4.5 I love this author's writing style and ability to pull in the reader from the first page. Unexpected twists, some genuinely horrible characters, and a satisfying ending. There were a few minor things I had issue with but overall I really loved it. I switched between audio and the book and the audio was really well done. Great narration and easy to follow, even with the time just from past to present.

🎧⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a story of a kidnapping, of being trapped, held prisoner. But it is also a story of how it happened, and the effects of being a prisoner. After finishing listening to this, I feel so much for Amelie and how her life was trapped. I really enjoyed it, but especially the second part. Great book.

Themes: ↩️↪️ before and after, ⚫️ darkness
My thoughts: 😢😩😬🤬😡😤🫡😍

Thank you @netgalley and @macmillan_audio for this advanced listening copy.

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Special thanks to Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for the ARC.

This is another hit for B.A. Paris.

Amelie has always been a survivor. She has lost her parents at a young age and then meets and marries Jed Hawthorne. A billionaire and has changed her life to a glamorous lifestyle.

But then A.elie wakes up in a dark room, not knowing where she is or who has taken her a prisoner. Soon she starts to feel safer.here than with her husband. What is going on? No spoilers from me.
This book.is.especially good in audio. 4 stars@

Amelie marries Ned for auspicious reasons. Little did she know that becoming captive as a kidnap victim fared better than the life she was living with Ned. In fact, Amelie agreed to just a 30-day marriage, with a settlement once that time frame has passed. However, neither Amelia nor Ned are able to live the days of their agreement when they both become part of a scheme that neither of them understands.

Amelie's life before being married to the billionaire was full of troubles. She thought she knew troubles, but now they are of an entirely different sort. The fact that Ned was also kidnapped is something that is confusing to both of them. With a slow-burning mystery, readers see what circumstances brought Amelie and Ned together. It was at the point Ned lost a few points in my books because of something about his past. In fact, it was Ned's past as to why he wanted to marry Amelie and for such a short period of time.

With past and present colliding more than once in this intriguing story by B. A. Paris it was impossible not to feel for Amelie and all that she experienced in the pages of this book. The question as to whether either Amelie or Ned would be released was more than enough to keep me invested in this story.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

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.

What a fun, twisty, thrilling ride! I was thoroughly surprised with this book. I wasn’t expecting it to be as thrilling, twisty and just overall so good. I will definitely be purchasing the hardcover and audio for our library. I have lots of patrons who I already know would enjoy this book.

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 MacMillan audio for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

Usually a story told in the past and present where both are a mystery, I tend to get lost but with this author, she made each voice clear. The narrative was easy to follow, interesting, and held my attention because I needed to know what was going on.

My only issue with this book were the characters. It was so hard to find a character I genuinely liked because each one was so irritating to read. Amelie was not the heroine she was perceived to be. She was too naive and too much of a loof that it was hard to believe she could be a strong willed character. I truly felt bad for her, but she was written in a way that was hard to be empathetic towards her. This book had the potential to be a good one, the narrator did a wonderful job with the story, but the book itself didn’t live up to the expectations I had going in.

Thank you to Macmillan Audiotape and NetGalley for this ALC

I’m a huge fan of B.A. Paris and I enjoyed The Prisoner - Mostly because the premise is one that is cat nip to my little kitty heart; a dark locked room and the ever-present question: why? The reader will find out but only after getting to know the MC, Amelie, past and present.

Amelie is the type of character that I will always root for; someone who’s had nothing but bad happen to them yet still manages to be good at heart. And, as so often happens, these good people are often prey for those that would take advantage of their good nature and broken spirits.

Held captive with her husband, a billionaire with questionable ethics, Amelie begins the long process of questioning not only why she’s there but what possible involvement the secondary characters in her life might have.

The plot is twisty and complex, and I felt like the ending wrapped things up but was a bit anticlimactic to where my mind was going but that’s on me because I’m notoriously bad at guessing and then letting myself down – IRL, I’m the one who you’ll find hiding in the closet with the killer.

I listened and read this, a process I enjoy because most of my reading is done at night and I listen during the day. Perfect for this scenario and the narrator was phenomenal, I think she carried the story beautifully!

My thanks to @Macmillan.Audio for this gifted ALC and to @StMartinsPress for the gifted DRC.

Amelie has always been a survivor and makes a life for herself in London as a young adult when she is on her own. One day, though, she wakes up and finds herself in a dark room, no idea where she is and how she got there. As days go by and she interacts with her captors, she starts to feel safer there than she did with her husband Jed. That doesn't seem right, does it...

I very much enjoyed this book! Nothing blew my mind and I sort of figured out one end reveal but it certainly kept my attention the entire time. I think a lot of people won't like the ending and I'm still thinking on it after listening to it twice, and I think I did? This stands up as a well done B.A. Paris thriller but maybe not my favorite of hers. That said, I listened to the audio book and thought it had a really good narrator, so I recommend listening if you like this genre.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the audio arc! You can find my review in the ARC Reviews story highlight on my IG, and find the book Nov 1/22!

I listened to this story on audiobook, and it took me foooreeevveerrrr to get through it. It was so damn repetitive that I actually thought I was accidentally rewinding or something.

