Abby and Brendan Hollander are having problems in their marriage, so they go see a therapist, Dr. Donetti, who turns them on to an app, “Sugar and Spice,” telling them that it will help resolve their issues and reestablish a loving marriage. They are intrigued. They download it, and it tells them that there are several levels of proficiency they have to move through, and along the way they will receive points. As they proceed to go from the bottom to the top level, the tasks get more and more daring, and the promised rewards get more valuable, not at least in financial terms. Some of the instructions are labelled “Sugar” and these are benign, while others, those that come through as “Spice” tend to be way out there, and even though their inclined to question these, they feel compelled to follow them.. Why? Abby is shocked when one of the “Spice” questions she is asked is “Would you kill a total stranger to save someone you love?” Will they feel compelled to do it?

The author has written a novel that is mesmerizing and full of surprises. It shows a world where apps—much as is feared of Artificial Intelligence—can take on a life of their own and present a devastating danger to civilized life, even as the initial intent is a beneficial one. So I’m not sure what to think about this book. I enjoyed parts of it but it did make me wonder if apps can become as dangerous as Artificial Intelligence may become.

This book was not what I was expecting from J D Barker with graphic sexual content that seemed totally different from his usual graphic murder content. However, once I got past that and the context became more apparent I understood the reasoning behind this. Brendan and Abby’s marriage has gone stale with Brendan’s all encompassing work taking up all his time. Abby is rightly resentful and when there is a hint he may have been unfaithful with a colleague, it is time to get help. They visit a counsellor who suggests an app called Sugar and Spice. It offers them challenges or dares to spice up their relationship. Points are earned based on how daring they are and as things literally heat up, they could well be getting out of their comfort zone. As things quickly progress extreme danger rears its ugly head and then the J D Barker we expect comes to the fore with ramped up tension that makes this somewhat uncomfortable book became a real page turner.

utterly, genuinely, honestly, the most unhinged thing I've read (since I was expecting dark romance and ended up with the most nonsensical thriller)

I don't know where to start so let's just go through my updates throughout reading the whole thing (I almost didn't, but it was too funny and horrifying to stop)


3% possible homophobic slur + homophobic comment after her friend mentions going to McDonald's ("should I be concerned?")🤨 + cringe couple nicknames (Schmoopy? Papi Chulo??)🤕


5% a new couple's POV while they're holding an older couple at gunpoint to force them to have sex in front of them🤠


9% "They were standing outside Victoria's Secret, looking in like patrons at a zoo exhibit." + "They put all these frilly unmentionables out on full display, get you all worked up, feeling like a pedophile at Disney."🤯


13% realization this is not dark romance 🤡


31% her BFF is the worst friend ever?? the first time girl 2 accepted a dare from the app girl 1 uses, a dare about grape fantasy, which led to miss girl being graped 🚔🚨 and now she accepted one about killing someone ☠️🤨‼️ sorrows, prayers and therapy seriously get better friends 🙏


72% my epiphanic 'Written by a man' moment : "She had tiny feet, size seven on a good day." Of course I, too, have tiny feet on good days and longer feet on bad days. women are such mythical creatures✨️💖🌷🪷💖🎀🩷💫


75% if my potential murdered nicknamed me Skinny Bitch I'd be elated actually


90% so many skipped chapters I ain't reading all that "I'm here and I escape" "we're here and people try to kill us but we survive" "we're going there"


99% had 1 smart "didn't expect that" moment, the rest was only suffering (2 stars because the writing was not that bad)


BOOK JAIL ⛓️🚔🚨‼️


[review posted on goodreads]

This one was definitely not my cup of tea. One dimensional characters making bad decisions made me feel like I was watching one of those B-movie horror films where you want to yell, "No! Don't do that!" A ton of sexual references without really any real explicit sex scenes, and pulp fiction style violence, were woven throughout a convoluted technology based thriller. This one just left me flat. Not recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and Hampton Creek Press for an advanced reader copy.

I don’t know what I was expecting going into this book but I definitely did NOT expect this.

I think loving or hating this book would come down to personal taste and I have to admit, this just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Well what to say…..I have to admit that had this not been written by JD Barker I doubt I would have requested it but I have read all his books and loved them all so I overcame my doubts as to some of the subject matter and was lucky enough to be approved. I’m not a prude but I just don’t go for books that are sexually explicit it’s just not my thing but hey this JD Barker I have to give it a go and I’m so glad I did as it’s so much more than I was expecting, it’s actually quite scary and got me thinking about apps that I have downloaded!!
It’s a clever story and quite a long one, perhaps just a little bit too long and very different to what I had been expecting and frankly quite a bit different to previous books by the author. The story deals with some very interesting and topical issues to do with technology and how I guess we all download things without really knowing what the consequences may be and hell yes it certainly made me think.
So overall a good read and, not my favourite by JD but still had a gripping plot line and great characters enough to keep me glued to my kindle.
My thanks to NetGalley and Hampton Creek Press for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I am a huge J.D. Barker fan! I was so excited to see a new release from him. However, this novel was hard for me to digest. It hit a chord with me, that I struggled to stomach. I imagine this book is going to be a hit for others, but I struggled through it.

