The Therapist by B. A. Paris

A special thank you to St. Martin's Press and Raincoast Books for a finished copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

When Alice and Leo move into a newly renovated house in The Circle, a gated community of exclusive houses, it is everything they’ve dreamed of. But appearances can be deceptive…

As Alice is getting to know her neighbours, she discovers a devastating secret about her new home, and begins to feel a strong connection with Nina, the therapist who lived there before.

Alice becomes obsessed with trying to piece together what happened two years before. But no one wants to talk about it. Her neighbours are keeping secrets and things are not as perfect as they seem…

Paris weaves an insidious web of lies in this gripping psychological thriller about a house with a shocking secret. Alternating between Alice in the present and a therapist in the past, the novel takes a deep dive into obsession and trust. 

Alice initially comes off as the all too familiar unreliable female narrator that is bordering on being crazy.  Early on in the story, we know that she is affected by an event in her past which has made her somewhat of a recluse—she is deeply attached to her village, her friends, and her cottage—and although she is apprehensive about moving to London, she is excited to be living with Leo. Even though she naive, and exhibits obsessive behaviour, her intentions are only good. Bust as the story unfolds it becomes apparent that she is not the unreliable narrator as originally perceived to be.

Perfectly paced, expertly plotted, The Therapist is Paris at her best. 

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B. A. PARIS is the internationally bestselling author of The Dilemma, Behind Closed Doors, The Breakdown, and Bring Me Back. She has worked both in finance and as a teacher and has five daughters. The Therapist is her fifth novel.

Paris grew up in England, but has spend most of her adult life in France.

The Dilemma by B. A. Paris

A special thank you to Edelweiss, NetGalley and Macmillan/St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Livia is turning forty and is throwing herself a party. And not just any party, one that she has been planning for the last twenty years. The only person that will not be in attendance is her daughter, Marnie, who is in Hong Kong. But Livia has been keeping a secret from Adam because of the effect it will have on their lives. She has decided to wait until after the festivities to tell him, and is actually relieved that Marnie won't be there.

Adam wants the evening to be perfect for Livia because she never got to have a wedding. Livia and Adam were married in a registry office when they were teens because Livia was pregnant and subsequently disowned by her parents. On the day of the party, Adam learns of some news that could not only ruin the party, but devastate their lives, so he decides to keep it to himself until after the guests leave.

The Dilemma is a departure for B. A. Paris in that it is more of a domestic drama versus a typical thriller. At its core is "the dilemma" and it is an emotional punch right to the gut. Are the characters acting out of love and wanting to protect their family, or deception and being self-serving?

I ultimately struggled with the book for both it being marketed incorrectly as a thriller, and with the fact that the dilemma itself was not believable—Adam choosing to keep a life-altering secret from his wife is simply not plausible. The book was also too long. There were pages and pages where nothing much was happening, or that it was repetitive. I don't know whether this was because the story only takes place over a day and Paris needed to fill the pages, or because of the limited setting which was their home.

Paris did redeem herself with the ending—it didn't end the way that I thought it was going to.

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B. A. PARIS is the internationally bestselling author of Behind Closed Doors, The Breakdown, and Bring Me Back. She has worked both in finance and as a teacher and has five daughters. The Dilemma is her fourth novel.

Paris grew up in England, but has spend most of her adult life in France.

Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A young British couple are in France on a vacation. When they stop for gas, Finn goes in to pay and Layla stays in the car. When he returns, her car door is ajar and she is not inside. Layla vanishes without a trace.

Ten years later, Finn has put the past behind him and is engaged to Ellen. When he comes home from work to find his fiancée sitting on the sofa with an object in her hand, he quickly realizes something is amiss. This object would mean nothing to most people, but Finn and Ellen know what it is—it is a Russian doll that belonged to Ellen when she was a child. Only three people know about the Russian dolls: Ellen, Layla, and Finn.

As more questions surface, fractures form in their relationship. Has Layla returned? And why after all this time?

Paris' debut Behind Closed Doors was great and I loved The Breakdown. Unfortunately, after reading this, I was left both wanting and expecting more. Make no mistake, it was definitely a page-turner, and did ultimately hold my interest but there was nothing new and just simply felt old hat.

The alternating perspectives between past and present worked well. I was hooked from the beginning which I found was the best part of the book. The middle slowed and I was left struggling to connect with Finn and wasn't vested in his relationships. At first the Russian dolls were interesting, and then I just found the whole thing incredibly repetitive. And then the ending... Well, if you can suspend your disbelief, than you will love this book.

I'm hopeful that this is a one-off since her other books were so good. This one was simply not as clever or developed.

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B. A. PARIS is the internationally bestselling author of Behind Closed Doors and The Breakdown. She has worked both in finance and as a teacher and has five daughters.

Paris grew up in England, but has spend most of her adult life in France.

The Breakdown by B. A. Paris

After reading Paris' debut Behind Closed Doors, I couldn't wait to get my hands on The Breakdown. A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Driving home in the rain, Cass decides to take a shortcut through the woods against her husband Matthew's wishes that she stick to the main roads. She is surprised to see another car on the road in such poor weather. She pulls in front of the car, but is too scared to get out thinking this may be a trap set to entice her out of her own vehicle. When the female driver does not approach, Cass figures help is on the way and drives off.

The next day, Cass hears on the news that the driver she passed was murdered. She is incredibly distraught and guilt-ridden thinking she could've done something. The guilt begins to eat away at her, especially after she learns the identity of the woman, and she was someone that Cass recently met. Her emotional state is smothering. On top of this, she is growing increasingly paranoid and forgetful—she is certain that she is suffering from early onset dementia, the same condition that her mother had—and therefore is not credible. She is convinced the murderer knows her identity and is responsible for the silent phone calls she has been receiving. But with her family history of dementia, and her mental state, who is going to believe her?

Paris brings nothing new to the realm of the suspense/thriller genre, in fact, there was nothing really that was overly shocking by way of plot twists, and Cass' inner dialogue was often repetitive. So why read this book? It is a page-turner and hooks you plain and simple. The novel is perfectly timed and flawlessly executed. Given the main character's paranoia and hysteria, the denouement could have been obvious and trite, but it wasn't because of the way she developed her unreliable narrator—this was the perfect angle from which to tell the story.

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B. A. PARIS is the internationally bestselling author of Behind Closed Doors. She has worked both in finance and as a teacher and has five daughters.

Paris grew up in England, but has spend most of her adult life in France.