I have read all of the author’s previous books and was very excited to receive this one to review. To be honest I really think this one would work much better as a tv drama as there were a lot of characters to visualise and keep up with. Nonetheless the author wrote it really well and created a fabulous chilly atmosphere. I stayed gripped and invested in the plot all the way through and will definitely be recommending this to my book-club!
Ps. I did not see the shocking ending coming and would have placed my bets elsewhere!

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy. I feel like B.A. Paris' books are on a rotation. one blows you out of the water, then the next one is just ok. This was just ok to me. Took me awhile to figure out how the title played into the book-feel it could have been named something better. I was bored in the middle. I would read something that made my jaw drop, then the writing would be slow for awhile. Then another jaw dropper. I skimmed from about 50-75% as i thought it was extremely predictable. however, then some huge shocks show up toward the end. Overall, this book has suspense. The plot seemed overdone to me-have read a handful of books like this lately. But the writing was mostly good, flowed, just some slower parts, but with a GREAT twist at the end!

This is an intriguing pyschological suspense novel that slowly draws you in.

Alice and Leo have just moved into a house in 'the Circle' - a gated community near Finsbury Park. It's their first time living together and a real test for the couple. They were lucky that the house was such a bargain... or so Alice thinks. Eventually she finds out that something unspeakable (okay, I'm trying to avoid spoilers here, but this is essentially the premise) happened to the previous owner - Nina, a therapist. Does that mean she could be in danger too? What happens if no one believes her...?

This is a gripping slow burn and I can imagine it working quite well as a TV drama. There were a few characters I had reservations about - a few questions I wanted to ask that Alice, the main character, doesn't quite get to, and a few twists I saw coming. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the journey.

I kind of wish it had been called 'The Circle' or 'The Circle Closes'!

Thank you to NetGalley, HQ Mystery & Thrillers and BA Paris for this ARC of ‘The Therapist’ in return for my honest review.

I have read all of this author’s novels and found this to be one of, if not, the best so far. Totally compelling reading.

Alice and Leo have decided to move in together after having a few months in a long-distance relationship. Alice has rented out her cottage and Leo has found a house in and exclusive gated community ‘The Circle’, near Finsbury Park, London, for what seems to be a reasonable price. The reasons for this unfold as the story is told.

The narrative is told from Alice’s viewpoint interspersed with what is clearly therapy sessions.

Against Leo’s better judgement Alice invites all those who live in ‘The Circle’ for Saturday evening drinks and most of the neighbours arrive although there are a couple of absentees. There is a gate crasher to the event and Alice finds out who he is when he turns up at her door stating he is a private investigator looking into the murder of Nina Maxwell, who used to live there.

I was pleased I was in the house alone at certain points as the story unfolds and the ending was brilliant.

Highly recommended and make sure the doors and windows are locked before reading!.

Dark Neighbourhood Noir...
The exclusive gated area of The Circle may not be all it’s cracked up to be in this dark neighbourhood noir. After all, appearances can be deceptive. New residents, Alice and Leo, are about to find out exactly that. A twisting, taut and engaging read.

B.A. Paris never disappoints and her latest book is a great read. The only reason I have given four stars instead of five is down the amount of characters I had to try and keep up with in the book.

When Alice moves into a gated community with her partner Leo, she learns that the house Leo insisted on buying had been the scene of a murder. What really happened to Nina? None of the other residents are saying much but they all believe Nina's partner committed the crime.
Alice feels uneasy in the house, especially when Leo is away, but when she finds out he isn't who she thought he was, she really is alone. Can she find out what really happened?
There was a lot going on in the book, and there were a lot of characters to keep up with. The plot twist at the end was brilliant and so well written.

After reading The Dilemma earlier in the year and really enjoying the writing style of this author I was excited to read this latest offering from B A Paris.

The Therapist tells the story of Alice and Leo, who after a long distance relationship take the plunge to move in together. Finding the perfect house within a gated community in London at a bargain price is ideal and, although Leo has to commute to Birmingham in the week at first, Alice is determined to make this home. But all is not as perfect as it seems, the close and its residents are hiding secrets, who does Alice trust to uncover the truth?

I did not see the twist coming at all, I was kept guessing right up until the moment of reveal and even then more secrets and turns in the characters lives are exposed, bringing everything to a satisfying conclusion. I did feel that at times the character of Leo wasn’t completely necessary, a few facts with him don’t quite add up, including his reasoning for needing the security of a gated community, but nonetheless it doesn’t take anything away from the story. The characters are what I would imagine a housing estate environment like this to be - I had Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives in my head whilst imaging the close!

A good twisty thriller that reminds us all that a normal suburban life may not be all it seems to be. Would recommend and look forward to reading more by this author.

I suddenly became really glad that I no longer live on my own!

I really enjoyed the journey Alice went on in this book, although it takes place over a relatively short space of time so much happens. Alice questiosn everyones words and actions when she finds out shes living in the house where the previous occupants were involved in murder suicide. For some reason Alice just cant accept that the explanation is as simple as she wants it to be. The Circle is a tight knit community so whether she can get information from them or trust them is up for debate,

We learn enough about everyone not to trust them but not enough to discount them from the truth.. This is a perfect book to read in the dark before maybe sleeping with the light on.

I really wanted to like this because I'm a fan of B A Paris's earlier books (The Breakdown being my favourite) but The Dilemma was a big miss for me. Unfortunately I didn't not like this, but I can't really say I liked it either.

