I was so excited for this one because I absolutely loved Behind Closed Doors, forever one of my favorite books. Unfortunately, this book fell flat for me. I felt like the first 25% of the book was essentially just explaining the room she was in and it made for a really slow build. I didn't feel invested in any of the characters, didn't really enjoy any of them, and was skeptical of all of them. That said, it was a quick mystery read and kept me guessing the whole time. I also enjoyed the past and present alternations and thought the book had a nice pacing because of that.

If you enjoy mysteries, kidnap stories, continuous guessing whodunnits, you might enjoy this one!

Thank you to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio, and BA Paris for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

After Amelie's father dies, she moves from Paris to London in the hopes of earning enough money to go to college. Nearly broke and homeless, she meets Carolyn, who is at a particular low point having just been dumped for a younger woman. The two bond, and Carolyn offers Amelie a job and home. Eventually, Carolyn meets a new man and Amelie begins to look for another position. At a posh dinner, she is introduced to Ned Hawthorpe, a billionaire running a magazine. Ned offers her a position and she accepts. On a whim, Ned invited Amelie to Las Vegas for a work trip. By the time they arrive home, Amelie and Ned are married in a farce perpetrated by Ned to keep his father off his back. Or so he says.

A few days later, Amelie is kidnapped from Ned's house (where she is also a prisoner) along with Ned.

This book has a lot packed into it - multiple murders, multiple disappearances, a kidnapping, and a ton of money. It's not my favorite of her titles, but a solid read. Great narration by Georgia Maguire.

I have read all of B A Paris's books so far, and was more than excited to be gifted a listen from NetGalley. It did not disappoint. The premise seems to have been covered by books before - happy woman is kidnapped and held by an unknown captor, but B A Paris take it and gives a whole new level to the plot. It was an easy, quick read, the narrator was clear and warm, and carried the story well. Thank you, I look forward to her next book!

I LOVED The Therapist by B.A. Paris and I was so eager to pick up The Prisoner once I read the description.

A difficult upbringing, whirlwind marriage, a billionaire, isolation, and secrets lead Amelie in a dark room alone and afraid. But is she safer with her captors or her husband?

If you have read B.A. Paris 's work before, you'll love falling back into Paris' familiar writing style. The Prisoner is a compellingly written domestic thriller featuring a female lead and dark turns where little truths unfold throughout the story and NOBODY can be trusted. The audio version was extremely well done and enjoyable.

What a thriller! This pulled me in immediately and did not disappoint. It was written so well and kept me on the edge of my seat guessing until the end.

I like how this went back and forth between the past, before Amelie was abducted, and the present, while she’s being held captive. So suspenseful, creepy and atmospheric.

The narration for this book really added to the suspense. Do not listen alone! Lol

I went back and forth between the audio and reading the ebook of this, and while it was a really quick read, with short chapters that I enjoyed, the story fell a little flat for me.⁣
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In the beginning, I was interested, Amelie, a woman who has lost her parents at a young age and has had to get by in life mostly on her own, marries a billionaire for her own motivations and his own motivations only to end up locked in a dark room, unsure why she’s there, who kidnapped her, and why she feels safer in that room than with the man she just married. ⁣
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I liked the premise of the story. I liked how Amelie was always trying to find a solution for her problems instead of trembling in fear in the dark; but the story was pretty predicable for me.⁣ I did however enjoy the audio portion of it and it brought it to life a bit more.
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Didn’t love it; didn’t hate it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This book was a little flat and boring for me. It started very promising but as the story developed I started losing interest.
I liked the two timeliness – present and the past but I couldn’t really connect with the characters and the story just fell apart for me. Not my favorite book by this author.

One positive – the audiobook was very well produced and I really enjoyed listening to the narrator.

Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and the author for free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This one had such an interesting premise! I enjoyed the dual timeline. Amalie is alone in the world when she meets Carolyn who takes her in. She gets taken in by Jed and marries him. It turns out that he’s not a good guy and someone kidnaps him and Amalie. I enjoyed how the story unraveled. I’d recommend this one,

I just finished listening to THE PRISONER by @baparisauthor yesterday! Thanks to @netgalley @stmartinspress for my audio copy! This one just published this Tuesday, Nov 1, so you can grab your copy now! I gave it 3.5 stars!

