Book Review Wednesday: Behind the Red Door by Megan Collins

Earlier this year I read "The Family Plot" by Megan Collins, a thriller novel that is set for release next week and I was obsessed. It's probably the best book I've read this year and somewhere along the way, I realized I had her other book "Behind the Red Door" on my Kindle from Netgalley. It was released last August and I'm so mad it took me so long to read it.

I flew through this novel within a day... I could not put it down for anything. It was unlike anything I've ever read before and I'm pretty sure it solidified Megan Collins as one of my favorite authors. 

Publisher's Summary

When Fern Douglas sees the news about Astrid Sullivan, a thirty-four-year-old missing woman from Maine, she is positive that she knows her. Fern’s husband is sure it’s because of Astrid’s famous kidnapping—and equally famous return—twenty years ago, but Fern has no memory of that, even though it happened an hour outside her New Hampshire hometown. And when Astrid appears in Fern’s recurring nightmare, one in which a girl reaches out to her, pleading, Fern fears that it’s not a dream at all, but a memory.

Returning to her childhood home to help her father pack for a move, Fern purchases a copy of Astrid’s recently published memoir—which may have provoked her original kidnapper to abduct her again—and as she reads through its chapters and visits the people and places within it, she discovers more evidence that she has an unsettling connection to the missing woman. With the help of her psychologist father, Fern digs deeper, hoping to find evidence that her connection to Astrid can help the police locate her. But when Fern discovers more about her own past than she ever bargained for, the disturbing truth will change both of their lives forever in this “masterful meditation on fear”

My Thoughts

This was a twisted, incredible story that made me feel horrible for Fern. The trauma that she goes through during the book is insane. The twisted stories, the awakening that Fern has, it's all so unexpected and you don't see anything coming. 

"Behind the Red Door" was a novel that kept things close to the chest. There were a lot of breadcrumbs to figure out who Astrid's kidnapper was but it wasn't obvious. Throughout the novel, it felt like it could be a lot of different people and they would all make sense. The ending, however, and the reveal of who actually was responsible, was very interesting. It made a lot of sense but was deeply disturbing.

The true ending though, the circle being completed, was a wild ride that you didn't see coming. It was revelation after revelation... it kept knocking me down & it was incredible. I loved every moment of it. 

Fern's parents have to be some of the worst people I have ever had the pleasure to read in a fictional novel. It made me so angry and sad but it was so interesting to read. 

There were a lot of psychological aspects to this novel and I think it added such a nice, interesting extra layer to the plot. 

All in all, "Behind the Red Door" was a really well-put-together mystery novel that kept my attention the entire time, didn't have any unnecessary characters or plots, and was just an incredible, riveting novel. If you love thrillers, this is a must-read. I don't think anyone would be disappointed with this book!

xoxo
B