If I'm completely honest, I was bored for the entire first half of the book. Things did pick up a little bit in the second half but by that point I just wasn't invested enough. I couldn't stand the main character, I couldn't (and still don't) understand why she got so involved in something that really doesn't involve her, and how she has the nerve to throw her partner out of his own house over something pretty minor and why he accepts it. Also, she only ever spoke to her neighbours to try and get information about the murder that isn't really any of her business and is then surprised when they don't like her! The woman really beggars belief and I have to find a character even just slightly relatable to enjoy the story.

I did like 'The Circle' and I think the author did a good job of describing the community. The story itself wasn't actually too bad either (albeit not that interesting) and I did want to find out how it ended so maybe I would have liked it more had the main character not been so hard to relate to.

I have no doubt that this book will find its audience so please don't let my review put you off, it just wasn't really for me. 2.5 stars rounded up.

It should be the perfect time. Alice and Leo, moving in together to the exclusive gated community, The Circle. It’s time for their relationship to flourish and both are looking forward to being together. But when their neighbours aren’t as forthcoming as Alice expected, she discovers a secret that changes how she views her new home and her partner. Alice still grieves her sister, Nina, and becomes heavily involved in trying to piece together what happened in The Circle before she moved in. Nothing is as ideal as it seems but what does that mean for those living in this exclusive community? I read this with hairs on the back of my neck standing up; there are moments of panic, worry and fear, which is why I love psychological thrillers. They play with your emotions and put you right at the centre of the story.

My first book by this author and it won't be my last.

The Therapist was a gripping, compulsive read that had my guessing right until the very end. It is so well written, and the mystery and twists and turns had me intrigued and glued to the pages from start to finish. I absolutely devoured it and I think you will too!
A brilliant read that is highly recommended!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher, for an early copy of this novel, in exchange for an honest review.

This is my third B.A. Paris book and definitely my favourite so far.

It's instantly engaging, with a main character who feels very real and relatable along with an interesting mix of side characters and a good helping of complexities. I was intrigued about the mystery surrounding Nina's murder and think the extreme clique-iness of the gated community was a brilliant way of creating the secrecy and tension that was an absolute necessity in this book.

Based on my previous experiences with this author, I was expecting a more obvious conclusion and although the culprit didn't massively surprise me, there were easily enough extra twists and surprises involved with the reveal to keep it really very interesting.

I did find some of the information a bit superfluous (view spoiler) as I just feel that it didn't add much at all to the story and it would have been identical without this reveal in particular.

I also found Alice's paranoia really hit and miss which was a little frustrating. Many of the scenes where she assumed (view spoiler) when this was so obviously not the case didn't really fit in with her overall character for me.

This is ultimately a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting book. I'll be keeping my eye out for future releases and getting to the 2 Paris books I've skipped very soon.

This is a murder mystery with a difference. Leo and Alice have started a relationship conducted at a distance so don’t know each other too well when they decide to live together. Leo buys a house in a secure community called The Circle before Alice has seen it. A stranger turns up at their welcoming party for the neighbours then disappears again. The house has a past which Alice knows nothing about. That doesn’t help her relationship with Leo. All Alice wants is “an everyday life, not one with secrets and lies, fear and mistrust”. But that is what she gets. The story unwinds gradually, with pointers to the culprit that keep changing direction up to an unexpected ending. It is well written with credible characters. It is a book to keep you reading. I recommend it.

Rating: 2.3/5

Prior to this I had only read one other book by B.A. Paris which was "Bring Me Back". Although I found that to be a fairly entertaining read, the premise was ludicrously far-fetched. Therefore, I was relieved that the basis for "The Therapist" did, at least, have far more credibility.

Having agreed to acquire their first home together, professional translator, Alice, and her boyfriend, Leo, move into a house situated in an exclusive gated community in London. Given its location, the property is surprisingly affordable and the reasons for this start to become apparent, as Alice discovers some disturbing background information.

There were a number of occasions when I found this reminiscent of the first series of "Desperate Housewives", but without the dark humour. Here, instead of Wisteria Lane, the setting is the equally affluent and desirable "The Circle", but as in "Desperate Housewives" the female characters are the predominant focus of the proceedings.

There are various twists and turns as Alice goes about her business of uncovering the truth, but rarely did I feel any real sense of menace building. Certain events were a little too convenient and required some suspension of disbelief in order to avoid derailing the plot. As you might expect, there are red herrings along the way, but they tend to be telegraphed, so you are unlikely to miss them.

Overall, I think the author did enough to keep this on the right side of "Ok", without it ever quite doing enough to be described as good.

This was a well written and gripping story. However, it wasn’t too difficult to work out who the perpetrator was.

This is a clever story, which will keep you up all night to finish it, but I was disappointed in the book. It felt a bit formulaic, and I worked out early on which character was no who they appeared to be. The characters lacked depth, and the whole thing just felt a bit contrived. I enjoy the author's writing, so I hope her next book will be better.

Well written, dark and clever with plenty of twists and a constant undercurrent of secrets, lies and suspicion

I love a B. A. Paris book, you always get the right amount of intensity and paranoia. It is a very well written tale with tension on each page, it keeps you guessing till the very end. You never really know what is going to happen. I was expecting something, then something entirely different happened that shocked me. I had to read this book in a day as I just wanted to find out how it was going to end. A very good twisty psychological thriller.

BA Paris is just one of those writers that create books I know I'll always enjoy. I'd earmarked The Therapist before checking out the blurb and I wasn't disappointed. A haunted house or is it? Strange goings on. A woman at the end of her emotional tether. Perfect writing. Perfect level of suspence. Perfect!

The darkest, twisted thriller of 2020. If you want to be scared out of your wits- read this! You'll be up all night just to see what happens and it has the benefit of being a true original. The main character really captured my imagination and I could feel her fear, everything she goes through leaves you checking over your shoulder. A brilliantly written novel.