Behind Closed Doors

Newlyweds Grace and Jack Angel seem to lead a perfect life in British author Paris’s gripping debut, but appearances can be deceiving. In addition to being a handsome, successful attorney, Jack is also a sadistic psychopath, and the couple’s picture-perfect home in Spring Eaton, England, doubles as Grace’s prison. She makes the postnuptial discovery that he’s a controlling, sadistic misogynist who murdered his mother and has disturbing plans for Grace and her younger sister, Milly. In delineating the ways in which Jack creates a physical and psychological prison for Grace, Paris pushes credibility one step over the line. But with reader Maguire’s help in making listeners feel every torturous moment of Grace’s hellish married life and her almost feverish plan to gain freedom for herself and her sister, credibility is trumped by emotion. Along with Grace’s helplessness, Maguire provides the voice of sweet innocence for Millie, as well as the convincingly soft-spoken, kindly Jack and the equally credible but icy cold, domineering, and psychotic post-wedding version. A St. Martin’s hardcover. (Aug.)