Behind Closed Doors by B. A. Paris

 

When Jack asked Grace to marry him, it was a dream come true.  She couldn't believe her luck when he had spoken to her in the park and then they had developed a relationship.  He's everything a woman could want.  Handsome, attentive, rich and totally devoted.  He also meets Grace's main requirement.  She has a sister, Millie, who is mentally challenged.  Grace is determined to provide a home for Millie when she turns eighteen and graduates from the residential program she is in.

Jack buys a house for them to live in after their marriage although Grace hasn't seen it yet as he wants to surprise her.  But it has a huge room for Millie and he assures her everything else they had listed as must-haves in a house.  Grace's parents love Jack.  They are about to emigrate to New Zealand and are happy that their girls will have this man in their lives.

The wedding day comes.  It is marred for Grace by Millie having a fall at the wedding and having to miss the ceremony when she is taken to the hospital.  But the ceremony is lovely and soon Grace and Jack are man and wife.  It is the last happy moment Grace will have.

Immediately after the wedding, Jack shows his true nature.  He is a monster who has married Grace only to get to Millie.  He tells Grace he plans to torture Millie mentally until she is totally broken for he is a master of fear and wants nothing more than to make those around him terrified.  Then he plans to kill Millie.  Grace spends her honeymoon in Indonesia locked out on the balcony of their hotel room for hours while Jack disappears.  He uses various techniques to convince Grace that she has no escape and to make others see her as a neurotic woman prone to delusions.

Things are no better when they return to England.  Grace spends her days locked in a barren room.  Sometimes Jack feeds her, sometimes not.  He watches every interaction she is allowed to have with others.  He spends his time with her torturing her with recounting his plans for Millie.  Can Grace escape this nightmare?

This is a debut novel and B.A. Paris exploded onto the literary scene with it.  The reader is transported into Grace's nightmare world and is as terrified as she.  The ultimate nightmare Jack is preparing is believable and terrifying and the reader can easily envision it.  The love between Grace and her sister is admirable and relatable and the trap it enables is believable.  This book is recommended for thriller readers.