Behind Closed Doors

I loved every minute of this book! Suspense, twists, turns, and so well-written. I cannot believe that this is Kathryn Croft's debut book. She is going to the top and staying there! If you want to read a book that you cannot put down until you finish, then this is the one! Fantastic!

I really enjoyed this story. Kathryn engages the reader from the start with her story told from the main character's perspective. The story moves along at a rapid pace and the reader is really emotionally engaged with the gal telling the story. The reader is left to figure out what it is that has happened in the past, which was well done. We are also led to understand the result of the story's climax rather than the story being all laid out in the traditional, orderly fashion, which further enhances the telling of the story. As a reader there were several points where I wouldn't have agreed with the woman's choices, which further engaged me as a reader. This is a good book for anyone who enjoys thrillers, psychological thrillers or reading about women's struggles.

The story started off with a promising drama about a mother and her young daughter starting a new life on their own after separating from her husband. Enter attractive upstairs neighbour who you have to assume is a bit too good to be true. Of course he is as is he obviously a rather troubled and disturbed person. Rather than delving into his character, the story focuses on the mother and her gullty feelings about the relationship itself and her reasons for leaving her husband. I feel that the author should have made deeper explorations into the psychology of the neighbour and the reasons for his strange behaviour, rather than leave it all until the last page to reveal his motives.

I gave Behind Closed Doors three stars because it is well-written, the cathartic first-person narrative reflecting realistically the psychic tensions, conflicts and frustrations of a woman and mother in an alien environment . The setting is also perfectly adapted to the unwholesome ménage. However, as I drew closer to the ending, and after having almost reached 90% of the novel, there was hardly any unravelling of the mystery. I had, of course, guessed from the start the ending, but I was expecting over and above that, a more Machiavellian plot, not a family tragedy.

Umm...just finished Behind Closed Doors. I am surprised that I actually read this book until the end; a horrible ending at that. I feel that Kathryn Croft owes me for the time I wasted on this book. First, this novel dragged on far too long with uneventful nonsense. Secondly, this novel had three totally different plots in one book. The book unsuccessfully alternated between depicting the dysfunctional romantic relationship of Olivia and Michael to Olivia's life in a mental health facility to Olivia being stalked. The separate plots were annoying; and the ending did a poor job tying them together. The title of the book is "Behind Closed Doors" and I think Kathryn Croft should have kept the idea to write this book behind the closed recesses of her mind.

This book was extremely slow. Nothing happened until the last page. I could see what was coming the entire time and was irritated that the main character was so dumb that she couldn't. It had gotten mostly good reviews, so I had high expectations. What a disappointment.

I was kind of hoping this timid little woman would finally put her daughter and even herself first instead of leading her life through a self-centered man who was hot and then cool. I didn't like the ending at all. I kept waiting for her to grow a couple and take her daughter out of this crazy situation, instead she put kinky sex first.

Ah the proper use of the English language to capture our minds and wrap us in a web of questions about the characters. One can picture the events and scenes as they unfold. The suspense kept me reading and I couldn't put it down until I knew the ending.

Do not waste your time or money. The description alludes to some bizarre ending, something you would never expect. The story is supposed to be some kind of mystery I guess, but it is without a doubt, one of the worst books I have ever read. If I could, I would give it zero stars

I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading more by this author. I don't want to give anything away but wanted to clarify a couple of things others have commented on. First, the story is told from the main character, Olivia's, point of view and is written as if she is talking to the other main character. So when she writes the word "you" that means she is speaking to the other main character. When Olivia is speaking to the other characters it is easily identified. Secondly, the character of Olivia is also a mom and in my opinion makes some huge errors and makes choices I would never make but that doesn't mean this is a terrible book. I think that this lack of good parenting adds to the story because if she had thought about her child more than there wouldn't be a story. In order for the events to occur she has to make these (bad) choices. My reason for the four star rating is I felt the ending could have been slightly different and still made an impact on the reader. Additionally, a bit more detail was needed with regards to what happened to the siblings. All in all it was highly suspenseful and extremely entertaining.

Post was edited to remove the exact reason why I was unhappy with the ending, per the author's request. I look forward to your next novel.

THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW!