Behind A Closed Door by JD Barker is the book about Abby and Darren who after 13 years or having relationship issues and so go to a relationship counselor hoping to fix it this is where they hear of the app Sugar And Spice initially the apps games and suggestions work wonders but then they get more and more outrageous and at first the couple or under it spell and continue to comply but then things go off the rails. The second POV is another couple named Juliet en Romeo or at least that’s what they call their self and when we first meet them we soon learn their killers but why are they killing these random people and how are they related to the couple you have to read the book to find out. I don’t want to ignore the elephant in the room so I will say I know about the scandal with JD Barker but don’t know the whole story only what I’ve read off the Internet and else I am not a fan of cancel culture I really have no opinion but as for this book I thought with the exception of a lot of things that were unbelievable overall it was a really good story I didn’t like all the erotica and thought NetGalley and other booksellers should put it as erotica because when I checked it was under general fiction, Romance, mysteries and thrillers as I said before if the sex is apropos to the story then it doesn’t bother me as much and I didn’t find the author overused sex but it was used a lot! The book however with the exception of a lot of the things were unbelievable if you let yourself go and just immerse yourself in the story he is telling it really is a pretty good one and ultimately I thought it was clever, with LOL moments and characters you’ll definitely want to route four. I really wasn’t a big fan of Hannah at first but towards the end I totally loved her. This is a good book and one I will recommend with the warning that there was a lot of detailed sex and killing but if you can stomach that you’re in for a great ride. I want to thank Hampton Creek press for my free arc copy via NetGalley please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

The Read Now section of Netgalley sometimes hides really great books and this is one of them. I must admit I was not familiar with this author - and I don't know why but I will put him on my always growing list of 'authors I want to read more of'.
You can never know what's going on behind the closed doors of your family and friends, but Barker shows us that sometimes you just don't want to know...
Brendan and Abby download an app that will change their lives forever, and not only their lives... but the lives of billions of people. I've read other books about apps that are not all what they seem, but this is the most creepy one.
What I liked most about the book is that the plot is very complicated but there are no loose ends and I never saw the ending coming.
And yes, there's a lot of violence of the most horrific kind in this book, but the way this is intertwined with the other plot that has to do with money is very skilfully done.
I loved the way Abby and Brendan interacted and how their characters grew and I never ever would have guessed who the real culprit was.
I will for sure try and read more books of this author soon.

So, thank you Hampton Creek Press and Netgalley for making this title available for review.

What starts off as a very sexy book quickly turns into an intense fast paced thriller.

I don't mind sexy books, but I was definitely uncomfortable in the beginning during a scene with sex and murder combined. It was a short scene thankfully and nothing similar repeated.

From there it progresses to some sexy scenes as Abby and Brendan use a new app to find ways to reconnect in their marriage. I loved the idea of this app and how it could reignite a spark in the marriage. I wish the thriller focused more on the app as it relates to relationships; however, it took a turn and moved away from relationships.

Once the story changed course, it was a thrill ride, action packed with nail biting edge of your seat intensity. It just wasn't what I hoped it would be.

Where do I start... probably by going through my phone, checking what apps I have loaded, deleting ones I no longer have use for and checking what access the rest of them have... especially the camera and microphone... Actually... I am a bit smarter than that. Although I, like the majority, do not read all the Ts&Cs when I blindly click, I do pay attention to what the app has access to before I download it...
Why am I bleating on about this stuff. Well... that's because this issue is at the heart of what happens in this book.
We start with Abby and Brad who are visiting a relationship counsellor. She advises that they download this new app, one that is top if the downloads, it's called Sugar & Spice. But, what start off to be suggesting simple things to, hopefully, bring them closer and repair all aspects of their relationship, soon starts to up the stakes and get a bit risqué...
Meanwhile, Brad in his work is embroiled in a bit of a perplexing case of money fraud and Abby, with one success under her belt, is struggling to deliver the tricky second book.
And then the app goes a bit... well... let's just describe it as rogue... and the stakes get way higher for all concerned...and that's all I'm saying...
Ok so... for full disclosure... some of what happens in this book was a little on the eye-rolly side... but, as it was also very entertaining, and the niggles I might have had along the way were very easily forgiven...
And in amongst all the shenanigans there's a rather nifty plot... about the money stuff, and then we also have Romeo & Juliet and what they appear to be up to, directed by an unidentified voice on the phone...
It's all a bit deliciously interconnected and convoluted but it all comes together very nicely at the end in a very satisfying way...
Characters are rich and wonderful and almost, but not quite, over the top! Deliciously so... It's quite dark and peppered throughout with quite graphic stuff - both violent and, um, of the amorous variety!
All the way through I was trying to work out how in the heck the author was going to manage to wrap it all up to my satisfaction. But he did... and it was good...
Now I know that I also love his collaborations with James Patterson, but I do hope that it won't be too long until he delivers another racking solo effort. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

A new app leads the characters from trying to spice up their life to a dangerous situation. This book plays into something we all skip over the terms and conditions of the app. Great riveting read, it is engaging from the beginning.