I have read a couple of this author’s books, and have really enjoyed them! They are quick reads, and always leave my mind completely BOGGLED with the twists that happen.

While this book has all the same elements that I love from Paris’s books, something just didn’t quite make it as good as the others I have read (The Breakdown and Behind Closed Doors are EXCELLENT!). Maybe I should not compare this book to those two, as I loved them.

It could also be because I listened to it, and I always struggle with thrillers on audio. It was a quick listen, and I did enjoy it. But some of the scenarios seemed kind of far fetched? I also didn’t like some of the decisions the FMC made, I thought she could have handled some things differently, but maybe we were supposed to feel that way towards her?

While this one isn’t my favourite from this author, I still enjoyed it as a quick thriller, with some good twists!

A woman is held captive in a dark room with no idea how she got there or where there is.

We find out that she and her husband are being held hostage for a large amount of money.

The reader begins to learn the back story with then and now flashbacks.

It wasn’t my favorite of B. A. Paris’ books. I didn’t feel connected to the characters and the storyline felt a little too far fetched for me.

The narrator I felt did a great job though.

I enjoy her books and this one was just not my style.

Thank you for the advanced read.

The Prisoner by B.A. Paris is a book that I could not get into no matter how far I tried. I felt that the first 1/2 was interesting and well done but the ending seemed drawn out and I started to lose interest in the storyline. I have never read a B.A. Paris book but I will try her books again since I have heard many good things. This also seems to be an unpopular opinion that I have when it comes to The Prisoner. The audiobook helped me get through this one. I would not write this one off completely but the ending was pretty "meh" for me.

The narration by Georgia Maguire for The Prisoner was well done which allowed me to up my star rating.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmilian Audio for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

THE PRISONER by B.A. Paris started with a bang but became predictable too early. I have enjoyed many of Ms. Paris’ books and was surprised by the lack of twists or true mystery in this one. I, nevertheless, enjoyed this fast-paced psychological thriller because the writing is awesome, and the characters are well developed. I just wish that the plot would have been less predictable. Maybe I need to stay away from thrillers for a while.

💷 A R C • R E V I E W 💷
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Title: The Prisoner
Artist: B. A. Paris
Rating: 4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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HAPPY PUB WEEK!! B. A. Paris is easily an auto-buy author for me. When I saw this one on NetGalley I immediately hit request without even reading what it was about and I am happy I did.
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This one gripped me right form the start with the kidnapping of Amelie and Ned. This story is told in the past and the present, which I’m sure you all know I love because i always rave about these kinds of books. Love when the past prefaces just a little bit the reason for what’s going on in the present. Gives it a total mystery vibe. I’m about it. The entire premise of the kidnapping gave me such claustrophobic vibes, only to give me a quick gulp of air during a short past chapters to send me back into that claustrophobic darkness (literally). I liked how this one was told I multiple parts as well.
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The character of Amelie was great, I really felt for her. I wish I had learned a bit more about Ned, and why he was the way he was; the rest of the characters didn’t seem to have much depth so at some points they all seemed to jumble together. The ending was okay, I wouldn’t say it was my favorite, seemed a bit too far fetched at some points in my opinion.
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Overall, I enjoyed this one, it was fast paced enough for me and gave me that eerie sense of dread for the main character and had the perfect amount of mystery thrown into the mix.
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I was able to listen to this one via audio and also read via ebook which was a huge bonus. The narrator really brought the character of Amelie to life, I though she was fantastic and I loved having the ebook for references to certain characters while listening. Huge thank you to @netgalley @baparis @macmillinaudio and @stmartinpress for the eARC and audio in exchange for my honest review! The Prisoner was just released so be sure to grab it!
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#claustrophobicread #psychologicalthriller #domesticthriller #kidnapping #apoundadaydoubledeachday #kidnapping #strongmaincharacter #nodepthtoothercharacters #mysteriousvibes #baparisattentiongrabbing #theprisoner #baparis #theprisoner