I find that writing a review for this book is very difficult. There were so many aspects that I did not like, however, I couldn't seem to put it down either. I think the biggest problem I have is how unlikable and unrealistic the main character, Olivia, is. The story is also very jumpy. It jumps from one scene to another without any transition or separation (like beginning a new chapter). Time passes oddly as well. There will be a major event in the plot that you are expecting to read more about and suddenly it is weeks later with no real explanation of what happened during that time. The big ending was too predictable, while still leaving so many important questions unanswered. I had figured out the brother/sister relationship very early on and figured out what happened to the daughter as soon as there were hints of Olivia being in a mental hospital. Nothing seems to get wrapped up or explained. Some questions I have are: why was Olivia so attracted to Michael in the first place? There is literally nothing likable about him. Why does she seem to notice red flags and then randomly just completely ignore them? What is with the Jonathan character? Out of the blue he becomes a stalker, why? Also, why is Chloe being his girlfriend important to the plot? Why has Ellie been so afraid of Chloe for so long? It clearly seemed like she had been torturing her all along and Ellie was too afraid to tell her mom (like her teacher said was not healthy), but it never gets explained? Why do Michael's parents hate him? Did they know about their children being so messed up and never did anything about it? Why would Carl bring Ellie to the party in the first place? She missed her mom that she was going to see the next morning??? And after all the chaos, why would he leave the scene to get the car started? I'm sure I am not remembering all my questions as I write this, but the point is I was not super impressed with this book.

I'm reeling after having read this book. I bought this one, the first from this author, because I had just read her last book, "While You Were Sleeping" and it was incredible. So I went back to read her first book and it was horrible. The story was so bad, the characters so irritating, that I ended up flipping quickly through it just to see if it ever got any better but it didn't. It got worse and worse until the end. This was no a psychological thriller and I can't imagine why anyone gave this 5 stars. Horrible. The main character is so selfish and such a horrible mother that I was hoping she would be killed. If the author was trying to write a "9 1/2 Weeks" type of thing, she sorely missed the mark. I had to get my money back and now I'm not sure I want to try again with this author's other books.

TOTALLY STUPID DRIVEL!!!
THIS IS THE SECOND BOOK I HAVE READ BY THIS AUTHOR. THAT WON'T BE HAPPENING AGAIN! CHARACTERS ARE NON-LIKEABLE, AND I MEAN ALL OF THEM. THE MOTHER IS OBSESSED WITH HER UPSTAIRS NEIGHBOR AFTER ONE EVENING. SHE IS PORTRAYED AS WEAK, SEX OBSESSED, AND CONFUSED. I WAS CONFUSED...WHO WOULD ACT LIKE THIS? APPARENTLY BEING DEGRADED SEXUALLY WAS SOMEHOW EXCITING AND STIMULATING. REALLY? THE ENDING WAS A HOT MESS... AND AS FAR AS BEING A PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER BY CHAPTER 3 YOU KNEW WHAT WAS GOING ON. ONLY THE MAIN CHARACTER AND MOTHER "OLIVIA" WAS OBLIVIOUS. YIKES WHAT STUPID DRIVEL.

THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW!

I find that writing a review for this book is very difficult. There were so many aspects that I did not like, however, I couldn't seem to put it down either. I think the biggest problem I have is how unlikable and unrealistic the main character, Olivia, is. The story is also very jumpy. It jumps from one scene to another without any transition or separation (like beginning a new chapter). Time passes oddly as well. There will be a major event in the plot that you are expecting to read more about and suddenly it is weeks later with no real explanation of what happened during that time. The big ending was too predictable, while still leaving so many important questions unanswered. I had figured out the brother/sister relationship very early on and figured out what happened to the daughter as soon as there were hints of Olivia being in a mental hospital. Nothing seems to get wrapped up or explained. Some questions I have are: why was Olivia so attracted to Michael in the first place? There is literally nothing likable about him. Why does she seem to notice red flags and then randomly just completely ignore them? What is with the Jonathan character? Out of the blue he becomes a stalker, why? Also, why is Chloe being his girlfriend important to the plot? Why has Ellie been so afraid of Chloe for so long? It clearly seemed like she had been torturing her all along and Ellie was too afraid to tell her mom (like her teacher said was not healthy), but it never gets explained? Why do Michael's parents hate him? Did they know about their children being so messed up and never did anything about it? Why would Carl bring Ellie to the party in the first place? She missed her mom that she was going to see the next morning??? And after all the chaos, why would he leave the scene to get the car started? I'm sure I am not remembering all my questions as I write this, but the point is I was not super impressed with this book.

