The Prisoner
The Prisoner
By: B.A. Paris
“I should be more afraid. But I’m not scared of dying, not anymore. Not after everything.”
So far I’ve read B.A. Paris’ The Breakdown and The Dilemma. I enjoyed both of those but I think I liked this one better!
This was a totally different vibe than those two books. The Breakdown is a slow burn psychological thriller and The Dilemma is more of a thought-provoking familial drama.
The Prisoner is all action! I read this book in a span of 24 hours I think. It’s short and suspenseful and Paris is not afraid to kill off characters.
Plot Summary
The basic plot is that Amelie, young and recently orphaned when her father dies from cancer, is trying to make her way on her own and is desperate enough for money that she is naively (and stupidly) willing to marry her insanely rich boss for just a month, thinking it’s above board and mutually beneficial. He gets his parents off his back, she gets $100,000.
I mean, I think we all know that nothing good happens in Vegas so that’s our first red flag.
But this ill-fated decision throws Amelie into the worst month of her life full of isolation, lies, murder, and of course, being kidnapped. The prisoner.
Her life has unraveled and she is slave to her nightmares and questions.
Can she survive long enough to get answers?
Comments
This is one of those thrillers where there’s not much to dissect about it. It’s just a good suspenseful novel.
I was surprised by the mixed reviews but apparently we have opposite preferences for Paris’s books. I liked all the action, even if it was predicated on a stupid choice. Considering the context and circumstances I can see how someone, pressured with a timeline, could make that choice. She obviously didn’t know his sordid past at the time.
My only two criticisms are that all the answers at the end are basically given in monologue form which isn’t the most creative way of telling the reader. But in some ways I didn’t mind that. It’s a concise and complete way to dot the i’s and cross the t’s and explain it all. At least it wasn’t the killer-‘revealing’-everything-to-his-victim-before-he-tries-to-kill-them cliche.
The other criticism is that Lina, Justine, and Carolyn are really important people in Amelie’s life. But because of the nature of the book and the first person POV we don’t really get to know them at all. Their absences in the story feels abrupt. Which considering the reason for their absence makes sense, but as a reader we don’t get much closure and are left unsure if we need it.
Also this book takes place in London but I kept forgetting because the terminology seemed more American which was unlike her other two books. When going to Vegas was such a big deal I forgot that they were crossing the pond to do so. I’m not sure what words should have been different, if any, the geography was just something I kept having to remind myself of as I read.
Recommendation
If you want a fast-paced thriller and like a good kidnapping, you’ll like this book.
I would say that if you’ve already read some of Paris’s books, I don’t think your opinion of those will necessarily be indicative of whether or not you like this one.
And if you’ve never read Paris, you should give her a shot.
Side note: I loved the dollar-doubled-for-31-days trick and the next time I get a choice between a million dollars or my own terms, I will definitely use it in my negotiation strategy.
[Content Advisory: 7 f-words; 6 s-words; no sexual content]
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
This book releases November 1, 2022. You may pre-order/order a copy of this book using my affiliate link below.
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