Behind Closed Doors: A Novel

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLING DEBUT PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER YOU CAN'T MISS!

The perfect marriage? Or the perfect lie?

“A hair-raising debut, both unsettling and addictive...A chilling thriller that will keep you reading long into the night.” ―Mary Kubica, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Good Girl

“This is one readers won’t be able to put down.” ―Booklist (starred review)

"A can’t-put-down psychological thriller.” ―Library Journal (starred review)

“This debut is guaranteed to haunt you...Warning: brace yourself.” ―Bustle (10 New Thrillers to Read This Summer)

“The sense of believably and terror that engulfs Behind Closed Doors doesn't waver.” ―The Associated Press, picked up by The Washington Post

“This was one of the best and most terrifying psychological thrillers I have ever read.” ―San Francisco Book Review


Everyone knows a couple like Jack and Grace. He has looks and wealth; she has charm and elegance. He’s a dedicated attorney who has never lost a case; she is a flawless homemaker, a masterful gardener and cook, and dotes on her disabled younger sister. Though they are still newlyweds, they seem to have it all. You might not want to like them, but you do. You’re hopelessly charmed by the ease and comfort of their home, by the graciousness of the dinner parties they throw. You’d like to get to know Grace better.

But it’s difficult, because you realize Jack and Grace are inseparable.

Some might call this true love. Others might wonder why Grace never answers the phone. Or why she can never meet for coffee, even though she doesn’t work. How she can cook such elaborate meals but remain so slim. Or why she never seems to take anything with her when she leaves the house, not even a pen. Or why there are such high-security metal shutters on all the downstairs windows.

Some might wonder what’s really going on once the dinner party is over, and the front door has closed.

From bestselling author B.A. Paris comes the gripping thriller and international phenomenon Behind Closed Doors.

B.A. Paris is the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of eight novels including the word-of-mouth hit, Behind Closed Doors, and her latest psychological thriller, When I Kill You.

Over nine million editions of her work have been sold worldwide and her books have been translated into 41 languages. Her novel, The Breakdown, has been adapted for film under the title Blackwater Lane.

Before becoming an author, B.A. Paris, who spent most of her adult life living in France, worked in finance as a trader before retraining as an English teacher. Today, she writes from her cottage in Hampshire, England.

Sign up to her newsletter via her website or follow her on social media @baparisauthor

An August 2016 Best Books of the Month by Real Simple magazine

An August 2016 Indie Next pick and LibraryReads list pick

An August 2016 Book Club Pick by Popsugar: “Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train!”

As seen featured in The Skimm’s newsletter: “It’ll have you page turning ‘til the end.”

“If you’re hunting for a thriller to give you chills in August, look no further than this book, which is already a big hit in the U.K.” ―Real Simple magazine

“This debut is guaranteed to haunt you ― especially if you’re about to tie the knot. Paris’s thriller asks the question: ‘The perfect marriage or the perfect lie?’ Jack and Grace, the couple at the center of this totally enthralling novel, are so clearly not what they seem you’ll have no choice but to read and read and read until their darkest secrets are revealed. Warning: brace yourself.” ―Bustle (10 New Thrillers to Read This Summer)

“A gripping domestic thriller…the sense of believability and terror that engulfs Behind Closed Doors doesn't waver.” ―The Associated Press, picked up by The Washington Post

“B.A. Paris takes the cliché about not knowing what goes on beyond closed doors to nightmarish place…. Each chapter escalates the tensions and stakes faced by Grace in the nightmare that is her new ‘perfect’ marriage to Jack.” ―Huffington Post

“Behind Closed Doors takes a classic tale to a whole new level…This was one of the best and [most] terrifying psychological thrillers I have ever read…each chapter brings you further in, to the point where you feel how Grace must feel. The desperation, the feeling that no one will believe you and yet still wanting to fight because someone you care deeply about will get hurt.” ―San Francisco Book Review

“Paris grabs the reader from the beginning with a powerful and electrifying tale. Behind Closed Doors, a novel sure to make one's skin crawl, also reveals no one truly knows what does go on behind closed doors.”―New York Journal of Books

“This dark and twisted thriller will keep you on your toes and have you wondering exactly what goes on behind your neighbor’s door.”―Buzzfeed (“6 Thriller/Mystery Reads That Will Have You Sleeping With the Lights On”)

“Really freaking creepy. And really good. Until the end, which was an honest gasp and imaginary pearl clutching moment. Yes, that good. Reader, if you want to read the thriller that enthralled even this jaded soul, pick up Behind Closed Doors by BA Paris…. Then draw the blinds and turn off your phone because you will not want any interruptions.”― LitHub (“18 Books You Should Read This August”)

“Debut-novelist Paris adroitly toggles between the recent past and the present in building the suspense of Grace’s increasingly unbearable situation, as time becomes critical and her possible solutions narrow. This is one readers won’t be able to put down.” ―Booklist (starred review)

B.A. Paris’s psychological thriller, "Behind Closed Doors," delves into the terrifying reality hiding beneath the veneer of a seemingly perfect marriage. To the outside world, Jack and Grace Angel are the ultimate power couple. Jack is a handsome, wealthy, and successful lawyer who specializes in representing battered women, while Grace is an elegant, devoted homemaker who left behind a fulfilling career to care for her husband. They host flawless dinner parties, live in an immaculate mansion, and appear madly in love. However, the reality of their relationship is a chilling nightmare. The moment the guests leave and the front door shuts, Grace is not a pampered wife, but a prisoner trapped in a meticulously designed hell by a psychopathic sadist.

