''Behind Close Doors'' by B. A. Paris

My rating:✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪  10/10

Book cover rating: ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 2/5

One book in one gif:








This book. **takes a long breath**
As I have just finished reading it, I am still recovering from the aftermaths.
Do excuse me if I sound completely bonkers. I got so absorbed in the story that my heart was beating all the time, as if I was committing a crime and afraid of getting caught at any moment. At times I forgot how to keep my breathing at a normal pace!

I have two words this book: Brilliant. Terrifying.

I finished reading it in two consecutive nights. Even for a book lover like me who stays up reading long enough to hear the sound of chirping birds and see the rays of sunshine coming through the window, only to have sleep for the few hours left and heavily regret it. And then to repeat the process the following night with no shame, I can say that I have never ever found a book that is so addictive and exciting in my entire life! I swear the book has an essence of caffeine and adrenaline rush. It was such a redefinition of pleasure. It kept me on the edge of the bed, like ugggh what's going to happen?????

And now that I have read the ending, I'm like.

When I put the book down after the last page, reality came back to me and I realized everyone in my house was asleep and I was in the dark and quiet with only the sounds of breathing. Trust me, not the kind of environment you want to be in right after this book.
And so many thoughts in my head I really couldn't sleep:

''I demand to know how and where B. A. Paris got such an inspiration.''

''Why is nobody talking about this book yet? Definitely not enough people!''
''Every human being should read this book.''

''It's so unfair if it doesn't get on school reading lists.''
''I need more psychopathic book characters in my life.''.
''I need help.''

A few of my close friends who know the kind of genre of books I'm really into aside from mystery genre (psychological horror genre) are already enough worried about me and my sanity. But when I read the summary of this book as I was browsing the Kindle store, I couldn't help but buy it on impulse.
Although the first chapter was kind of slow, I spent two sleepless nights reading the whole book even though I had plans for the following morning or even the fact that I already have plenty of other books yet to be read! Stubborn me always wins. 

Oh, how I wish to find more books like this!
If you know any, please do let me know in the comments!!

Synopsis
Jake and Grace seem to be the perfect couple with everything in their lives figured out. Completely in love with each other, living in their dream house, no financial worries. Jake is a very handsome, charming and successful lawyer with an absolutely clean and failure-free reputation. Grace is the beautiful and perfect housewife, sweet and lovely with guests and friends. The two just cannot seem to be anywhere without one another! In fact, Grace is never seen without Jack. Jack is never without Grace. Grace does not go out without him. Grace does not have a phone and shares Jack's email address. Windows in their house are all barred as the couple lives in exclusive security. Is everything about their lives from an outsider's eyes all what it seems, or is there really a secret that Grace is desperately hinting?

Mind you, after reading the synopsis you might think you get the idea of what is likely to happen; but you're more likely to be wrong because the plot twist is something impossible to predict. We even get to see everything from the narrator's (Grace's point of view), and yet we miss the clues! Nothing can prepare for the secret behind the closed doors. Nothing.
The chapter oscillates from the events of the past to the present and back and forth in order to make the suspense more intense, and this where I stand up to B. A. Paris. Because once you find out the truth, you might want to go back the first chapter and read it again. You'll see how clever she is with words and it's scary, people. I repeat, she is scary!






And now, for some general thoughts and discussions.
((Spoilers ahead))
Please read my book review format description first.

Esther at first really seemed unpleasant and jealous snob. It is only later that we realize how perceptive she is with noticing things that other people miss quite easily. She looks for flaws because, well, it is in human nature to have one. She is inquisitive, and that really was a good thing given Grace's situation.
Grace couldn't shout for help, but Esther saw right through it, proving to be an unexpectedly delightful character.

Perhaps the reason why this book was such a great read was the author's brilliant character buildup. Jack Angel is a psychopath and the best of his kind. Described as a perfect man with a sophisticated life in the beginning and then turn out to be malicious and not sorry at all for his actions. And as you read, you might also feel like you have been betrayed by the appearances just as the main character was! The anticipation of each chapter and how this game of wits and desperation would end is all oh so exciting!

From the title, ''Behind Closed Doors'', and the summary at the back of the book, anyone might guess that it's a story about domestic violence, but oh butterscotch it's something so much darker than that.
Jack Angel grew up exposed to domestic violence, and somehow his twisted mind picked out how his father found pleasure in hurting his mother. And when his mother couldn't protect him from his father's abuse, he started siding up with his father and torture her, ultimately resulting her death. Since then, Jack Angel builds up his reputation as a well-known and respectable lawyer, marrying Grace to look like the perfect husband and then socializing to gather witnesses and alibis. So what was the secret hiding behind the closed doors? Millie.
Millie is Grace's younger sister with Down's Syndrome, who will come to live with her and Jack soon. Jack is waiting for her because Jack wants to feel the rushing fun of torturing someone again in his life. That is the whole purpose of marrying Grace and why his career and credibility was so important. In that way, even if Grace succeeds in contacting someone for help, nobody would believe her.
Okay, I really must be gushing about the villain more that it is appropriate.

Let's talk about Grace Harrington. Grace, like any gullible girl in love, couldn't have predicted what was coming, and neither could we. The first chapter does hint that something is definitely not right in the atmosphere of the perfect home but what? Even when we go back to the past and the present, all we could see is everything other people saw. But oh do things come crashing down with the plot twist. Jake Angel couldn't get any darker than that when he reveals his intentions to Grace. Right?
And baam, you're wrong!

So you know, it's a perfect read for us singles on Valentine's Day when we hate perfect couples.




Memorable Quotes:

''The door opens and he stands in the doorway, my handsome, psychopathic husband.''

''And, as he looked down at her smashed and bloodied face, he thought she had never looked more beautiful.''

''When I see him standing there, I feel as dismayed as I always do at how normal he looks, because surely there should be something -- pointed ears or a pair of horns -- to warn people of his evilness.''

''As he closes it behind me (car door), I can't help thinking it's a shame he's such a sadistic bastard, because he has wonderful manners.''

'' 'Who are you, Jack?' I asked quietly.
'Your husband,'' he said. 'I am your husband. For better or for worse. In sickness and in health. Till death do us apart.' ''