All I can say is wow. The twists at the end of this book came completely out of left field. You won’t be able to put this one down. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

How far would you go to protect the ones you love? And is there any one you can really trust?

From the moment I first read "Behind Closed Doors", B.A. Paris has been my favorite author. If you love a thriller with a good mystery thrown in, this one's for you.

At first, I was a little overwhelmed by the amount of characters in the book. There are three main couples - Iris and Gabriel, Laure and Pierre, and Esme and Hugh. And in each couple, at least one person is holding a secret.

The first part of the book is a little slow paced, but about halfway through, it really started to pick up. I thought I had some things figured out - but I was wrong.! By the time I got to the epilogue, I was blown away.

All in all, it was such a fun read.

My heartfelt appreciation to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and to B.A.Paris for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Guest has a lot going on: main characters Iris and Gabriel arrive home early from Scotland, only to find their long-time friend Laure staying at their house (and strangely enough, sleeping in their bed and wearing Iris’s clothes). Laure and her husband Pierre are on the verge of separation after Pierre drops a bombshell about having a child with another woman after he and Laure decided early on in their marriage never to have kids. Meanwhile, new neighbors move into town, and they have a guest as well – Joseph, a landscape gardener with a troubled past. And as if that isn’t convoluted enough, Gabriel recently witnessed the death of an 18-year-old boy and is grappling with what to do with the Charlie’s last words to him.

There are multiple mysteries woven into the plot (who is Pierre’s child? And why won't he return any of Gabriel's calls? What is Joseph doing at Esme and Hugh’s? What were Charlie’s last words, and why does Gabriel feel so guilty about them?) I found it difficult at the beginning of the novel to remember who everyone is and how they are connected. There was also a LOT of dialogue in places (some of it became repetitive and slightly annoying even for the reader) which moved the plot along but made it difficult to truly understand the characters on any real or deep level. Most of the characters are extremely unlikeable so it was hard to get invested in what happened to most of them, but the mysteries did hold my attention and keep me guessing until the end.

I was able to fly through this book quickly over the course of about 24 hours. The final reveal during the epilogue was shocking and did redeem the book for me, but I would have liked to have felt that excitement throughout the book, and not just at the end.

I find B.A. Paris to be somewhat of an average domestic thriller author. Her debut was great but her subsequent books have failed to wow me in the same way. Although The Guest was an average read for me, I feel confident that others will enjoy it, especially if they enjoy more plot-driven mysteries. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I finished this book and audiobook last night and had to sit with for a bit… the story leading up to the end is kind of predictable but man oh man the end will have your head spinning 😵‍💫
Over all great book!

I wasn’t sure about this book in the beginning. It’s incredibly slow paced and there are a lot of things happening that don’t mesh together until the very ending. I did enjoy the book though as I continued reading and kept turning the pages quickly to see what was going to happen. I enjoyed the final twist at the end.

3 stars. I thought it drug on a bit and was hard to keep track of all the couples and who was married to who foe probably first 15% or so. But wlwas good enough to keep my interest. Not my favorite by the author but would still read future books by them.

"The Guest" is a riveting psychological thriller that showcases B.A. Paris's talent for crafting intricate plots and exploring the darker aspects of human nature. Fans of suspenseful storytelling and unexpected twists will find this novel to be a captivating addition to the genre.

Amazing book !! The plot was amazing well developed !! The characters are unique . You can’t stop reading 100 %. Recommend !! I loved it

The Guest
A Novel
by B.A. Paris

The queen of domestic suspense returns with another winning installment with THE GUEST.

I am not sure what else to add, but everyone who loves reading thrillers should make this a must ! It was chilling, mesmerizing, atmospheric, intense, and one heck of a read I highly recommend!

Iris & Gabriel, and Laure & Pierre met when on vacation and became fast friends. Years later when Iris & Gabriel came home from a get away, they found Laure in their house seeking refuge while she and Pierre work through some issues. But days turn into weeks and Laure has become an unwanted house guest, one that has overstayed her welcome. Another young couple had moved in close by, and soon they are all fast friends, all but Gabriel and their young gardener, Joseph. Gabriel is going through his own soul searching trauma and has distanced himself from Iris, something she’s rather distraught over. When tragedy befalls the three couples all do not live to tell about it, but are the survivors all innocent? This was a twisty good read and while I saw some of them coming, others I did not! This was a dual read/listen and was narrated perfectly by Emily Joyce. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an ARC and ALC of this book.

Despite an intriguing premise, I did not enjoy this. Incredibly repetitive and honestly a bit boring. The writing in general was not great- overly simple while including unnecessary details that were continually repeated. And the “twist” was entirely in the epilogue, giving an explanation that came out of nowhere. I’ve loved many of Paris’s books, but this was not my favorite.

