It's very rare that I purchase books that are of the psychological thriller genre. It's not that I don't like that genre, it's just not what I uaually read. Rarely do they have the happy endings of chick lit. They hardly ever end with a feeling of hope or forgiveness like in YA. The only reason I read Gone Girl when it was published was because everyone on the planet was reading it, and the reviews were excellent. It was excellent, so good in fact that at one point I had to stop reading and take a breath. I can't even tell you how entertained and disgusted I was after reading Gone Girl, which until recently was just about all the psychological thriller I could take.
That is why I was shocked when I had to finish Behind Closed Doors in one sitting. In one sitting! I could not put this book down. I had to get the entire story, I had to know how it started, how it ended, how little side stories of George Clooney or a sweet little puppy fit into this giant puzzle of a book. At times I knew I was reading important information, and was racing to figure out its importance!
Behind Closed Doors is the story of Jack and Grace Angel, presumably the most perfect couple. Jack, is a successful lawyer in London, Grace is the portrait of the perfect modern housewife. Jack is not only a successful lawyer, but also a champion for battered women. His most successful cases were battered women seeking divorces. From the very first chapter you can sense that something isn't right in their perfect world. Over the course of a intimate dinner party you learn that Jack works so hard to provide a luxurious life for Grace. Grace works hard in the home to prepare near perfect dinners, keeps her figure in tact, and travels the world with her husband. Everyone at the dinner party is so envious of Grace and Jack Angel. Even their surname is a dead giveaway that all is not right in this world.
To really review Behind Closed Doors, I would have to give away so much of the book. This review would be one giant spoiler alert. I don't believe in doing that. Not every wants to know what they are getting into, not everyone wants to know the climax. I don't want to give anything away because you have to read this book. You have to be so taken aback by the chilling and frightening secrets surrounding the marriage of Jack and Grace Angel.
Told both in past and present chapters, it's not until the middle of the book that you find out exactly why these two are together. You find out their motivations for staying married. You find out how helpless a person can be. For the first half of the book, I was so sure that this was a story of hidden identity. Jack protects battered women, some going through a divorce, perhaps Grace was one of those women. And maybe she killed her husband, and now under a different name, she is married to the champion of battered women, and hiding in plain sight...
Oh, how I wish this was the case. How I wish this was the big hidden secret of their marriage.
It was not. The secret is sinister and bone chilling. Your heart and stomach will drop. Your heart will race, and you will be on the edge, mentally screaming at the book.
I'm not usually like this when I read books. I read nice chick lit and sad emo YA novels. I close a book at the happy ending, the happily ever after, the hopeful sunrise. This book was none of those things. Still this book was everything. This book had me in it's grasps until the end. I still can't believe that I read this entire book in one sitting, something I haven't done since college. There was never a moment where I was falling asleep or bored in anyway. Trust me when I say, it was on the edge excitement the entire time. This book was written in a way that there was never a moment that you could walk away from the story. Every chapter ended with a new mystery, a new question to answer. It made for a fantastic read.
Behind Closed Doors has been compared to Gone Girl. I get it, Behind Closed Doors is that good. But it's so different from Gone Girl. Behind Closed Doors brings forth the unbelievable, the shocking, the breathtaking. It's tragic and horrifying. I can't stress enough how this book will blow your mind and chill you to your core.
You will love every minute of it. I promise.
Pick up Behind Closed Doors today from your favorite bookseller.
Behind Closed Doors, published by St. Martin's Press 2016.
This post was sponsored by St. Martin's Press, via an advanced reader copy.
