When you pick this book up, all I can say is be prepared to have your mind blown. That may be dramatic to some, but that's exactly where this book had me the entire time. This for me was a masterpiece that I am grateful that I was able take part in. Barker is a great story teller. He has a way of pulling us (the reader) in with a host of secret, lies, and deceptions, that keeps us guessing (Was it him, Was it her? Was it them?). I personally noticed that each character is well developed. We have a clear understanding of who everyone is and what they are about. Each character seems to have been meticulously crafted with their own backstories and motivations. I have found that with such a great level of detail, it makes the story more real and relatable. In the end, this book left me still thinking - wanting to disect/discuss, even now, having completed this over a week ago. Check this out and have your own experience, you won't be sorry!!!

My thanks to Hampton Street Press, J.D. Barker and Netgalley.
I loved this book. However, I'll not be leave review. Barker is good. His asshole-centric and creeptoid shit is unwelcome.
He knows what he did. He should take it to heart. Because most women would not forgive him for his VERY FUCKING CREEPY shit!
I'm giving this one notice....don't fuck up again Mr. Barker, because we women will only take so much. Your "much" is now in the past. Don't do it again.
I love this authors fiction. I always have. I've not ever read a damn thing from him that doesn't make my horror stricken heart think otherwise.
While this story wasn't one of my favorites, it still made me happy as shit to be a Barker fan.
Keep them coming and stop the creepster shit. I'd already be starting the divorce proceedings. Just saying.

Could. Not. Put. This. Down! I read this chunky, spicy, adrenaline fueled, popcorn thriller in under 2 days! Wow, just WOW! This story is so far fetched, fun, nail biting, and it terrified me enough to want to throw away all my devices and buy a burner phone. Haha, just kidding….maybe! Also, just a heads up, the first 30% of this story is pretty spicy since Abby and Brendan Hollander, married for 10 years and have lost their way a bit, enter couples therapy and their therapist recommends a new popular app to help reignite their love life. After that, the story speeds up to overdrive with some over the top situations thanks to the app advancing past sexual suggestions and offering them more sinister assignments. I am a huge fan of this author’s Fourth Monkey trilogy. Barker definitely tried something different in this one but it’s written with his signature tight plotting, character development and humor. Barker makes his stories leap off the page and become a 3D experience! Thank you Netgalley, Hampton Creek Press and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on May 13, 2024

Although this book seemed to begin slow for me for some reason, it kept my attention and did pick up in speed. This story is based on something that I could see happening albeit on a smaller scale. But the thought of it is actually scary because of the possibilities of today's technologies! I would say many of us, too many of us in my opinion, do not pay close enough attention to fine print, nor do we even read it a lot of the time. Perhaps after reading this, we will. I know that I will be paying closer attention to what goes onto my electronics for sure!
Strong characters in the story made it easy to follow, and another one for the good books read by J. D. Barker.

Thanks so much for allowing me to read for review!

AJB

I would like to thank NetGalley and Hampton Creek Press for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book.

I previously read the 4MK Thriller series by JD Barker, and loved it, so I was excited to learn of this new book, deemed a "sexually-charged dark thriller". It sounded like it was right up my reading alley.

This book centers around a couple, Abby and Brendan Hollander, who seem to be in a boring marriage. Enter a new and very popular app called "Sugar and Spice" which is recommended to them by their therapist. Well everything starts out ok, but as the prompts get more and more personal, the stakes also get higher and higher.

It's very obvious that no one reads the fine print when downloading apps (I too am guilty of this), but have Brendan and Abby made the biggest mistake, possible of their lives. The app is definitely not what it seems. Neither is anyone Brendan and Abby meet along the way. Murder and mayhem ensues and follows Brendan and Abby, whether they want it or not. You can't get out of the game when it has completely taken over your life and all of your devices. Really makes you wonder who you can really trust, because pretty much everyone is playing the game and could be out to kill you.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. The premise was good, and it was definitely sexually-charged and violent. However I guess it just didn't sit right with me. With technology and apps the way they are, I guess the plot is plausible but maybe it just hit too close to home. It was a page-turner, though. And the big reveal of the puppet-master and app mastermind definitely surprised me.

I may recommend this book to my friends who like a good thriller, but I feel like it's a very niche audience.

Abby and Brendan Hollander’s marriage is in trouble until their therapist recommends a new app called Sugar and Spice (an erotic truth or dare game). Despite being glitchy they give it a try and now their relationship and sex life are quickly improving. They are having fun trying new things and trying to accumulate more points than their partner until the game takes a dark turn. They soon find themselves caught in a dangerous game where violence and sex go hand in hand…Would you kill a total stranger to save someone you love?

Behind a Closed Door is being marketed as an erotic thriller…50 shades meets The Game. Usually I really enjoy Barker’s fast paced thrillers but this one was way over the top. I think the concept was solid in which a young married couple are trying to work through some difficulties in their relationship. The app provides them with a way to reconnect with their partner through a game of truth (sugar) and dare (spice) in which you accumulate points for completing the task. That’s where the story gets out of control because the app has access to everything and everyone and people will do anything, including violent acts, to gain points. As the story continues it just keeps spiraling out of control and the characters and plot are just so unbelievable you just roll your eyes and move on. That being said I still have faith that I will enjoy further novels by this author. I give him credit for trying something new it just wasn’t something that worked for me personally.

I'd like to thank the publisher for providing me with an ARC.

This book didn't work out for me. I ended up DNFing due to the issues I had with the way topics were handled. I don't think that it was well written or really lived up to the premise. I also think that there were some comments made when discussing the intimacy of the main characters that came across as aphobic and does not give room for relationships that may feel like sexual intimacy is not as important to keeping their relationships alive. Couple's counseling should focus more on what each partner needs, not how much sex they are having or how they are having it if they deem sexual intimacy to be so important to a relationship, not enough sexual intimacy would end it.

