The Prisoner by B.A. Paris (available 01NOV2022) was one of my most anticipated reads and I am sad to say it was very underwhelming.

I thought the plot was interesting albeit unrealistic. The chapters alternated between past and present which helped to build tension in the narrative and the short chapters kept things moving along, the but the characters weren’t developed at all and there were huge plot holes, making it difficult to understand what was happening or why. I kept waiting for a big reveal but it never came, instead there were pages and pages explaining the why’s but I was left with more questions. Characters that were only mentioned in passing early on in the story ended up playing a significant part in the plot, but as they were mentioned in the reveal, I couldn’t recall who they were or what role they played. The ending was anticlimactic and left me even more confused and disappointed. I have enjoyed several books by this author but this was a miss for me.

The narration by Georgia Maguire was well done making for a pleasurable listening experience. For this I’ve rounded up my rating from 2.5 to 3 stars.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio arc, which I received in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Title: The Prisoner
Author: B.A. Paris
Audiobook Narrator: Georgia Maguire
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Pub Date: November 1, 2022
My Rating: 4+ rounded up

This is my 6th B.A Paris novel.
Behind Closed Doors is on the top of my “like” list. However, The Breakdown, and Bring Me Home were also good and earned 4 stars from stingy star me!!!


Story is divided into Parts One and Part Two ~ both with Amelie’s Past/Present POV.

Part One ~ The Kidnap
Present: Amelie Lamont wakes up in a dark room and discovered she has been kidnapped and is being held ‘prisoner’ and but has no idea why or by whom. Her captor never speaks to her.

Past: Amelie is down and out and is friended by Carolyn Blakely who helps her with employment as well as living arrangements. Then there is Amelie’s involvement with billionaire Ned Hawthorpe who cons her into marrying him.
I loved the so called ‘pre nup’ ~AKA - Amelie’s buy out - one pound doubled each day for thirty-one day.
~ I dare you to try to figure that out in our head!!!

Part one was very suspenseful!

Part Two ~ The Reckoning -Continues with Amelie’s past and present.
There is some rehash of Part one but mostly we find out the missing pieces ~
• Amelie’s back ground and
• Who kidnapped Amelie and Ned?
• Who is responsible for the kidnapping?

I read this story a few weeks ago and then had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook. Since I am a big audiobook fan I thought I would listen to it now!
Audiobook Georgia Maguire did a great job in performing the characters.
I enjoyed the audiobook more than the novel. I missed some little details when I read it - Hmm perhaps it was experiencing it for the second time.
I was pulling for Amelie and the story kept me guessing!

I was more interested and also entertained with the audiobook. It takes me much longer to finish an audiobook which seemed to help me keep vested in the characters ~ in this case Amelie.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Want to thank NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this early audio.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for November 1, 2022

The Prisoner is a well paced, tense throughout thriller by B.A. Paris.

Amelie has had a rough childhood, including losing both of her parents and surviving on her own in London. As she starts her adult life, she is swept into a great job at a prestigious company. Events happen quickly and she ends up married to a millionaire named Jed Hawthorne.

But soon things take a terrible turn and Amelie becomes a prisoner in a dark room. She begins plotting her escape. What follows is an exciting, twisty story in which nobody is exactly as they seem.

I thought the audiobook was well narrated and I enjoyed the pacing for the first 80% of the novel. I felt that the final act was overly drawn out but I did like the resolution at the end. Thank you to Goodreads and the publisher for an advance listening copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Macmillan Audio & Netgalley for an ALC of The Prisoner by B.A. Paris. I was lucky enough to receive an early audio and electronic copy of this book, and found it really helpful to be able to flip back-and-forth between the two. I think the narrator was a great fit for the main character, and I was able to hear her emotions throughout the journey.

Amelie is building a life for herself in London after losing her parents. While doing so, she becomes swept up in the glamorous lifestyle of billionaire Ned Hawthorne, who she quickly marries. When Amelie wakes up in a pitch-black room, she wonders why she’s been kidnapped, and by who. Why does she feel safer with her captors than with her husband, Ned?

This book wasn’t what I expected, but in a good way! Amelie’s POV takes us between past and present, showing us the build up to her kidnapping and what she’s going through with her captors. The background of Amelie’s life helped establish a relationship with her as a reader, and I was invested in her success and making it out alive. Part I was a really strong build-up for me, and the last Part of the book, the reckoning took an interesting turn that I wasn’t anticipating. I wish that we had gotten more closure in Part 2 with a number of the side characters that we follow throughout the story. As always, I look forward to reading more of Paris’ work!

