*spoiler below*

I've read a few books from this other, and unfortunately, I've noticed they can be hit or miss. I usually enjoy her books! This one was a miss for me. It started strong and with a bang. I loved the female friendships Amelie made, which made the deaths of literally all her friends necessary. Couldn't they have at least saved Carolyn??

Amelie is a penniless young woman who moves to London after the death of her father. She knows no one, but is lucky enough to find new friends and a job which will slowly help her meet her goal of attending college.

The plot thickens when her boss talks her into a sham marriage in exchange for money, she is kidnapped and held prisoner, and she begins to question the mysterious forces that seem to be at play. Things aren’t what they seem, and she’s desperate for answers.

What I liked: The chapters were short and sweet which kept the story moving. This was a godsend during the kidnapping scenes because I found them repetitive, dark, and dreary.

What I struggled with: The final explanation behind Amelie’s harrowing experience. I found myself re-reading sections to make sure I understood, and that everything made sense.

Overall, I did enjoy this book. I marvel at writers who come up with plots that are so seemingly convoluted, yet they somehow logically unravel the puzzle at the end.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read this pre-published book.

B.A. Paris does it again like only she can. You follow Amelie who is married to wealthy Ned Hawthorne and are both captured and held prisoner. Amelie reflects on her past and present and builds a story line within each where you are pulling for her and suspicious of her husband. Will she be set free and if she is will her husband accompany her? Are they safe if they are released and whom captured them. Read this falls most anticipated thriller and find out!

B.A. Paris writes the best kinds of thrillers. The Prisoner was great! Quick chapters and kept me turning the pages!

I cannot wait for people to read this book! It will not only destroy your home life (burn dinner, door left unlocked) and social life (friends’ call left unanswered, partners left to fend for themselves and oneself)!!

I have been thinking what I can say about the book without ruining the plot. It’s about a young woman…hmm..that’s it. It starts off with a kidnapping in the middle of the night and off it goes racing through the book.

B.A. Paris is a favorite author. Literally 4-5 stars for every book. Plot is always engaging and character development is great. Not too much detail and just enough to keep you hooked.

The Prisoner is one of the very best from this author to date. I have devoured everything written by B.A. Paris and The Prisoner is my absolute favorite. You absolutely do not want to miss this book. Pre-order now!

Oh my goodness. What a book!!
I will admit the ending frustrated me because it wasn't the ending I wanted, but its the right ending.
BA Paris never fails me, i count on her books to send me on a twisty, turny, crazy journey and this one delivers.
An offer that would set up our main character for life seems to good to be true....because it is. Orphaned at 16 or 17, Amelie just wants friends, a sense of belonging and the money to go to law school. An offer from a billionaire turns into a kidnapping and Amelie is left trying to understand the pieces and save herself.

This is not my first B.A. Paris and hopefully will not be my last. I had very high hopes for "The Prisoner", especially after reading the description. However, this book failed to live up to my own hype. Amelie, though well-intentioned, was lackluster and I found it hard to root for her. As for Ned, it seems like Paris struggled to give a motive behind Ned's actions and his character.

"The Prisoner" felt rushed and unrealistic. The book concludes mid-conversation, and in such a way that I am still mad when I think about it. There is no character development, the characters were poorly written, and the plot was nonsensical.

Okay, I just finished another book early this am and decided that I would start another. What I didn’t know is that I would be completely enthralled with this book that I couldn’t put it down! I did take a quick break to get some gardening done, and take a rest but the rest of my day was filled reading this book as quickly as I could! I want to give extra thanks to @netgalley and the publisher @stmartinspress, for my advanced copy of this one!

Amelie has always been a survivor, she lost her mother at a young age and then her father as a teenager. Alone she leaves her home and moves to London where she meets and becomes employed by Carolyn. After a while she catches the eye of a handsome billionaire and they quickly wed – but not for love, it’s a business arraignment but Amelie must not tell anyone or the deal is off. Things go south from there and Amelie learns the man is not a good man. Next thing she knows she wakes up alone, in a dark room with only a mattress. She learns she and her husband are being held hostage but her husbands dad wont pay the ransom for them to go free. Amelie is scared for her life, but learns the hostage takers don’t want to hurt her, they want her husband to pay for the bad things he has done. Feeling more safe than she did with her husband Amelie begins to try to unravel what is truly going on. As the days go on Amelie struggles to grasp with the fact she may never escape and she’s destined to die in captivity.

I really enjoy psychological thrillers. I’m not sure what that says about me exactly, but whatever I’ll keep reading them! This book was amazing and I really enjoyed how it was written. I remembered this writing from one of the authors previous books, Behind Closed Doors, which I listed too and also didn’t want to stop. This author is quickly becoming an auto read author for me and I’d love to read the rest of her books. I have wanted to read The Therapist since it was released last year and I think I am going to make time to do so here soon. I gave this one 4.5 stars. Again thank you to @netgalley and the publisher @stmartinspress for my advanced copy. Make sure to pick up your copy on publication day, November 1st!

I thought the first two-thirds of this book was really good; an interesting and suspenseful story. But the final third, wrapping up all the loose ends, seemed overly detailed and too long, to the point where it became a bit confusing. Overall, while this wasn’t one of my favorites, I did enjoy the book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Amelie is a young orphan who runs away at the age of 16 to London, there after some really tough times she finally meets some friends. Finally she feels like her life is going somewhere until her world starts to fall apart. Waking up in a cold basement cell her world collapses but she is determined to make it out alive.
This book kept me turning pages until I finished it. I couldn't put it down. You could feel the tension that Amelie felt and pushed for her attempts to get away. Great characters made the story flow and there's always those you love to hate. I can't wait to read more from B A Paris.