BA Paris consistently writes enjoyable books. After coming home to firing a friend in the house, Iris and Gabriel's marriage is put to the test by a series of events. Is their guest the cause? I could not put this down!

The queen of domestic suspense returns following The Prisoner with her latest smashing psychological thriller, THE GUEST. A guest arrives and never leaves, with a web of dark secrets in this chilling, mesmerizing, atmospheric, intense domestic suspense with unpredictable twists, connections, and MURDER.

I squeal with delight seeing a new novel by B. A. Paris. Every book is unique and guaranteed to keep you engrossed from the first page to the last with her winning signature style. I have read all her books, and each one is 5 STARS.

Iris and Gabriel Pelly arrive home from a holiday vacation to find one of their closest friends, Laure, in their home.

They met Laure and her husband Pierre (on their honeymoon) many years ago on their first anniversary holiday in the Bahamas twenty years earlier.

They have been friends since and often vacation together. Years ago, they exchanged keys to their homes when traveling.

Iris and Gabriel have a daughter, Beth (19), who is away in Greece, volunteering at a dog shelter for the summer before she goes to Bristol in the fall. Laura is Beth's godmother.

It appears that Laura and Pierre are having marriage problems as they agreed not to have children, but now he is a father (from an affair). She left to get away, and the couple had not had a sit down to discuss.

Iris and Gabriel feel caught in the middle, and Gabriel tries to reach out to Pierre with no success. Pierre struggles with depression after the tragic death of his father when he was eleven.

Gabriel has not been himself after the death of Charlie Ingram, a student that Gabriel found on a bike path in the nearby quarry as he was dying. Being a doctor, he was unable to save him.

He offered his last dying words to Gabriel, which has haunted him since. They were words to his mother but were not positive, and he has put off meeting with the mother. Gabriel had not been running since.

Gabriel is taking time off from work (a doctor) due to the trauma and has decided to restore the walled garden, a project he promised to work on when they moved to the house fifteen years earlier. He also lost his father four months previously. He wants to finish the project before Beth comes home for a visit.

As time passes, Laura interjects herself into their lives, even going as far as wearing Iris' clothes, sleeping in their bed, and rearranging the furniture and kitchen. She does not seem to be in a hurry to leave.

In the meantime, Iris meets their new enigmatic neighbors, Esme and her husband, Hugh. Esme is much younger than her husband (by twenty years) and pregnant. They also have a gardener, Joseph, with a dangerous past of alcoholism (and sexy, dark good looks). Hugh has an older son, Marcus, in London.

Gabriel and Iris become quick friends with the neighbors, and Laura also puts herself in the middle of the new friendship and their gardener.

Joseph also helps Gabriel with the garden, and something seems off about him.

Strange things occur. Laura is still there and makes no effort to leave their house. She is also acting strange. Then Pierre goes missing.

Numerous things are at play, such as mysterious trips, relationships between these three couples and the gardener, and the connection between Charlie and his mom. And how does Beth connect with these scenarios?

The guilty SECRETS are piling up as the past collides with the present in this gripping, masterfully crafted domestic suspense where nothing or no one is as they appear with a cast of unreliable narrators. From a web of lies, secrets, deception, betrayal, and MURDER. Who is the murderer?

How far will they go to protect their family? TRUST NO ONE.

THE GUEST is psychologically rich, multi-layered, and plot-driven, with an ongoing mounting suffocating sense of dread lurking ahead as you anxiously await how all the chilling events will come together.

Paris fans will delight in this intriguing, enigmatic murder mystery of domestic suspense, as well as fans of authors Mary Kubica, Robyn Harding, and Kimberly Belle.

I was glued to THE GUEST and frantically flipping the pages into the wee hours of the morning to try and solve this well-crafted mystery. You cannot even imagine how all the puzzle pieces fit together. All is unveiled in the Epilogue, which is explosive.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a digital reviewer copy in advance for my honest feedback.

Stay tuned for my upcoming #AuthorElevatorSeries QA Interview with B.A. Paris, where we go behind the book and this mega-talented author on pub day, Feb 20, 2024!

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars +
Pub Date: Feb 20, 2024
Feb 2024 Must-Read Books
Feb 2024 #AuthorElevatorSeries QA

My B.A. Paris Reviews: All 5 Stars and Top Books list yearly.
2016: BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
2017: THE BREAKDOWN
2018: BRING ME BACK
2019: THE DILEMMA
2021: THE THERAPIST
2022: THE PRISONER

B.A. Paris INTERVIEWS:
THE THERAPIST
THE DILEMMA

This was my first B.A Paris book, and I have to say that I struggled through this read. I almost didn’t finish this book but I push through it till the end. I’m disappointed with the storyline it seemed so dragged out and very unfulfilling. I’m hoping this is just a one off for her I will try another book of hers in the future just to see if they are any better.