Thanks to NetGalley for this arc. First of all, wow! That was a wild ride from start to finish and ohhh boy! I loved it! I can’t recommend this book enough. This married couple go to couples therapy and boom! They spice up their life in more ways than one let’s just say and the people around them all get sucked into an app that controls you. This was fantastic and probably one of the fastest times I’ve read in my life.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The premise of the book drew me in but once I started reading it, I just couldn’t get into it at all.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

A more spicy thriller from J.D. Barker ! I loved “The Fourth Monkey,” so was excited to try this one. A couple having marital issues begins to see a therapist that recommends they download the “Sugar & Spice” app. There are several app malfunctions along the way that lead them to completing tasks they never would have imagined otherwise . A bit long in spots and I felt it could have been a much shorter book and had the same affect . I will continue to read anything new from this author !

What a wild, wild ride! I really enjoyed the first books I read by JD and I very much enjoyed this one. Thank you NetGalley, Hampton Creek Press, and JD Barker. I definitely recommend this one!!

I am a big fan of JD Barker's books. I have loved everything that I have read so far and this latest work is no exception. With a slight deviation from his normal content, Behind a Closed Door touches on something that we have all experienced...the listening of our smart devices. If it hadn't creeped you out before, after reading this, it will certainly make you think about what you say around those devices. Combine our current obsession with all things "smart" and add in a mix of a relationship-enhancing app that is top of the charts with a little bit of mystery and this is the perfect book. Coming in at almost 500 pages, I read this in 2 sittings.

This was a really exciting popcorn thriller - fast, multiple POVs, high-stakes, and I flew through it despite it being nearly 500 pages.
*
The premise is great -- essentially Brendan and Abby are at a rough spot in their marriage, when their therapist suggests an app to spice things up. Basically truth or dare that earns you points. The stakes get higher and higher with each step, and they find themselves in a life-or-death situation.
*
The execution wasn't perfect -- this requires a LOT of suspension of disbelief, and the "What Would Emily Do" theme got really annoying. But it was still a fun read, and makes you think about how far you'd be willing to go to save a relationship.

This book really had the potential to be a 5 star read for me. As it turns out, I apparently do not love spicy mixed in with my thrillers. This was something I didn’t know until now. This book has a really good premise, it gave me Black Mirror vibes and truly made me afraid of my phone every time I put the book down. However, I couldn’t find myself wanting to read more after a certain “fantasy”/ incident took place. I’ve learned that was a hard pass for me as I tried to continue further but couldn’t shake the ick. I recommend doing your research and checking trigger warnings with this one.

I confess that I've been dreading having to pick up Behind A Closed Door ever since I read the blurb. It has become a bad habit to add any new book by one of my favorite authors without reading what it's about first, and this newest story by J.D. Barker sure has taught me a valuable lesson. Those who follow my blog know that I'm not a fan of sexy scenes in my stories AT ALL, so having that Fifty Shades Of Grey reference right there front and center scared the crap out of me. This is probably the main reason it took me this long to actually pick up my copy of Behind A Closed Door, because I'm usually unable to resist his writing for long... Fortunately for me, even though this is without doubt my least favorite of his books so far, things weren't quite as bad as I thought they would be.

Don't get me wrong, the sexy scenes were A LOT. I've never read Fifty Shades Of Grey (and never will), but from what I've heard that's probably an accurate reference for especially the beginning of this book and anything related to the app. The many explicit references in especially the first quarter had me doubting my decision to keep reading, because it was really way too much for me. BUT. It was the murdery bits and bookish angle that got me through to the part where it really got interesting. The sexy part was still there, but it started being overshadowed by so many crazy and over the top events and danger that they were soon pushed towards a more tolerable background.

I don't want to give away too much and spoil the plot, but I mean it when I say that Behind A Closed Door takes over the top to the next level. Then again, J.D. Barker usually creates stories where you have to suspend your disbelief and just go with the flow, so it really shouldn't come as a surprise when this newest story takes the same direction. I personally didn't mind, both because it distracted from the element I didn't like and because the whole conspiracy/danger angle sent the entertainment level through the roof.

I can't say that I liked any of the main characters, and some are quite stereotype and lack more development. I did like the fact that Abby is an author, and how the book she is writing plays part of the plot... And there will be a lot of characters you will love to hate. The main focus of Behind A Closed Door is on the plot though, and you will be too busy racing through the pages to properly stand still by the characters themselves for long. The writing itself is also part of the reason I kept reading, which is just as engaging as I've become used to. Especially the second half was impossible to put down! The way everything was wrapped up was intense and highly entertaining, although don't expect it to be credible in any way.

If you are looking for an action-packed, high octane and racy thriller and don't mind a lack of credibility and an over the top plot, Behind A Closed Door will be a great choice for you. It's without doubt a true rollercoaster ride!