I'm reeling after having read this book. I bought this one, the first from this author, because I had just read her last book, "While You Were Sleeping" and it was incredible. So I went back to read her first book and it was horrible. The story was so bad, the characters so irritating, that I ended up flipping quickly through it just to see if it ever got any better but it didn't. It got worse and worse until the end. This was no a psychological thriller and I can't imagine why anyone gave this 5 stars. Horrible. The main character is so selfish and such a horrible mother that I was hoping she would be killed. If the author was trying to write a "9 1/2 Weeks" type of thing, she sorely missed the mark. I had to get my money back and now I'm not sure I want to try again with this author's other books.

TOTALLY STUPID DRIVEL!!!
THIS IS THE SECOND BOOK I HAVE READ BY THIS AUTHOR. THAT WON'T BE HAPPENING AGAIN! CHARACTERS ARE NON-LIKEABLE, AND I MEAN ALL OF THEM. THE MOTHER IS OBSESSED WITH HER UPSTAIRS NEIGHBOR AFTER ONE EVENING. SHE IS PORTRAYED AS WEAK, SEX OBSESSED, AND CONFUSED. I WAS CONFUSED...WHO WOULD ACT LIKE THIS? APPARENTLY BEING DEGRADED SEXUALLY WAS SOMEHOW EXCITING AND STIMULATING. REALLY? THE ENDING WAS A HOT MESS... AND AS FAR AS BEING A PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER BY CHAPTER 3 YOU KNEW WHAT WAS GOING ON. ONLY THE MAIN CHARACTER AND MOTHER "OLIVIA" WAS OBLIVIOUS. YIKES WHAT STUPID DRIVEL.

I really liked "The Stranger Within" & 2 other books by this author. But I really didn't care for this one. I hated how the main character is continually "talking" to her boyfriend BUT she's mostly writing what she's "thinking to herself". So weird. I'd figured out the sick twist very early on (as I suspect many readers did). Olivia is a pathetic, low self-esteemed, ditzy character who never put her daughter Ellie's needs first! And the ending was horrible. Couldn't we at least read about the villainous, crazy person's punishment? But I've liked 3 out of 4 of Ms. Croft's books, so I will try another one by her. In fairness, we aren't necessarily going to love every book an author writes.

I love psychological thrillers and read as many as I can. This book started out good but after Olivia met Michael, it got a bit tedious. She couldn't get over her husband cheating one time but allows Michael to treat her like trash. I'm not a fan of the style that it was written, it was like she was talking to Michael. It was a bit weird to me. I figured out what was going on and couldn't believe how naive Olivia was. It was sad that an innocent person had to suffer because of it.

Boring...Boring...Boring... Terrible book. Not sure why it's called a psychological thriller as there was nothing thrilling about it. No likable characters at all. The main character was just a selfish, self obsessed woman with no concern about anything but herself, including her child. I would not recommend it nor would I read another book by this author. What a waste of time! The only reason I finished it was because I thought it might get better ... or better yet, get a plot. The only good thing is it was a Kindle Unlimited (which I love) book and I didn't have to pay for it. Behind Closed Doors

**SPOILERS**

The big itself interested me in the first few chapters, being a fan of the author I was more than excited to read it. The story slowed down immensely and Croft dragged out the story for what seemed like hours. The ending, the "big plot twist" was terrible. I could see Micheal and Chloe's incestuous relationship from a mile away but Chloe killing Ellie was just outrageous. The story would've been better if the author didn't leave so much up to interpretation.. are Chloe and Michael actually sleeping together? Is Ellie actually dead? What happened afterwards to land Olivia in the psych unit? How does Carl and Kiera deal with Ellie's death? Does Olivia ever get out and get her life back? The only likeable character besides Carl and Kiera was Henny but even she was gone as abruptly as she was introduced without much of an explanation. The thing of the novel I think I disliked the most was the narrative in which it was written.. KC is a great author and her other books are definitely worth the read but this one is just a very long, very annoying, waste of time.

