The Prisoner: A Novel

3 1/2 starsB.A. Paris is an auto buy author for me. I fell in love with her books when I read her debut novel Behind Closed Doors a few years ago, so I was very excited when I saw she had a new book, The Prisoner, coming out. While this book was not up there with her other ones, I still enjoyed it and continue to look forward to her next book.Amelie Lamont lost her mother when she was a small child, and she lost her father when she was seventeen. After the death of her dad, Amelie moved to London where she met her husband, billionaire Ned Hawthorne. Life was good at the beginning of their relationship, but then things take a turn for the worst. Ned is not who Amelie thought he was. Amelie is determined to stick it out though because it will be worth her while to do so. But then one night Amelie and Ned are kidnapped, and she wakes up alone in a pitch-black room. Who has taken them and why? And why does Amelie feel safer in that dark room than she did with her husband?This story is told through an alternating dual timeline. It starts out the night Amelie and Ned were kidnapped, and then jumps back to when Amelie was seventeen. I loved Amelie. She was a very strong and determined protagonist, which comes across in both timelines. When she was being held in the dark room, she never stopped trying to find a way out and when she was suddenly on her own at seventeen, she took control and made a life for herself.The chapters with Amelie trapped in the pitch-dark room really gave me the creeps. I could not even imagine what that must have been like. From the panic Amelie felt when she woke up in that room to the way she navigated around the room, I think Paris did a great job of bringing those scenes to life. I love how Amelie used her other senses in the room. She got the layout of the room by feel and counted steps to figure out where the bathroom door was, as well as where the door her captors would enter was. She also would be very quiet when they came into the room to bring her meals and listened to where they would come and stand and used that advantage for her escape attempts.I really loved everything about this book up to the ending. I was not 100% sold on who kidnapped Amelie and Ned and why they did it. I had a couple of different scenarios that I thought would play out. But all in all, I thought The Prisoner was a solid read that kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat for most of the book.

NOV 2022 : 4 STARSDESCRIPTION: Amelie is a young woman who marries into a family with deadly intentions. Amelie has always been a survivor, from losing her parents as a child in Paris to making it on her own in London. As she builds a life for herself, she’s swept up into a glamorous lifestyle where she meets and marries handsome billionaire, Jed Hawthorpe. But then Amelie wakes up in a pitch-black room, not knowing where she is. Why has she been taken? Who are her mysterious captors? Why does she feel safe here, imprisoned, than she had began to feel with her husband Jed.REVIEW: One of my favorite authors whose previous books were all 4 or 5 stars: The Therapist (‘21), The Dilemma ('20), Bring Me Back ('18), The Breakdown '17) and Behind Closed Doors ('16).I read this book before & after my heart attack so I chose to stick with 4 stars. My attention span was somewhat off and I didn’t want to punish the author over my illness.

Amelie has always been a survivor, from losing her parents as a child in Paris to making it on her own in London. As she builds a life for herself, she is swept up into a glamorous lifestyle where she married the handsome billionaire Ned Hawthorne.But then, Amelie wakes up in a pitch-black room, not knowing where she is. Why has she been taken? Who are her mysterious captors? And why does she soon feel safer here, imprisoned, than she had begun to feel with her husband Ned?My Thoughts:A dark thriller, The Prisoner takes the reader through a tempestuous experience as a captive held for unknown reasons. The story is told alternately between the past and the present, which is a good thing, as focusing only on being kept in a dark and lonely place, frightened and not knowing what would happen next, would surely be a dreary experience.Amelie has inadvertently found herself in a situation with a wealthy man named Ned who might be her ticket to having enough money to go to law school, but which she will soon realize is more dire than she could have imagined.As we follow her journey in the dark, even as we also learn more about her past, we soon realize that everything is a lot more complex than we had realized. I loved how the journey unfolded, which was much more exciting than I thought it would be. A 4.5 star read.***

A rich boy, who has been bailed out of trouble his whole life, arranges to marry a naive young women, who works for him, by lying to her, to subvert assault charges made by another employee.When things don’t go his way, and women keep going “missing” he and his new wife are kidnapped.Told in “before” and “present” chapters-with the final approximate third of the book being explanations and wrap up. And as said in the heading, in my opinion, the ending could have been better. All together an enjoyable read, that kept me interested.

I love the work of B A Paris. This book was steady paced all the way through and written in an easy style. I didn’t find there was any big plot twist at the end, hence only four stars but I enjoyed the book and the story!

I’ve read other books by this author and enjoyed them despite being a bit far fetched. But I just couldn’t get into this one. There’s so much jumping around to the past, then now, it just didn’t flow.

B.A.Paris never fails to impress me with her work. I love it. Wasn't too sure about this book at the start, but I kept reading. Very good writing. Loved the story, shame it had to end. That's the only bit I hate. I look forward to your next book. Well done.

So good I couldn’t leave it. I was hooked to the end, and didn’t want it to end either. Best book I have read for ages!

I was slow to get into it, possibly down to the switching of character or time, as is so often a style used by Paris. But it was not long before I had to know what was next to come. I tend to start off slow, then suddenly, I'm disappointed to realise I'm at the end. I find the descriptions create excellent visuals for me, making it an easier read. My only problem is, I've no more BA Paris books left to read!