On the surface, Grace and Jack appear to have the perfect marriage and are completely devoted to each other. Jack is a successful lawyer who protects battered women, while Grace is the perfect little housewife with a green thumb and culinary skills that rival Gordon Ramsey. But behind closed doors things are not always what they seem. Grace and Jack are suspiciously never apart and it seems that Jack always has her hand on her elbow or on her back, one could see this as a sign of affection, but could it be more? Why does Grace’s friend never see her without Jack? What secrets could this couple hide behind closed doors?

I kept seeing this book in stores, on Goodreads, and being recommended by friends in my book club. I finally picked it up and curled up in bed with the literary cats and devoured this book. Everything else faded away, barely listening to text messages or even the music he was playing. I got lost in this story that I couldn’t get enough of. Everything I read online had me intrigued at first and then once I got started it exceeded my expectations.

I was a little tired reading it because I wasn’t sure if there would be any real abuse, something I sometimes have a hard time dealing with, but with all the rave reviews, I decided to see how dark this book got. I can honestly say that there is no physical abuse at all, it is all psychological. Jack feeds on the fear and anticipation of what will happen next, and the excitement of elopement attempts and pretending to be the perfect husband for the perfect wife who knows what lies within her perfect home.

Paris has the ability to attract readers from the beginning of the story. The writing of Paris is fantastic and there are so many quotes and moments that make the reader laugh a bit even though this is a pretty serious novel, like Millie’s claims that she doesn’t like “Jorj Kooney” (George Clooney) . Here are some samples of Paris. ‘ writing from the book:

“We go downstairs and into the hall, he grabs my coat from the closet and holds it open as I slide my arms into it. On the way outside, he holds the car door for me and waits until I’m inside. As he closes it behind me I can’t help but think it’s a shame he’s such a sadistic bastard, because he has wonderful manners.”

And then, as he drank in the sound of her fear and breathed in her scent, he wished he could keep her there for eternity.

Paris has a great way of using her words to describe every emotion, every sense, every interaction, and every minute detail. He spared nothing with this novel and nothing is filler information. It goes back and forth between the present and the past, but it doesn’t get spoiled by the continuity of the novel and it’s easy to follow and keep up with what’s happening and when. I love the intelligence of not only Grace, but Millie as well. I loved seeing a character with a major disability like Down syndrome portrayed as highly intelligent and capable of many things. I think this is something we need to see more of to help bring awareness to terrible stereotypes. And the ending, oh my gosh, really makes the book.

So far, this is probably the best book I’ve read this year, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for that great book to read. I can’t wait to get my hands on another one of his books.