The Prisoner moves between present day when Amelie has been kidnapped and held prisoner, to the past , when as a teenager she moves to London from Paris.
Initially I was intrigued by Amelie's story but fairly soon I found the whole premise, from her friendships to her marriage, completely implausible. I found the present day sections tedious and felt no connection to Amelie or interest in her story. For me this was sadly a poorly written novel lacking in tension and pace.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

I was so looking forward to this one after reading previous books from this author but I was disappointed.

I couldn't get into the storyline or like the characters it just wasn't what I expected.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this ARC which I would have loved to enjoy more than I did

I’ve missed a B A Paris book.
Behind closed doors will always be one of my favourite ever books.
So, as an auto buy author, I was so happy to receive an advanced copy of the latest novel, and invited to be part of the tour

B A Paris is a fantastic author. She knows instantly how to pull the reader in and she did just that with this book. I was hooked, pulled in and did not want to put this book down
The book is told in two parts. The first one we learn of Amelia’s kidnapping.
The chapters alternate from past to present. My heart really went out for Amelia and her background and the things we learned of in her present; I can really see why they effected her so much
The short snappy chapters just worked perfectly and I found myself whizzing through it.
The writing was dark; tense and suspenseful and the reader just wants more
Part 2 is after the capture. Whilst I enjoyed reading how everything came together and thought it fitted I really did think that the second part could have been a bit longer. It felt a little rushed. We get the answers and there is closure but I would have preferred part 2 to be a bit chunkier
Overall. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I felt the main characters anxiety and desperation to escape the prison. I would thoroughly recommend it and I think anyone who loves b a paris books will love it too!

I will begin by saying this story was very unique and so captivating. I was instantly drawn to Amelie and how she carried herself, a survivor in her own right. We follow Amelie as she overcomes the loss of her parents and finds herself welcomed into a glamorous lifestyle and when she goes away and marries Ned we start to see the true strength of Amelie. Amelie starts to wonder the truth and then one day she wakes up in a darkened room unaware what is happening and why.

As I read this story, I could imagine how this would all be so appealing to a young woman and I tried to imagine what I would have done in the situations Amelie found herself in – I hope that I could show the same strength and resilience and I was quite in awe of her character.

My only tiny tiny gripe was the ending, I wanted some kind of closure but I suppose as a reader we can draw up our own.

This was an absolute amazing read from page 1 right through to the end, the way B A Paris wrote the story was pure brilliance, delivering the right amount of suspense when needed was done perfectly in my eyes. I was so hooked I was reading at every given chance I could, I did not want to put it down. It was dark, suspenseful, compelling and I was on the edge of every chapter. This is defiantly a fast-paced thriller and I can honestly say I am so happy that I got to read this before it’s publication.

Amelie is a naive french/english teenager who runs away to London after her father dies leaving her alone in the world. There, just as her money is about to run out, Amelie meets Carolyn whose husband has left her and who needs a housekeeper. Carolyn introduces her to her friends Lina and Jasmine and eventually Amelie ends up working at the same magazine as them. The magazine is owned by Ned a spoiled young millionaire who has an even richer father. Ned tricks Amelie into marrying him.

At the beginning of the book Amelie has been kidnapped along with Ned.. She is kept in a completely dark room. As her captivity goes on we learn about her relationships and how she has ended up where she is.

I'm afraid I didn't much care for this book. It was very clear to me from early on what was going on. The story line isn't at all believable, Amelie is impossibly naive and we never get a clear idea why Ned is such an unpleasant character. There was no light relief in it at all, just constant angst from Amelie. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

B.A Paris is an incredible writer but this was not like their normal work.

The story was entirely unbelievable and it was impossible for me to feel anything but disappointed.

I really recommend reading other books by Paris first.

I have been reading BA Paris book from her first and lately find there a bit of a mixed bag.
The Prisoner is set in a dual timeline regarding one Amelie Lamont. Moving from Paris she moves to London after her father dying of Cancer. Whilst homeless, she befriends Carolyn Blakely that gives her a job as a housekeeper, after her husband left her. She befriends Carolyn’s friends who are much older than her and works for a magazine call Exclusives. Amelie is offered a job there.
Present day Amelie meets Ned Hawthorne who owns the magazine and weeks later agrees to marry him. He is also the son of the owner of the Hawthorne foundation, and he agrees to pay her a hundred thousand pounds for the pleasure. But things go wrong at the Honeymoon and the pair are kidnapped and held prisoner for a ransom by persons unknown. Amelie is locked in a room on her own in a dark room, with windows boarded up and no sense of time. But can hear Ned in a room beneath her and finds out that he is a nasty piece of work and scared that it will ruin his reputation.
Thank you, Hodder and Stoughton, for a copy of BA Paris latest offering. The Prisoner had a unique storyline, and this had a slow build up tension as you read further into the story. But the last third of it, I felt it was drawn out to long and couldn’t understand why Amelie was trying to get confirmation on what happened to her after she was released. Why didn’t she just move on. So, because of that, I found it a little disappointing or it might have been a five star read. Four stars from me.

I enjoyed the fast pace of this and being told in past and present is my sort of book! It had me gripped until the end. The only let down for me was the ending, the explanation felt too long and I'm not sure if its's just me who didn't get it, but it felt a bit unfinished.

My thanks to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for a copy of “The Prisoner “ for an honest review.

B A Paris is one of my favourite authors and and I really appreciated the chance to get to read her latest book early.unfortunately ,for me, this was the weakest of her books, but it is being compared to the high standard of her previous work..It took me a little while to get into the story , and even though I felt it improved, something was lacking in the storyline and things seemed a little implausible.
I shall still look forward to the next release by her, but for readers who haven’t read anything by Paris before I’d suggest they try her earlier books first

A clever and compelling read, perfect for fans of BA Paris.