3.5⭐
Genre ~ domestic drama
Setting ~ England
Publication date ~ February 20, 2024
Est page Count ~ 304 (p+ 67 chapters +e)
Audio length ~ 8 hours 14 minutes
Narrator ~ Emily Joyce
POV ~ dual 3rd
Featuring ~ secrets, unlikable characters

Iris and Gabriel are our narrators. They've just come home early from holiday to an unexpected guest. A guest that might very well outstay their welcome.

They met Laure & Pierre on holiday almost 20 years ago and have remained close since. They live in different countries, but have been known to stay in each others houses from time to time.

They meet Esme & Hugh, who live close by, and soon begin hanging out frequently.
Joseph lives on their property and does the gardening for both families.

I didn't really like any of the characters really, especially Laure. I'm not one for extended house guests, or any house guests really, so she for sure overstayed her welcome IMO.

It's pretty much a drama and not a thriller. I wasn't sure how they would, but the side plots all came together nicely with the main one. And while I must say the super long (54 minutes and 15 seconds) epilogue did take me by surprise the leading up to it felt like it took an age. Overall, I can see this one being a big hit mystery lovers.

I was lucky enough to have an ebook and an audio copy.

Narration notes:
Emily did an okay job. She was frantic when necessary, but I could have went for a male narrator, which is why I did prefer reading over listening. Her accent was a little difficult for me to understand sometimes as it always sounded like she was saying Law and not Laure. Maybe that's just my American ears.

As much as I’ve loved other books by Paris, this one was not my favorite. The characters were not very interesting and their actions didn’t seem to make sense sometimes. The writing was very good, and the story was intriguing, but as a whole, the book was a bit disappointing. I will still read more by this author, and hopefully this book was a one-off. Maybe it was just me. Thank you for the opportunity to read this.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
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B. A. Paris strikes again with another banger coming for you in 2024. I loved this story. I was sucked into this one right from the beginning and my head exploded by the end of it.
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This book is the definition of drama - drama between couples, drama between friends, between lovers between new acquaintances. It was like watching an episode of housewives. This was lit. There was so much tension in this that you could feel it radiating from the pages. Paris does a great job at creating such tension from having a friend become an unwanted guest which also led to some serious tension as things begin to unravel.
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What a domestic drama/thriller.. I loved how this one unfolded, it’s fast paced, it’s easy to read and it will have you thinking it’s going to go in one direction then boom, you are left shocked and unable to believe what just happened. And that epilogue though, man – that was mind blowing, I did not see that coming at all, but it is one hell of an ending.
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I listened to this one while reading alongside through my kindle. Emily Joyce was the narrator and I love what she did with this story. She did a great job making this one unputdownable.
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The Guest releases 2/20, be sure to check this one out! Huge thank you to NetGalley, B. A. Paris, St. Martins Press and MacMillan Audio for the ALC and eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Going in, I had pretty high expectations for this book and luckily, it lived up to those expectations!

B.A. Paris is an author that I always find myself enjoying and this was pretty good! I rated this book only 3 stars due to the fact that it was incredibly slow and boring, up until the epilogue. I was worried when I got to the epilogue at first because the story had ended, and we got answers for not a single thing that happens in the book. You are slowly set up for a big reveal, and get absolutely nothing.

But then you read the epilogue, and everything comes together. There was a lot of foreshadowing throughout the story that hints at the ending of this story, and leads you to figure out the biggest plot point of the story. I came up with a lot of theories, and the way things tied together was close enough to what I thought.

I definitely thought that there was going to be more of a story when it came to Esme and Hugh. It seemed so weird to me that they just showed up out of nowhere, and that Esme was so incredibly friendly. I was slightly disappointed with their involvement in the story.

This was a solid read, and I would suggest it to others, especially those who enjoy B.A. Paris in general. Thank you to NetGalley, B.A. Paris and St. Martins Press for the eARC of The Guest.

This book was ok for me- it was a bit of a slow burn but had a good ending. The story centers on Iris and Gabriel, who come home from a vacation to find that their friend Laure has taken up residence in their home after a fight with her husband. Laure’s visit lingers and she gets on their nerves, but her husband has been hard to reach when they try to intervene. At the same time, a new couple moves in a few doors down and there is fascination across the boards with their gardener named Joseph.

Not a lot happens through the first half of the book, though there is a general sense that all isn’t as it seems. I thought Iris could have stood up for herself more in multiple scenarios but I thought the depiction of both her marriage and her friendships seemed realistic. I enjoyed the side story about Gabriel working his way though the grief of having found the body of a local boy. The action in the last couple chapters of the book is good, and the ending surprised me. I was satisfied with how it all turned out.

Overall, I liked the story but the actual read was a little slow. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.