The Prisoner is my favorite B. A. Paris book that I have read so far! We have two extremely intriguing timelines to follow, and I was on the edge of my seat with the claustrophobic suspense. I found the plot to be really different from other thrillers I've read, and it was refreshing to not guess every next step. The pacing was nice as well in that the chapters are short and go back and forth between the two timelines. I really felt for Amelie, our MC, for all of the difficult and unthinkable things she went through during her kidnapping and before. I see that reviews are all hit and miss on how the plot wrapped up, but I felt that everything fell into place and came together well in the end. Overall, this was an exciting and tense read, and I'd recommend thriller lovers to pick it up! The audiobook was a great listen and keeps up the atmosphere perfectly!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Prisoner in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 Stars
Amelie has not had an easy life after being orphaned as a teenager she ran away to make it on her own in the streets of London. She was lucky enough to make some amazing friends who have helped her along the way, including her new job at the magazine, Exclusives. She can not believe her luck when her billionaire heir boss takes her to Las Vegas on a private jet. While in Sin City, he proposes a marriage of convince; he will pay her $100,000 so she can go to law school and he is able to dodge his parents arranged marriage, then in a month they will divorce. She jumps at the chance to start a new life, but she never saw this one coming; her husband is not who she thought he was and worst of all they both have been kidnapped and being held for ransom.

This was an interesting story with an intriguing mystery. The story is told from Amelie's perspective and jumps between her current imprisonment and before. Amelie, albeit a bit naïve, was a good character to narrate the story, she learns along the way and is willing to try and save herself. I liked the feeling she describes of being trapped in the room and her understanding of her captive situations; she was a prisoner in more ways than one. However, the other characters felt generic especially the smarmy rich brat husband, Ned, who was a carbon copy of ever entitled playboy we've all seen countless times. I think I liked the premise more than the execution and although this was not my favorite of Paris' works I look forward to more from her in the future.

I had the audio version read by Georgia Maguire. who was very nice to listen to. She had descriptive inflections and kept the story at a very good pace. I am not sure if it was because I had an early ARC version but many chapters were missing including the whole ending that wrapped up the book, it made for a very choppy story.

I was so bummed about this one because I thought I was going to love it. It started out very strong and I was so excited about it and then it quickly fizzled out and left me a bit bored especially in the middle because of the repetitiveness. It started picking up again at the end, but then it just ended and I wanted way more than what I got.

This one started slowly and I didn’t think I would like it. After Behind Closed Doors, everything else I read by this author never quite measured up. When this one started to pick up, it got better and I enjoyed it. Amelie is an interesting main character, both strong and broken, but compelling and interesting. The premise of the story kept me interested and I wasn’t expecting any of the twists and turns the story took.

Audio was well done, no issues.

This book had me hooked right out of the first chapter. I really enjoyed Amelie’s character and was sucked in. I wish there was a little more back story to some of the characters and felt like there was so many people who died all at once and those story lines toward the end of the story could have given it the same intensity I felt at the beginning of the book. However towards last 1/3 of the book I felt like the story just kinda fell apart. There were still a few curve balls which I love in a good book. But I just wished the end could have met the beginning. I listed to this on audio and really loved the narrator.
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

I will always pick up a new book by B.A. Paris because I’m never disappointed. I’ve read several of her books and they always hit the mark! The writing is always impeccable and the storylines are new and unique. And I also like how they take place in other countries, it leaves everything to imagination, which is great for me!

I would highly recommend this book in audio or book format. The narrator did a great job! And if you’re already a fan of B.A. pick it up now!!

Read/Listen If You Like:
🔪 Thrillers
🔪 Stories about Abductions
🔪 Morally Grey Characters
🔪 Dark & Confined Spaces

Audiobook Review:
This one started out so good and and so much promise but then the ending was honestly a let down for me. It’s never good when a thriller starts to make me feel like I’m reading a romance during the last bit of the book.

For me, I personally felt like the ending was not well done and took away from the book as a whole. The concept was such a good one and could have been done so well if not for how it went towards the end.

This book with the premise of a woman being kidnapped and held for ransom with her husband was such an interesting one, especially as the story began to unfold and you got more and more information that was leading the reader to understand why they were kidnapped.

Overall I enjoyed the first 90% of the book but just was not a fan of the wrap up in the final 10% of the story.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ARC of this audiobook in advance of its release! I am so thankful to listen in exchange for my honest feedback.

This was such an intriguing read. Throughout the Prisoner quite a bit of story and change happened. I was hooked instantly from the beginning by the imagery and the descriptions of her captivity. As the author took us through the past and present a complicated story unraveled. Very interesting read and premise. Look forward to more from this author.

Thanks so much for the audio arc!

B.A. Paris is easily one of my favorite authors. I think about Behind Closed Doors often. I was so excited to receive The Prisoner.

This story hooks you from the start. There is a dual timeline- Amelie in recent past and Amelie as a prisoner. She was kidnapped and is being kept in a dark room but why??

We slowly learn about Amelie’s sad upbringing and her recent job working for Ned Hawthorne. She’s always wanted to go to school to be a lawyer. Ned offers her a deal on which she’d be able to afford this dream.

