-lines and reading while still having lots of questions, you'll like this one. Like all of B.A. Paris's books, I couldn't see the twist--I never can!

I recommend--and thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The Prisoner has you suspending belief as you turn the pages quickly to see if Amelie can escape from her captors . Why was she kidnapped.

The book goes quickly from Present to Past with the tension mounting with every page.

Amelie is beyond naive and is way over her head on marrying the very unlikeable Ned.

Controlling and menacing is too kind to say about him.

Bodies are mounting , friends are disappearing.

The lights stayed on as the pages turned . I was sure that Amelie would persevere at least I hope she would.

B.A. Paris always tells an entertaining story and The Prisoner is no exception

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for a thrill of a read

This was a good surprise! I didn’t know anything about it except the author. I’m glad I read this and enjoyed it. It has a good storyline and characters, and I like that the loose ends were tied up. This was an interesting read.

This was actually, somehow, my first book by B.A. Paris. I found it fast-paced and compulsively readable, with those short chapters that easily lure you into "just one more" until you've binged the entire book in a sitting. I don't like to give away much detail when reviewing thrillers, so I'll keep my synopsis short below!

The story opens with Amelie Lamont being taken captive by unknown assailants, who shove her into a pitch-black room above the basement where they have stored her captured bazillionaire husband, Ned Hawthorne. The chapters then alternate between the present and the past, leading up to the moment of capture, then everything moves forward in one time period for the second half or so of the book. It is soon very apparent that maybe Amelie's time as "the prisoner" is not, in fact, the time period that she spent locked in a windowless room.

I really enjoyed this book, though I did guess at who one of the captors was early on in the story. It didn't really take away from the reveal for me, because there are a lot of other details and factors involved. I finished this very quickly and would recommend it as a fast and satisfying thriller!

Thank you to B.A. Paris, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!

Loved the start of this one but felt like it slowed downed a bit in the middle for me and then the ending was satisfying but not as great as some of her previous titles.

I had just read Behind Closed Doors a few months ago and was so excited when I was approved for the ARC for this one.

If you enjoyed Behind Closed Doors, I think you will like this one as long as you go into it knowing that BCD is the better if the two but both were good.

Whoa! This book has me hooked from page 1. Right from the beginning, we learn that Amelie has been kidnapped, along with her husband but we don’t know who has kidnapped or why. The story takes us from when Amelie first arrived in London to her kidnapping, showing what a strong and resilient woman she is. There are so many twists in the story, I couldn’t put this book down. I devoured this book in two days, and honestly, if I didn’t have parental and adult responsibilities, I likely would have finished this in a day.

And since I could never do justice with my own synopsis, here’s the official one.

Amelie has always been a survivor, from losing her parents as a child in Paris to making it on her own in London. As she builds a life for herself, she is swept up into a glamorous lifestyle where she married the handsome billionaire Ned Hawthorne. 

But then, Amelie wakes up in a pitch-black room, not knowing where she is. Why has she been taken? Who are her mysterious captors? And why does she soon feel safer here, imprisoned, than she had begun to feel with her husband Ned?

Alone in the world after the death of her father, Amelie is just naive enough to think that a marriage of convenience to a rich man will be the best way to help her reach her goal of going to law school. However, she never could have imagined what would happen after she said I do. This story kept me guessing, and then guessing some more. Just when I thought I had it figured out, it would send me on another twist & turn. Captivating and hard to put down. Another great one from B. A. Paris. Would definitely recommend. Thanks to the author, publisher, & NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ebook.

Another great psychological thriller by B A Paris.
We follow Amelie from the death of her father at 16 as she moved to London with dreams of attending university to study law.
The story moves between present and past. We learn of the happenings in Amelie’s life before she and her husband,Ned were kidnapped. Why would they be a target of a kidnapping. Who is behind it?
I enjoyed this book. For me it was a fast read as I just wanted to know that Amelie was safe.
I would recommend to anyone asking for a psychological thriller.

If you loved Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris, than you'll definitely love her new book The Prisoner.

This was a fast-paced thriller that peaked my anxiety in all the right ways. I was worried that if we spent too long with Amelie in the dark I might get bored, but the author set this up really well. I managed to guess one of the twists, but it didn't take away from the story.

What's not to love about B.A. Paris books? They are fast paced, unique, will leave you questioning what you just read, and The Prisoner is no exception to these characteristics! I was hooked on this book from the beginning and it held my attention to the very end.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC!

B.A. Paris has a way of writing that hooks me in immediately and doesn't let go. This story follows Amelie in a dual timeline. In part 1, we see what leads to her abduction, and then see how she handles being a prisoner. This part was really well done. It felt claustrophobic at times, which was perfect. Amelie is likeable and I loved how she is fleshed out over time. Part 2 is the aftermath of it all; how does Amelie cope with everything that has happened to her. Honestly, this part is kind of over the top and it's essential to suspend your disbelief. And yet, I enjoyed every single page.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this advanced copy. Publication date: 01 November 2022.

I enjoyed the slow but steady building of the mystery between alternating timelines. Also I feel like the use of short chapters helps with keeping you invested in what comes next.

Great wrap up of the mysteries and twists at the very end-would have liked some more character development but the heroine was likable.

Fast paced and definitely a read in one sitting story- this is my first novel by this author and I definitely will continue to pick books by them!!

This wasn’t a life-changing read, but it was reliably enjoyable. I love abduction plots.
The story has two timelines - one that’s present day and begins with the abduction, and the other makes its way through the past up to the day of the abduction.
I liked the main character Amelie. She was kind, though a bit gullible (come on girl, always ask for agreements in writing, especially when money is involved). All of the other characters were pretty flat.
I thought the ending was lacking a bit & the big reveal was dimestore tacky.
This was my first B.A. Paris read, and I look forward to reading more.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press & @Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I have read every single book of B..A Paris and love all of them as she is a wonderful writer. THE PRISONER is a book that has a very unique story line with omplex characters which I love.
Amelia is married to a billionaire and finds herself kidnapped in a very small dark room with no windows. Horrified as she is she tries to figure out why she is there?
A page turner and tense thriller for anyone wanted to read a good book!

I want to thank Netgalley and Sy. Martin's Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review