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Dec 7

The Therapist By B.A. Paris

The Therapist‘The Therapist’ is the latest book by Sunday times bestselling author B.A. Paris.

When Alice and Leo move into a newly renovated house in The Circle, a gated community of exclusive houses, it is everything they’ve dreamed of. But appearances can be deceptive. As Alice is getting to know her neighbours, she discovers a devastating, grisly secret about her new home, and begins to feel a strong connection with Nina, the therapist who lived there before. Alice becomes obsessed with trying to piece together what happened two years before. But no one wants to talk about it. Her neighbours are keeping secrets and things are not as perfect as they seem.

B.A. Paris has rapidly become one of my favourite authors after reading her debut novel called ‘Behind Closed Doors’/

It’s now the norm for me to read her books in one sitting and ‘The Therapist’ was no different. Although, I did stupidly start the book before bed one night, intending to read only a chapter or 2 but ended reading 24 instead and unable to put it down the following day!

The story is seen through the narrative of Alice, who’s just moved into her new house with her boyfriend Leo. After months of only seeing each other at the weekends, they decided to give their relationship a proper go with buying a house together. Having left the comfort of her country cottage, Alice moves into the private, gated community, home to professional couples and families. It’s at her house warming party that she meets her neighbours and is surprised at their coolness towards her. But Alice is determined to male friends and is horrified to discover that one day, a man turns up telling her that a woman called Nina was brutally murdered in the house.

Alice is distraught that Leo had kept this information from her and so begins the breakdown of their relationship and Alice’s fascination into Nina’s death and her own quest into finding out who really killed Nina.

The story is filled with paranoia and suspense as Alice begins to discover flaws in Nina and in her new friends with the secrets that they keep. As the story develops, it’s difficult to sometimes tell the difference between what’s real and what’s not as Alice is a bit of an unreliable narrator at times and other people including Leo are seen as a potential threat.

I loved this story, it’s well written and paced with short and snappy chapters that really engage the reader. I speak from experience! Alice is a great protagonist, she’s complex and finds a connection in Nina, as she shares the same name as Alice’s sister who is also dead and hopes that with finding Nina’s killer, will give her some peace even if that means making some enemies along the way.

The story is not only seen from Alice’s perspective but there is also an unknown therapist meeting their patients for the first time.

Atmospheric and filled with paranoia and suspense throughout, ‘The Therapist’ is a gripping guessing game with unsettling moments and suspicious characters that keeps the reader on their and is another terrific roller coaster of a story from B.A. Paris.

You can pre-order ‘The Therapist’ from Amazon and will be available to buy from good bookshops from 7th January 2021.

Jan 16

The Dilemma By B.A. Paris

The DilemmaB.A. Paris is back with a new book called ‘The Dilemma’.

It’s Livia’s fortieth birthday and tonight she’s having a party, a party she’s been planning for a long time. The only person missing will be her daughter, Marnie. But Livia has a secret, a secret she’s been keeping from Adam, her husband, until the party is over. Because how can she tell him that although she loves Marnie, she’s glad their daughter won’t be there to celebrate with her? Adam is determined everything will be just right for Livia and the party is going to be perfect… until he learns something that will leave him facing an unbearable decision. One day that will change a family forever.

Queen of suspense, BA Paris is back with a new domestic drama that I consumed in one day! Filled with twists and turns, the only time I could put the book down was when I stopped for tea.

As per BA’s previous novels, the story starts at the moment that something huge has happened and then travels back to the point leading up to it.

I really enjoyed this story, the duel narratives and insights gave a clever twist to the story that really did grab my attention. Seen from the narrative of husband and wife Livia and Adam, Livia finds out something terrible about her daughter and doesn’t want to ruin or cancel her party whilst Adam also finds out something terrible and also doesn’t want to ruin the day that his wife has wished for. It makes for interesting reading as the couple try to enjoy a significant day in their lives, but both are harbouring secrets that make it unbearable for each other.

I thought Livia was an interesting character who put much thought and effort into her 40th birthday party to make up for the small wedding that she had when she was younger and how Adam supported her on this flamboyant affair. But on a day that is meant to be memorable for happy reasons, is a day that both partners find themselves battling with morals and when to do the right thing.

An unique and fast paced thriller that really got inside my head about secrets, morals and relationships, BA has produced a book that stays with the reader long after they read the last page. ‘The Dilemma’ is a clever and emotional story that was riddled with drama tension throughout and had me racing through the pages

You can buy ‘The Dilemma’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.

Jun 17

B.A. Paris Reveals New Book – The Dilemma

The DilemmaI’m so excited to see that one of my favourite psychological thrillers authors, B.A. Paris is back with a new book called ‘The Dilemma’.

What the back cover says –

It’s Livia’s fortieth birthday and tonight she’s having a party, a party she’s been planning for a long time. The only person missing will be her daughter, Marnie.