Along the way we realize Ned had been kidnapped too. We also learn a lot about what kind of person he is.

Paris has an incredible way of building up this prisoner setting that made me want to breathe into a bag. I felt claustrophobic thinking about Amelie stuck in this room without light. How long would she be there? Would they kill her? Would they kill Ned?

As any good thriller there were shocks along the way. I really enjoyed the way this story went back and forth. We got tidbits of Amelie and Ned that kept making the story fall into place. Friends go missing. Ned’s true colors show. It also kept me suspicious of everyone. In my opinion Amelie was not suspicious enough!

I was captivated but hoped for a bit more of a “wow” or “didn’t see that coming” ending. I think there could have been one more big twist that wouldn’t really changed the vibe of this book.

I enjoyed the narrator & the British accent. I think that really captured my attention. It also helped build the suspense of Amelie being held prisoner.

B.A. Paris is a hit-and-miss author for me, but I have to admit I was hoping to like this book. It was a mixed bag, and I felt a little disappointed. I had access to both the kindle and the audiobook versions. I loved listening to the book more than reading the kindle version because the narrator, Georgia Maguire, did an excellent job providing the eerie atmospheric feeling that the book needed in the first half of the book. She also did a fantastic job overall too.

The book started strong, and I was hooked immediately. Amelie had recently started a new life in London after her father’s death. She found employment from her new friend, Carolyn, after she followed her home one day. She then met Jed who gave her a proposition to get married that would benefit both of them. However, that led them to be kidnapped and being captive in an isolated dark room. I really enjoyed the first half, but the second half was meh. I did not find the second half to be suspenseful or intriguing and the ending dragged. I did like the short chapters that kept the book at a nice pace and I wanted to know why Amelie and Jed got kidnapped. This book was slightly a miss for me, where the characters were bland and the second half did not live up to its expectations.

Thank you to NetGallery and to both St. Martin Press and to McA for giving me a copy of the book.

Thank you @netgalley @macmillanaudio @stmartinspress for my audio and eARC!

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?


I love a good fast paced, quick thriller! This one started off strong, but began to fizzle out in the middle. To make a great thriller you need background and character development as well as an interested plot line. This one had me with the story, but I felt like I had no connection with Amelie. In the second half you get more of the background, but for me it jumped around so much. I had trouble keeping her friendships straight, and even some characters I felt like I was never fully introduced to. I listened on audio and kept backtracking because I thought I was zoning out and missing parts of the story.

I think the author had a great idea. The story is interested and quickly grabs your attention, but left too many holes and unanswered questions.

BA Paris is back with The Prisoner, and it’s seems she is returning with twists as good as her older books. I’ve been hoping she would go back to her darker roots, and am glad she did.
Time jumping between Amelie’s kidnapping, and the events that lead up to it, the story fills in the blanks as you read along. As with any BA Paris book, things aren’t always as they seem so hold on to anything you think is a clue towards the twist. I actually figured it out very early, which was disappointing. But the rest of the story line was well done.
Listening to this as an audiobook helped with the suspense build up. The narrator, Georgia Maguire, did an excellent job with the accents and male voices. As Amelie, her voice portrayed the appropriate fear and naivety needed for her character. The moments where she was in the dark, alone, Maguire made you feel like you were there with her.
Though it’s not my favorite by BA Paris, I liked this book a lot more then her past two books. Unfortunately, because I found it so predictable, it lost a little for me.

Amelie lost her mother and father and has no place to go. She finds a woman who is willing to take her in and she hopes to find work and a good life ahead. She works for a magazine owned by billionaire Jed Hawthorne. When he flies to Las Vegas, he invites Amelie along and ends up marrying her. He claims it will be a good marriage for both. He will divorce her and give her money to attend law school after a month’s time. If she is his wife, he will not have to marry a woman picked out by his father. Quickly Amelie realizes that Jed has a violent past especially when she sees him kill two people. Amelie and Jed are taken prisoner until Jed’s father will pay the ransom. The room where Amelie is held is pitch black and she has little to eat. I could empathize with her as she sits in the dark with a mattress and blanket. She tries to get away but that never happens. Jed is the perfect bad guy only thinking of himself, and Amelie is the poor, lost girl who is trapped. Great story and characters you love to hate and wish you could help.

Note: this audiobook was missing probably half of the book.

I loved the early parts where she was trapped in the room and trying to figure things out. I loved the mystery of that and trying to figure out who was involved. I do think the explanation at the end of everything was a little too much for me. Also just the fact that there was SO much explanation was not great to me. I thought the narrator of the audiobook was great!

B.A. Paris delivers a multiple timeline psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The tension is palpable, making the story one you won’t be able to put down.

I didn’t enjoy this one. I found the characters one dimensional, and the plot to be convoluted and full of holes.