Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris

Grace and Jack's idillyc marriage is not what it seems at first glance. There is a hell brewing under the facade.

Author

Diego Dunne
April 20, 2025

Hey, it’s Diego.

I finished reading Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris this week.

And this one threw me for a loop.

Let me give you my spoiler-free, unbiased review.

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Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris Review

Behind Closed Doors tells the story of Grace and Jack Angel, the picture-perfect couple with a too-good-to-be-true marriage. Grace is beautiful, Jack is charming, and together they seem like a dream. But as the title suggests, their reality behind closed doors is far from idyllic.

Trigger Warnings: Severe psychological abuse, sadistic behavior, animal cruelty, and implied domestic violence. Murder.

This one’s a Domestic Thriller, with most of the story taking place in the couple’s home.

Domestic thrillers: a subset of psychological thrillers that happen in a “domestic” location. This can be a family home or small town but can also be a hospital, prison, etc.

I found the writing style straightforward and natural, albeit with a “dear diary” quality. After a slow start, the story keeps moving, following Grace’s present and past as we get to understand how she ended up in such a nightmarish situation.

I don’t normally like these kinds of stories (you may already know what I’m hinting at if you read between the lines of the premise), but I have to say this book gets better as the story unfolds, all the way to the end. There is some suspense and very little mystery, but the action is what drives the story. I had to suspend my disbelief in some instances, but worth the journey as a whole.

There’s some romance in here, especially at the beginning of their relationship, but you won’t find any explicit scenes. Also, although the subject matter could be pretty awful, there is no violence.

But don’t let that fool you, it’s emotionally intense and full of implied horrors. The psychological abuse is heavy.

So, what about the ending? (No spoilers obviously)

I love my stories to wrap up nicely, with a neat little bow at the end. I like to read a cathartic scene where everything our characters have been through finally pays off physically and emotionally. Then a denouement in another chapter (or chapters) following the characters decompress where things are resolved and I’m left delighted at how well things played out at the end, every plot thread resolved.

The ending wraps things nicely. There is no denouement, however.

If you love a fast-paced, claustrophobic thriller with a creepy tone, Behind Closed Doors will hook you from about 20% in. That’s when I was fully invested and needed to find out how it ended.

Similar Books to Behind Closed Doors

  • Don’t Let Her Stay by Nicola Sanders

  • The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

  • The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison

That’s all for this week.

See you next time.

— Diego Dunne

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