The way the story is set up is very odd, almost like two books in one. I don't understand the reasoning to start again at Chapter 1 halfway through the book - it made me so confused! The past and present timelines didn't really line up well or support each other throughout the story. Nothing really happened that was exciting. Not thrilling whatsoever. Oblivious and one-dimensional characters that you just shake your head and roll your eyes at throughout.

I'm sorry B.A Paris, I've read almost every single one of your books now and I just keep seeing the same old common trend. I think I will be skipping anything new from this author.

One thing I do give credit for is this one wasn't AS bad as 'The Dilemma'.

I have really enjoyed B.A. Paris books in the past but I struggled a bit with the pacing of The Prisoner. It could very well be my timing but I found this a bit tedious to read. The kidnapping piece at the beginning was intriguing but I think I felt confused with the dual timelines.

I really enjoy getting the backstory in books, but I just struggled with the way this one came together. It felt like a slow road to the abrupt finish and I wish for more depth for some of the characters that maybe would have helped this come together fully. This could definitely me a "it's me, not you!" reading experience, but this just wasn't one of my favorite Paris novels.

The narration for the audiobook was well done and I do recommend going going that route if you enjoy this genre of books via audio!

As always, I appreciate having the opportunity to read and review this book and share my genuine thoughts. Thank you to St. Martin's Press for my gifted copies.

I really loved Paris's Bring Me Back thriller, so was excited to see this new release. This time we around brought a kidnapping with domestic suspense and plenty of tension.

I appreciated how the author paces the unveiling of mystery, peeling back the onion one layer at a time. The characters had complex motivations. I also liked the past/present narration.

What didn't work so well for me was the main character. For a "clever girl", Amelie is fairly daft - clueless to the repercussions of her decisions. The explanation of why she was kidnapped also dragged a bit. Overall it was an okay story.

I felt like this book was a slow burn and hard to follow at some points. It didn’t really wow me. This was my first BA Paris book & I have heard her other stories are great! So I will be looking forward to reading more from her!

I'm starting to think I'm just not the right audience for B.A. Paris' books. This is the fourth book I've read by her and every time I rate them with one less star. I found The Prisoner to be slow, repetitive, unbelievable and hard to connect with. However, the audiobook narration was well done.

Thank You to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was hoping that this would be the book that would bring me back to reading this author again, but this missed the mark for me. The pacing of the story was slow and predictable with a lot of plot holes.

Even when Amelie is being held captive, the storytelling caused nothing for me. Although the ending wrapped up “neatly” there were quite a bit of plot holes that I can’t overlook as well as outlandish incidents. There is also a lot of explaining about what is happening and not enough character development for me to connect with the characters. This is where I officially part with this author.

Available on November 1, 2022.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the gifted e-copy.

I’ve read every one of B.A. Paris’ books. I enjoyed this one as I did the others. This book was not as suspenseful as “Behind Closed Doors or The Breakdown, but it still grabbed my attention the whole way through. The character was younger than the normal lead characters in her books. She was smart, strong and beautifully vulnerable. I was 80/20 happy about the ending. 80 being the happy/content part. The author stuck to her authentic type of writing leaving a plot twist at the end. That’s probably why I can accept it. Paris is consistent. I thought for sure the storyline was going to go an absolute different way. That’s what I love about Paris’ books. You are always guessing. 99% of the time her endings are what you least expect as the outcome.

BA Paris is back with another edge of your seat unputdownable thriller!

I was glued to my seat as I turned page after page dying to know what would happen next.

Imagine marrying into a family only to be betrayed…

Riveting!

This was a story about doubling down.

This was such a well paced book, and the protagonist made choices that felt reasonable given her circumstances- a rarity in recent thrillers! I loved the first 80% of this, but unfortunately didn’t love the ending. It felt like it wrapped up very neatly, which is fine- but just isn’t my personal preference.

Thank you so much @netgalley @macmillan.audio & @stmartinspress for the ebook & audio versions!

I have enjoyed most of B.A. Paris’ novels, but last year’s The Therapist didn’t work for me and now The Prisoner failed me. And she started so strong with her debut of Behind Closed Doors.

We have Amelie who is our narrator for both past and present. And we get to know her and what has happened in her past to make her who she is today. The premise was intriguing for me: Amelie locked in a dark room alone, what’s she to do? Why is she being held there? Just what is going on?

The novel just became a muddled mess and I thought it was going in one direction, but it wasn’t. As it progressed and we started figuring things out at the end I found myself just not caring anymore. I felt this is a novel that had a lot of potential that just wasn’t for me. I did like that it shows how knowing some basic math and doing some quick figures can be important! I also liked how the chapters were short and that made the novel go by quicker. If the chapters had been longer, I don’t know if I would have completed it.

I listened to the audiobook and Georgia Maguire is the narrator. She is a new narrator for me and she portrayed Amelie very well. I felt the tension and fear that Amelie had when she was first in that room. I would be interested in listening to more from her.

Many thanks to the publisher Macmillian Audio for granting me an audio arc to listen to and review. I just wish my review had been favorable.