But Livia has a secret, a secret she’s been keeping from Adam, her husband, until the party is over. Because how can she tell him that although she loves Marnie, she’s glad their daughter won’t be there to celebrate with her?

Adam is determined everything will be just right for Livia and the party is going to be perfect… until he learns something that will leave him facing an unbearable decision.

One day that will change a family forever, ‘The Dilemma’ is the breath-taking, heart-breaking new novel from the million-copy-selling, Sunday Times bestselling author.

Unfortunately this book won’t be out until 2020, so we’ll have a bit of a wait until we can get our hands on a copy.

You can pre-order ‘The Dilemma’ from Amazon and will be available to buy from good bookshops frm 9th January 2020.

Mar 13

B.A Paris Writers Tip

B.A. ParisAuthor of ‘The Breakdown’, B.A. Paris shares her writing tips for aspiring authors.

Write what you enjoy writing, not what is in fashion. At the moment, it’s psychological thrillers. If psychological thrillers aren’t your genre, don’t try to write one.

Feb 13

1 Comment

B A Paris

B A ParisB A Paris is the internationally bestselling author of ‘Behind Closed Doors’, her debut novel. She was brought up in England and moved to France where she spent some years working in Finance before re-training as a teacher and setting up a language school with her husband. They still live in France and have five daughters. Her second novel, The Breakdown is out now.

  1. To the readers of the blog, that may not be familiar with you or your writing, can tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into writing?
    I was born in England and moved to France when I was twenty-one, where I still live today. Writing was always there at the back of my mind but with five daughters, I never seemed to have the time. Then, about seven years ago, there was a writing competitions in the ‘Sunday Times’ and I told one of my daughters about it, because she’d told me she had an idea for a novel. But when she looked at the rules, she found she was too young to enter so she suggested that I try. I had always imagined myself as a writer of children’s stories so the thought of writing an 80,000 word novel was daunting. But that night I had an idea for a story and began writing the next day. It didn’t win the competition but I couldn’t stop writing, and have been ever since.
  2. Tell us about your new book ‘The Breakdown’.
    It tells the story of Cass, a young woman who, driving home during a storm one night, decides to take a short cut through some woods. She sees a woman broken down in her car and although she stops, she’s too scared to get out of her car to check on the woman in case it’s a trap. The next day, she hears that the woman has been murdered and feels enormous guilt. She also been having problems with her memory and when she begins to receive silent calls, she wonders if the murderer is after her.
  3. What do you think makes a good thriller?
    There needs to be pace and tension, to keep the reader turning the pages.
  4. If you were to start your own book club, what authors would you ask to join?
    I’d invite authors from all different genres. Most of the authors I’ve met through my writing tend to be writers of psychological thrillers, and while I’d invite them to join, I think it would be interesting to have a greater variety.
  5. What has been the highlight of your career so far?
    The moment my lovely agent Camilla Wray said she wanted to represent me was a pretty big one. Seeing my book in a bookshop for the first time, another. Hitting the New York Times bestseller list and receiving the Neilsen Bestseller Award in January for having sold 500,000 copies of ‘Behind Closed Doors’ were pretty amazing too. I feel very lucky.
    The Breakdown
  6. What’s your favourite book of all time?
    Such a difficult question. It’s like asking a chocoholic what their favourite chocolate bar is! I love different books for different reasons. As soon as I name one, I think immediately of another I liked just as much. I’d probably have to go for a book that made a huge impact on me in my early teens, ‘Trinity’ by Leon Uris. Or ‘We Need to Talk about Kevin’ by Lionel Shriver.
  7. If you were starting your writing journey again, would you do anything differently?
    No, because it’s been a wonderful journey so far. Sometimes I regret not starting earlier but if I had, maybe I wouldn’t be the writer I am today.
  8. What area do you suggest a budding writer should concentrate on to further their abilities?
    Write what you enjoy writing, not what is in fashion. At the moment, it’s psychological thrillers. If psychological thrillers aren’t your genre, don’t try to write one. 
  9. If you were stranded on a desert island, which three books would you bring with you to pass the time?
    A Nancy Mitford novel for diversion, ‘One Day in the life of Ivan Denisovich’ by Solzhenitsyn for contemplation (and because I’m stuck on a desert island and not in a gulag!) and ‘Les Misérables’ so that I can keep my French up to scratch.
  10. When sitting down to write, what is the one item you need beside you?
    My mobile. When I need to take a break from writing, I catch up with my family or friends, or Twitter.
  11. And finally, do you have any projects or releases on the horizon which you would like to share with the readers of the website.
    I’m currently writing Book 3, which will be out next year. I hope to have finished it by the summer and then I’ll be working on my next novel.

Follow on Twitter B A Paris for updates

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