Before starting this book I checked out the review scores and I saw that there was a real mix of ‘love’ and ‘meh!’. So I went in, as always with an open mind hoping to be one of the ‘love it’ readers. Now having read the book I can totally see why this book has a marmite affect.

From the first chapter I was hooked and totally invested in the characters and the narrative. Told from two timelines ‘past’ and ‘present’ which eventually merge at the conclusion. I completely blitzed this book in under 48hours, which with a child and a full time job is no small feat!

I’d say that my enthusiasm for this book was a solid four stars. The way in which the story unfolded was clever and cunning and there was a continual sense of unease and pressure. However as soon as I hit 80% on my kindle the book suddenly slammed its breaks on and became something entirely different.

Suddenly her luck appears to miraculously change and all her misery is resolved in one phone call. This I was hoping would be tied into the main storyline but actually it was just a lovely neat bow.

After this amazing thing happens. Amelie is still not content, so she embarks on a new mission that just feels totally unlike her in every way. Only to result in a very loooooooong, very drawn out explanation of everything I’ve just read. It was just too much! End already! I get it, mystery thoroughly taken away and cleverness overly picked apart.

Lastly, to top things off there are new revelations that are huge and yet the way in which they are delivered are almost like an after thought.

So that was my marmite experience of the book. I totally loved it, but the ending was a disaster and a total disappointment compared to the rest of the book. Is it too late to rewrite the ending Paris? This book deserves such a better finale.

Thanks as ever to NetGalley for my advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Having read a previous book by B A Paris I knew I was in for a treat, and yes, they have done it again, it’s brilliant. I was drawn in from the very start and just had to keep reading to find out what would happen next. The story is split into the past and the present and switches between the two time lines before you are caught up in the present. It is all from the main characters point of view and very well written. I definitely recommend this book. Thank you #netgalley

I have loved previous books by B A Paris, but I really struggled with this one. The storyline is preposterous and really rather boring, and the characters are one-dimensional and unlikeable. I hope the author's next book is better than this!

This is one of my favourite authors- I read some of the previous reviews and thought that they must be wrong. Unfortunately, this book was so disappointing. The characters were flat. The plot was so far-fetched. The ending was just a dragged out monologue. Goodness knows where the police was in all of this!

Fast paced and gripping right from the very start and kept me hooked all the way through. The characters were well developed and I found myself rooting for some ofthem and disliking others. Twisty and unpredictable and kept me guessing until the end, One of the best things about this book is the dark, distubing and tense atmosphere woven through it. I loved it,

What a heart-stopping thrilling ride. This book had me on the edge of my seat in not knowing where the story was leading. Amelie a young girl down on her luck who by chance gets a job as a cleaner by Carolyn. Amelie becomes close to Carolyn's friends who embrace her into their world. When Amelie gets a job working with a top magazine she is elated but when the head of the company Ned Hawthorpe makes her an offer of marriage which she cannot possible turn down her life takes a devasting turn.
My heart went out to Amelie all through the book. The characters were all so believable. It was gripping, scary, sinister and brilliantly written. B.A. Paris has you hooked from the first to last page.

This tale has plenty of pace and action but is rather low on believability and on tying up its loose ends. I read it whilst waiting for a flight and whilst taking that flight and it was ideal for that sort of setting, but a fast read can be like fast food - ultimately it leaves you feeling empty and hungry for something more substantial.

When a young woman is made homeless and orphaned by her father's death, she moves to London and, after sleeping on the streets and in hostels, gets incredibly lucky. She asks a woman in a coffee bar if she can have the muffin that she's not eaten and hey presto! within a few pages she's living with the woman as her cleaner, cook and general factotum. A few pages more and she's working at a top fashion magazine, and before you can blink, she's accidentally married the multi-millionaire owner of the magazine.

Both she and her 'husband' get kidnapped to try to extort money from his even richer father.

It's all rather silly. A financial 'double ever day' calculation pops up but is never really explained. People in high places are looking out for her - but I'm not sure we really get to the bottom of who they are, and by the time I reached the end, there were a heap of dead bodies and an almost equal heap of unsolved conundrums.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for my copy.

Really easy and captivating read. I raced through this book and love that it didn't require too much thought.

I love the writing style and the pacing of the book. I never got bored!

My only criticism would be that the story line was quite far fetched, I get this is totally subjective though and down to personal preference but I do like a thriller that has a slightly more believable element to it.
Character development wasn't amazing, and some characters were one dimensional.

That said I did really enjoy the escapism that this book brought to the table.

Sadly, I found this book very difficult to get into. I seem to have read a very similar beginning in numerous other stories, and although I managed a few trips into Amelie's past and back into the present I didn't really find anything to grab my attention or that was different from other novels. I found some of the dialogue quite jarring and unnatural and a very minor gripe but why call a tap a faucet when the book is set in the UK?!
Hopefully the author will be back to form in her next book.
Thank you to netgalley and hodder and Stoughton for an advance copy of this book.

Wow what a fantastic book. Transporting you to the situations and feelings of the characters.
Not your typical prisoners but very atmospheric and real.
Twists right up to the last page.

I tried not to read this and base any judgements on the authors previous books especially the psychological classic ‘Behind Closed Doors’, not easy to do as because of that book’s success all subsequent books have been ( for me at any rate ) compared to it
Well I can only say that ‘The Prisoner’ was ok, the story was at times complicated and at times far fetched but it did have good descriptive narrative re being held a prisoner and how the main character coped with it
Some of the issues raised were of great importance but I felt they were dealt with clunkily and without any real urgency in the story
I will no doubt carry on reading this authors work as and when new books arrive as they are always intriguing in blurb and ‘Behind Closed Doors’ remains one of the best books of its genre