The Prisoner by B.A. Paris due out November 1, 2022.

B.A.Paris does it again, writing a suspenseful novel that you won’t be able to put down. The opening chapter immediately grab you and the easy flow of the short chapters keep you turning the pages quickly. Although I am not usually a fan of the alternating plot time line, Paris makes it work.

Amelia and her rich husband have been kidnapped and placed in separate rooms. Amelia’s room is kept dark, except when she closes and locks the bathroom door and suddenly there is a dim light. When she unlocks the door, the light goes out. Amelia can hear her husband being interrogated and encouraged to ask his father for the ransom. Amelia and her husband, Ned have a horrible marriage and this is made clear when Ned tells his captors to kill Amelia, he doesn’t care.

What a twisty tale? This marriage for hire takes multiple turns on it’s journey in this novel. Fast read that keeps your interest. Totally enjoyable read.

@baparisauthor is an auto-buy author for me and her newest psychological thriller is another solid read! I finished this novel in one weekend and could not put it down. I switched between the audiobook and e-book. I loved the fast pace and short chapters. While I did guess one of the twists, the plot still held my attention and had me wanting to read more. The audiobook was well narrated and I enjoyed being able to keep up with the story while running errands. You can’t go wrong with adding either the book or audiobook (or both!) to your TBR list!

Thank you to @netgalley @macmillan.audio and @stmartinspress for allowing me access to the book and audiobook ahead of publication in exchange for my honest review.

My fifth by the author and least favorite!

This one has an interesting premise. A woman, Amelie, has her own motivations for marrying a billionaire named Hawthorne. He has his own motivations and lays out a "quickie marriage" plan that seemingly should work well for both of them. You can probably guess that it doesn't!!

I wasn't able to get invested in any of the characters or feel any emotional attachment. Also, the pacing was just off. I've read some of her other novels that were very pacy and addictive.

Even the chapters where Amelie is held in a dark room weren't very suspenseful. The kidnapping chapters were repetitive and lackluster and didn't build much tension. Amelie does have some moments where she shows strength and I was glad to see this development, but she still felt flat.

In the end, this story didn't work for me. The plot holes were hard to overlook, too much explaining was going on and the boring characters made me feel like the prisoner.

Hoping she gets back to her page turner style and has a hit on the next one!

B.A. Paris is the author of one of my favorite books--"The Therapist." Read it if you haven't already--it's great! The beginning of this book lived up to my hopes for another great book but in the end, I was less enthusiastic. I liked how the action switched between the present and past in the first part of the book, and the "present" sections, describing the kidnapping and imprisonment in a totally dark room of our heroine, Amelie, were suspenseful and well done. I found Amelie to be a very well drawn character and quite likeable. Unfortunately, most of the other characters lacked clear characterization and I found it hard to distinguish between many of the secondary players, which also made it hard to follow the convoluted and contrived plot of the second half of the book. Way too much of the latter part was also just a narrator spilling everything on page after page--that telling rather than showing thing. It all left me feeling a bit disappointed. Many thanks St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book. I'd definitely read other books by B.A. Paris, but this one was not for me.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Oh I wanted to like this book so much. I've heard so many good things about BA Paris and this is the first book I've read by her. The premise was amazing. But, I didn't get what I expected. This book was slow moving and I felt my mind wandering while reading it. I just wasn't a fan. I didn't care for any of the characters, especially Amalie. The plot was far fetched and disappointing. I will not give up on BA Paris. I'll give another of her books a go.

People will like this book and I know they already do, it just wasn't for me. Three stars.

I have loved every other book that I have read by this author. But this one let me down in the end. It kept my interest all through the book then the climax, when the mystery was explained, seemed rushed and poorly done.

Thank you Harper Collins and Netgalley for providing me with an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The first half of this book is intriguing. We are left in suspense to know why the kidnapping of our MC had occurred. There are two timelines we’re following, the past which tells the story of the MC and the present when she’s been kidnapped.
The second half felt a bit lackluster as the justification of the kidnapping was very mediocre.

BA Paris is an author that quickly became an auto buy for me after reading Behind Closed Doors. Unfortunately, since then, I have found their work very hit or miss. Sadly, The Prisoner was a major miss…

I hate dragging books in here without specific so I will try and be as thorough as possible without giving away any spoilers


This book is divided into two parts. The first part is told from the POV of Amelie before and after / during she was kidnapped and taken prisoner. For me, this was the strongest part of the book, but I still felt as though the “present” chapters which detailed her confinement in a pitch black room to be redundant, stale and repetitive. I enjoyed reading about Amelie’s past and her group of friends, but many times through out I found myself unable to relate to her unbelievable luck and naivety.

The second part of the book is told in the present tense and details the what happens after the confinement. This is where the author COMPLETELY lost me.

For me, this novel was FAR too over plotted and FAR too unrealistic. There were a handful of times I found myself rolling my eyes and thinking “that would never happen” and “well, wasn’t that convenient”, which is absolutely not what you want from a domestic thriller. Not only was the reason behind the kidnapping completely over worked and unbelievable, but the author really tried to do something with the ending and it just did not work for me…

If you are a fan of out there, far fetched thrillers you may enjoy this one, but if you like them to be believable , I’d skip this one.