Thank you NetGalley, Hampton Creek Press, and JD Barker for an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I have to start by saying how excited I was to start this book. I had read A Caller’s Game by JD Barker, and after enjoying that, and reading the description of this book, I knew this would be right up my alley! (And I wasn’t wrong!)

This book had me at the edge of my seat! What an exciting concept - a seemingly fun steamy couples app that can have some devastating results. It also gave a great reflection into data privacy, and how much our smartphones really are listening.

I truly enjoyed this book. I can’t express enough how intrigued I was by the concept and the plot.

Major bonus points due to the shortness of the chapters! Each chapter ranged (I read on the kindle) from 1 minute to six minutes per chapter for reading speed. That was a welcome delight!

I do think the storyline for the side characters Romeo & Juliet brought a level of goriness that I wasn’t expecting! There was definitely a good amount of gory blood in this book… do with that information what you will.

The ending was a little predictable, but I enjoyed it nonetheless!

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first read by J.D. Barker and what a read it was. I was sucked in from the beginning and read through the many layers of this book in record time. I couldn't get enough! The plot, while farfetched, was interesting and kept me trying to guess what would happen next and who was the mastermind behind the app that was supposed to spice up a marriage that has become stale.

I would definitely recommend this book.

I have always enjoyed books by J.D. Barker. This book was a bit different than his usual, a bit less scary but equally terrifying.

It's fun to get an app that is free and offers you some services, and when Brendon and Abby sign onto Sugar and Spice, an app suggested to them by their marriage counselor, things get quite spicy! The couple feel this is what they need in their dull marriage and as the challenges get more and more sexual, they discover a marriage that is working.

Unfortunately, this app which is "enjoyed" by millions around the world, has quite a sinister side for when the question appears, "Would you kill someone to protect your partner?", Abby and Brendan are on a whirlwind destiny to not only save their lives, but also to find the creator of this deadly game. Hot on their trail are two killers, Romeo and Juliet, who dog their every move with lots of help from Sugar and Spice......and then there are the many participants in Sugar and Spice who earn points for completing their mission!

This was a warning to all of us that in this tech world we are never alone.
Thank you to J.D. Barker, Hampton Creek, and Net Galley for a copy of this story due out this May.

Thank you to NetGalley as well as J.D. Barker for the opportunity to read and review "Behind A Closed Door" in exchange for my honest feedback. Set in a distant utopian society created by an app, this book will take you on a wild ride and leave you thinking... what would I do?

This was my first book by this author and WOW! I really enjoyed this book, absolutely terrifying to think this could easily become our reality. I mean I'm writing this on my phone right now. The chapters were short which we love! I thought i was at the end of the book as there had been so many twists and turns. When i checked i was at 50%. Mindblowing. I have read a lot of thrillers and never seen so many plot twists in one book! Would definitely recommend 5 shining stars 🌟

I have always really enjoyed JD Barker’s work. The plot of this book is very intricate and well woven, but the story didn’t really connect for me.

I loved the 4MK series, and this didn’t disappoint! I loved how this made you think about how much of a role technology plays into our lives and how we nonchalantly agree to Terms of Service on a variety of apps. This was a quick read for me despite the overall length of the book. 5 stars!

I am a big fan of J.D. Barker. Every book I have read that was written by him has been 5 stories. He's a great horror/thriller writer. So when I started reading this book, I had to double check the author. I thought I was reading an erotica. This is not a typical J.D. Barker book. Still great writing but the story was a little unbelievable.
Love the cover but not sure it fits with the storyline.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hampton Creek Press and J.D. Barker for an ARC of "Behind a Closed Door".

Love turns deadly when Abby and Brendan download a new truth or dare app to help them spice up their marriage.

This book started off super strong and I was really into it, but then it started to drag. I was surprised when the real action started that I was barely 50% through the book, and the next 30% seemed to be a very dragged out and complicated game of cat and mouse. The final 20% did pique my interest again up until a satisfying conclusion. I did enjoy the plot and thought it was super fun and original to read. It was certainly unrealistic but that didn't take away from my enjoyment. This was my first time reading this author, and based on this book, I'd probably give another one a try.

3.25/5⭐

Abby and Brendan are having marital difficulties, they decide to seek out counselling to help guide them back to each other. Their therapist Dr Donetti suggests downloading an app called Sugar & Spice to add a little fun back in to their marriage. What starts out as a little fun, quickly turns dark, as it tries to take over their lives.

This book was not my favourite. It was a little far fetched and predictable for me. It fell a little flat after reading the Fourth Monkey series.

I loved this author's 4MK trilogy. I have Dracul on my wishlist. I jumped to get a chance to read this and then the drama happened last month. I sat on whether or not I wanted to read this after that, and curiosity won out. The book is good. It went places I wasn't expecting and reminded me of some of the works by Johnathan Athan. Dark things happen, and chaos ensues, all from one tiny little relationship aid app. It was a lot of twisty fun to read.

When I first started the book, it took me a minute to figure out who the different characters were but then I realized it had multiple povs in the book. After I got the characters all sorted out in my head, the book was very suspenseful and I had to keep reading to figure out what was going to happen next. Not one time did I ever know what was going to happen next. That’s the mark of a good thriller book.

Great read. It will make me think twice before downloading apps!! Will definitely need to make sure I am reading the fine print ;)
Overall the book was very entertaining and kept me hooked. Extremely suspenseful in some parts.. and raunchy in others; however, it was a good balance.

What drew me to this book was initially the cover. It’s a strong depiction of themes throughout the book with puzzles. I look forward to reading more of J.D. Barker’s work.