The story unfolds through alternating timelines, seamlessly shifting between the past, which details how Grace fell into Jack’s trap, and the present, where she desperately tries to find a way out. Grace first meets Jack at a park, where he steps in to help her younger sister, Millie, who has Down syndrome. Jack’s apparent kindness, patience, and instant connection with Millie completely win Grace over. For Grace, Millie is her world, and finding a man who not only accepts but actively welcomes her sister into their lives feels like a miracle. Jack sweeps Grace off her feet with a whirlwind romance, showering her with affection and quickly proposing. Blinded by his charm and the promise of a secure future for Millie, Grace eagerly accepts, completely unaware that the marriage is an elaborate, calculated trap.

The illusion shatters immediately after their wedding. During their honeymoon in Thailand, Jack abruptly drops his charming facade and reveals his true nature. He confiscates Grace’s passport, phone, and belongings, coldly informing her that she is now his property. When they return to England, Grace discovers that her new home is a fortress. Jack has installed heavy security doors, unbreakable windows, and a sterile, locked room in the basement. He controls every aspect of her existence, from what she eats to when she sleeps. He starves her, manipulates her, and subjects her to intense psychological torture. Jack thrives on fear, and he uses Grace as his personal plaything, parading her in front of his colleagues at dinner parties to flaunt his absolute control. Grace must play the role of the adoring, perfect wife, knowing that any slip-up will result in severe punishment.

However, the true horror of Jack’s plan extends beyond Grace. The only reason he married her was to get to Millie. Jack reveals that he derives his ultimate twisted pleasure from the pure, unadulterated terror of the innocent and helpless. Because Grace has learned to mask her fear to deny him satisfaction, Jack’s ultimate goal is to bring Millie to live with them once she turns eighteen and finishes her specialized schooling. He has constructed a terrifying, soundproof red room in the basement specifically designed for torturing Millie. Grace realizes with sickening clarity that she is merely the bait and the caretaker; Millie is the true prize. With Millie’s eighteenth birthday rapidly approaching, Grace is working against a ticking clock to save her sister from a fate worse than death.

Grace’s desperation leads to several harrowing escape attempts, but Jack is always one step ahead. He anticipates her moves, outsmarts her, and punishes her failures, reinforcing her absolute helplessness. Despite her isolation, a glimmer of hope emerges through Esther, an acquaintance from their social circle. Unlike their other friends who are completely taken in by Jack’s charm, Esther is highly observant and skeptical. She notices the subtle inconsistencies in the Angels’ perfect life, such as Grace’s lack of a personal phone, her inability to ever meet for a casual coffee, and her underlying anxiety. Esther begins testing the waters, subtly challenging Jack and leaving her contact information for Grace, signaling that she knows something is profoundly wrong.

Knowing she cannot simply run away without Jack tracking her down and harming Millie, Grace realizes she must beat him at his own game. She needs a plan that is final and leaves no room for error. When Jack decides they should take a trip to Thailand to maintain their social facade, Grace sees her opportunity. In the weeks leading up to the trip, she manages to secretly hoard sleeping pills, hiding them carefully from Jack’s meticulous inspections. On the day of their departure, Grace executes her desperate plan by slipping a heavy dose of the crushed pills into Jack’s whiskey.

As the drugs take effect and Jack loses consciousness, Grace drags him down into the basement. She locks him inside the very same soundproof, inescapable red room he had gleefully built for Millie. She turns off the ventilation and the lights, leaving him completely trapped in the dark without food or water. Grace then calmly proceeds to the airport alone. She boards the flight to Thailand, telling everyone that Jack was delayed by a last-minute work emergency and would be joining her shortly. She intentionally leaves a trail of evidence suggesting Jack is alive and well, enjoying a solo few days in England before his supposed departure.

While Grace is in Thailand, she waits for the inevitable. Jack slowly starves to death in the basement dungeon of his own making. When Grace returns to England, she feigns panic over her missing husband, leading the police straight to the basement. Because Jack had designed the room to be a secret, and because Grace has carefully orchestrated her alibi, the authorities conclude that Jack accidentally locked himself in. During the investigation, Esther approaches Grace and subtly reveals that she had pieced together the truth but intends to keep her silence, solidifying her role as Grace’s silent accomplice. The novel concludes with Jack dead, the horrific ordeal over, and Grace finally free to live a peaceful life, having successfully protected her beloved sister from a monster.