I was very disappointed with this Kathryn Croft book. I am a huge fan of her books and usually she does an amazing job at creating an intriguing thriller with twists found in every chapter. This book was slow to start and the whole time I kept thinking "when is something going to happen?" I continued reading because all her books start to get crazy and impossible to put down in the end. But this one fell flat. The ending was quick and unsurprising. It left many questions answered with a quick little tie up. I much prefer her story telling throughout the previous books with huge secrets spilled from the beginning. Normally Kathryn Croft doesn't shy away from describing the characters and their deeds, however unsavory, but this one barely warranted a mention of what they were really up to.

Over the past few weeks, in search of quick reads that don't require too much brain power, I've read 3 of Croft's books. In this one, Croft presents another unlikeable protagonist who makes spectacularly poor decisions, particularly regarding men. This time around, however, a child is affected, which makes the narrator even more unsympathetic. I figured out a possible twist early on, but because it seemed so obvious I thought that surely there must be something more. There isn't. There are a lot of loose ends and overall this is a very disappointing read. Fortunately, I read it through my Kindle Unlimited subscription so I'm not out any money.

I most definitely would not call this a gripping psychological thriller, this book is about a woman who leaves her husband and is strong, only to be turned into a spineless fool who's inability to walk away causes her daughter to pay the price. This book was almost entirely predictable that drug on unnecessarily and then the last few pages kind of run through an ending

Pretty good story though the pacing was sludgy in some parts and I had more or less figured out what was going on by halfway through the book.I also had a hard time with Olivia's willingness to continue with a relationship as it's shown in the story---perhaps if she;d been a younger character and not a mother? I don't know, but clearly the child had a much better handle on the unhealthy relationship than Olivia did.

I also think the story would have been better if it wasn't written in 1st person present tense, but that's a bugaboo of mine.

An intriguing story of uncontrolled passion, incestuous depravity, culminating in unspeakable tragedy. A well-written book that I had difficulty putting down. As is the case in too many real life situations, the most innocent of the books main characters paying the heaviest price.

I read "Behind Closed Doors" after reading three of Croft's other novels. While I loved those, I can't say the same about this book. The main character, Olivia, is extremely hard to like. At times, she comes across downright spineless and pathetic. Olivia's boyfriend, Michael, is also extremely dislikeable, being controlling and at times even violent. The plot drags on with a lot of takeaway and wine. I told myself to stick with it, because Croft's other novels all came with a crazy, surprising twist I didn't see coming. I tried to speculate what the twist in this book would be, but what I came up with would have been far more intriguing (at least in my mind) than what actually happened. It ended up being a disappointment. Croft is a good writer and her other books are worth your time. Just skip this one.

I recently read Kathryn Croft's book The Girl With No Past and couldnt't put it down so was excited to get another one of her books. I was really disappointed and I hate to say this. I wanted to smack Olivia, smack Chloe, and throttle Michael. The beginning of the book portrayed Olivia as a strong woman who was leaving her husband and did so without looking back - she quickly turned into a weakling and I lost all respect for her. I almost couldn't finish the book - don't get me started on the ending. Despite all of this I will look for more of her books and hope they are like the first one.

I have to say I'm quite disappointed after reading this book. I really enjoyed Kathryn's two other books but this one left me rather angry at the main character Olivia as well wanting something more. I felt as if there was no closure to the story. I didn't once feel empathetic for Olivia or what she was going through because the story itself did not have enough meat to it. Why did Olivia and Carl's relationship dissolve? What was it about Michael that captivated and drew Olivia in? Couldn't have been his personality for he had none. I also found myself bored many a times reading it because it had too many scenes that weren't necessary (Olivia and Michael in the bedroom). It left me thinking that the book was more like a harlequin romance.

Couldn't finish this. None of these characters are either likeable, plausable, or well developled. Oliva leaves husband and the rest of the book seems to be all about new boy friend treating her like dirt, Olivia agonizing over all this but always going back, and Olivia agonizing about the effect of this relationship on her poor daughter. I usually try to finish a book .... but this was just too ridiculous, and boring.

Kathyrn Croft knows how to build suspense ; her writing grasps the reader through to the last page. I don’t review every book I read however, all of Crofts books were brilliant.
This author is one I will follow and anxiously await for new novels.