It's taken me awhile to write this review because I'm honestly not sure what to think. There are elements of this story I really enjoyed, and other elements that I really did not enjoy. I felt confused for the first 1/4 at least, which I think was purposeful and meant to create suspense, but I found it a bit annoying as I wanted a bit of something - anything - to build a base from and felt that was too slow to come. Once I finally had the scaffolding of a plot, it had good bones and I liked where it was going, but then it just seemed to fall apart for me and ended way too quickly. The whole thing felt rushed, like it was written in a huge hurry and was victim to poor editing - like huge chunks had been left on a cutting room floor and were just missing to give it more of a body to hold onto. The characters all needed more thorough development, the entire story needed more meat, and just more attention to the entire thing as a whole would have been good. I alternated between the e-book and the audiobook and preferred the audiobook. I'm not sure I would have finished reading it if I didn't have the choice to listen while doing other activities. Like I said, I think the bones are here, but there's just no meat. It read like a short story that was really rushed / forced into becoming a novel and wasn't quite complete by the deadline. I normally really like B.A. Paris, but this wasn't my favorite. I'll continue to read their work. 2.5 stars

I love anything that BA Paris writes, and this one sure did not disappoint! Loved the pace, story and how atmospheric they make every page. I read this in 2 days and cannot wait to recommend it to my library patrons!

Thanks to NetGalley, B. A. Paris and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to review The Prisoner. A young female employee of an independently wealthy man visits Las Vegas with him and is given a proposition that is hard to decline. Her entire life is changed at that point and she becomes a prisoner. The characters are well developed, and there are many, not all of whom you are introduced to immediately. The novel alternates from past to present until the two timeframes intersperse.. I found the story to be both captivating and intense, growing progressively more so at the end with the unexpected twists and turns. B. A. Paris fans will not want to miss this psychological thriller!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the advance copy of this audiobook! This was a pretty middle of the road thriller for me. The first 25% or so of the book I wasn’t really invested in the characters yet and it felt kinda slow. I just wasn’t hooked on the story yet and I felt like the past chapters were a lot more interesting than the present chapters. The middle 50% or so (25-75% in the book) I was definitely interested in the story and was excited to see where it was going to go. At that point, the plot was more fleshed out so I was more invested in guessing where it might go and making predictions. I find I’m more invested in a thriller if I have enough pieces of the puzzle that I can start forming my own theories. But when I have no pieces yet, like at the beginning, I’m just not as intrigued. I enjoyed where the plot went from there, but the ending itself fell short for me.

Since I assume I can put spoilers in here without worrying about soiling the book for you all, I’ll say my exact misgivings about the ending. I can’t begin to imagine what it’s like to lose all your friends in one fell swoop like Amelie did. But ugh I just did not like that she was like “well I don’t have anyone else so I guess I’ll befriend the guy who kidnapped me”. In my head I was thinking “GIRL NO! He helped kidnap you!!” For me it didn’t matter that Hunter felt bad about what he did, he still emotionally and physically traumatized her.

That said, I did like the twists and the plot itself. The reasoning behind why this is a 3 star and not more is mostly because of the slower beginning and my personal problems with the ending.

The Prisoner:

Sadly, this just wasn’t it for me. I did do the audio thanks to Macmillan Audio, and I truly believe I didn’t DNF this because of Georgia Macguire’s reading.

I’m very confused on the motivations/back story of some of the characters. Plus they just seemed a bit.. bland? Maybe I need to step back from thrillers as someone who just picks up a few a year may be interested in the characters.

Overall, a miss, but I still adore BA Paris.

So a hit and a miss for pub day!

The Prisoner starts with an abduction. A rich couple being taken in the night. Even early on, it seems pretty clear that these may not be the prisoners of the title. We jump back in time. After a very short review of her history, you have to wonder how Amelie ends up married to Ned. It is immediately clear that he is truly an awful human being. How does this woman listen to her friends talk about him and still trust him? It can't be just because she is 19, can it? (19 and freely drinking in Las Vegas) It is so hard to feel sorry for characters who make every single bad decision possible.

Then it goes ridiculous. Ridiculouser? I will coin that word. And, weirdly, I actually enjoyed how ridiculous the end was. Amelie is not so formidable as she thinks so it is pretty entertaining to observe. Either the first or second half on their own would have been a disaster. Putting them together redeemed the bad characters just a tiny bit.

A bit underwhelming. Reminds me of those cheap and cheesy suspense movies you see free on late night TV. Not my go to type of premise, however it seemed promising when I read the summary. It had great prospect to do well, it just wasn't executed like it should've been. Fell flat. I wouldn't recommend.

I received this book from NetGalley and the publishers to read and review. All of the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading this book.