“A haunting thriller” (PopSugar) about a woman who believes that she has a connection to a decades old kidnapping and begins a frantic investigation to find out what really happened when the victim goes missing again. 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 … 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” (Mindy Mejia, author of Strike Me Down).
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I have got to be honest, I am still gathering all of my feelings up for Behind the Red Door by Megan Collins, but I will say this is a quick, engrossing, and frustrating read. I don’t think I truly liked a single character in this book and Fern and her father both made me want to throw my book across the room. BUT, I have got to hand it to Collins for producing so many emotions in me! I did not see the end coming, and it was all a surprise to me. I had so many theories while reading the book and then it turned out not a single one was right. It may have its flaws, but I am always impressed when a book can keep me guessing and that is exactly what Behind the Red Door did.
It’s a rather slow burn, but all of the chapters are fairly short, and it is a very quick read so this could easily be read in one sitting. This is my first time reading a book by this author and it will definitely not be my last! I really enjoyed Collins’ writing style, and I am hoping characters in her other books will have more of a backbone. I prefer books that have strong female leads and that is not what I would call Fern, but she did redeem herself a bit in the end for me which I was happy about. And honestly she was definitely the way she was because of the story and if she would have been a strong lead this would have been a different book.
I don’t think a whole lot can be said about Behind the Red Door without giving anything away so I highly recommend going in mostly blind. I do wish the end would have answered more of my questions, but overall this is a thrilling, suspenseful read that I highly recommend if you don’t mind unlikable characters.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy of this book, all opinions and thoughts are my own.
I fell in love Megan Collins’ writing when I read her debut novel The Winter Sisters. Her second book, Behind the Red Door, is equal in its storytelling.
This book is intense! The pace and plot are enthralling. The unreliable narrators and flawed characters make for a psychological thriller that you cannot put down. I felt the weight of the dread and paranoia of the main character, Fern.
There are so many broken, damaged characters, and their abusive background is not necessarily physical. I loved the imagery and analogy of Fern’s mom creating art from fragments of broken items where they have landed. How could you not love the literary message behind her art entitled “Exquisite Fragments”!?!
Fern, whose decision to become a social worker stems from her fragility and her past as an adoptee, has a rather delicate disposition. Her path towards finding herself and establishing some personal strength comes through her steps to save Astrid, a woman whose memoir about being abducted has led to her re-abduction and that has led to Fern’s shattered memories and dreams.
Ms. Collins’ story premise and characters are fabulous. Whether an antagonist or a protagonist, the characters are very compelling. The plot is well paced, and the story layout is made more interesting with excerpts from one character’s memoir. Behind the Red Door is an intense psychological thriller that is thought provoking and filled with twists and big reveals.
Heartbreaking and suspenseful, Behind the Red Door reads very quickly and is quite a page turner.
Fern is a wonderful, vivid character dealing with serious anxiety. When Fern is called home by her dad to help him pack to move out of state, family tension combines with Fern’s feelings of connection and concern for a stranger, Astrid, who 20 years after a high profile kidnapping where she was returned, has again disappeared. Fern investigates – interrogating people from her past and her own memories – in an effort to both find Astrid and explain why Fern feels a connection to her.
I particularly enjoyed the excerpts from Astrid’s memoir (published just prior to her second disappearance) about when she was kidnaped as a child, which are threaded throughout the novel. Recommended for fans of suspense and mystery.
Content Warnings SPOILERS (below):
Child abuse; anxiety, narcissistic personality disorder, PTSD; assault; homophobia; victim blaming
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions in this review are honest and my own. #suspense #mystery #BehindTheRedDoor
By the end of the first chapter, I was spellbound by this dark, haunting story. As if Fern didn’t deal with enough growing up in a twisted household, she finds bits and pieces of memories popping up, linking her to an unsolved kidnapping years ago. Or was it all a dream? Caught between reality and her spiraling anxiety, Fern struggles to uncover the truth. I could not put this one down and devoured it in two days. The first book from this author for me and I’ll surely be back for more!
Make sure you’ve got a few hours free when you pick up Behind the Red Door. You won’t want to put this book down! This gripping story about Fern Douglas and her bizarre childhood kept me up way past my bedtime.
Right away, we learn that Fern has severe anxiety that she copes with through medication and counseling (and with much love and patience from her husband). Her husband Eric knows all about Fern’s odd upbringing, so when her dad calls saying he “needs her” to help him pack up the house since he’s moving, he tells Fern that he doesn’t think she should go. However, Fern has always craved her father’s attention, and hearing him say he “needs her” convinces her that he’s finally ready to give her that attention.
Before Fern leaves, she sees a news story about a missing woman who was also missing 20 years ago. Fern is convinced she knows her somehow, but Eric tells her that she must have seen her picture somewhere. This one event stirs up what Fern is convinced are memories of this woman’s first kidnapping.
Behind the Red Door is creepy and intense. Its darkly atmospheric nature pulls you deep into the story so completely that you forget you’re reading a fictional novel. As I read about Fern’s upbringing, I just felt physically ill. It made me want to throttle her parents! I was amazed by the fact that Fern was unable to see how disturbing and messed up her childhood was.
Psychological thrillers are one of my favorite types of books, so all of the chilling details drew me even further into Fern’s story. Collins’s descriptive writing made this book for me. I knew who the “villain” was way before the reveal, but I think we’re supposed to know. That’s part of the horrific nature of the crime. Yes, there are a few characters who could also have committed the crime. However, as the layers of the story are peeled back, it becomes more and more obvious whodunit.
If you’re a fan of psychological thrillers, you’ll be captivated by Behind the Red Door.
Thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book. I was not required to give a review.
14-year old Astrid Sullivan was abducted from her hometown, kept captive for weeks and then was miraculously returned. 20-years later, Astrid has gone missing again. When 32 year old Fern Douglas sees Astrid’s picture on the news, she swears she knows her, but she doesn’t know how.
To be completely honest, after the first 3 chapters, I actually put this book down and read another one. Fern had so much anxiety, seemed like she was scared of everything and if she heard of a disease on the news, she was convinced she had it. That bothered me, I was bored and just couldn’t get into the story… BUT, the 4th chapter was the turning point and from then on I couldn’t put it down. Fern goes back home to New Hampshire, to help her father, Ted pack up his house and move to Florida. In the midst of the packing, she tries to discover what happened to Astrid. The media, police and Fern are convinced it is the same man her took her. You learn why Fern is essentially afraid of her own shadow.
Even though there are a few parts that seemed predictable, it didn’t take away from the story. This is a very good second book and I would recommend it.
Thank you Megan Collins, Atria Books and NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I like how almost every page of this had an ominous feeling. It’s a mystery unravelling, while you also wonder (as the main character, Fern, has so much anxiety) if it’s all in her head. Maybe she’s just remembering her childhood, and on a wild goose chase, ya know? Maybe she’s projecting about this other woman’s trauma, because it scares her.
This scared me. In all the good ways. And I didn’t figure it out, which I like.
This was a bit of a twisted story. The first half of the book was draggy and maybe alittle too wordy. I thought the second half of the book was better.
If you’re looking for a psychological thriller, you may like this one.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy
Collins has delivered an intensely well-plotted mystery, with every character under suspicion as we plunder the depths of memory in BEHIND THE RED DOOR. Fern, whose emotional fragility never feels forced or cliché, sees a familiar-looking woman on TV, a former kidnapping victim, and realizes she maybe can’t trust her own childhood recollections of those events. Enter a sadistic psychologist father, a mother who builds a floor out of the fragments of broken pottery, and a slew of suspicous hometown acquaintances, and you have a mindbending psychological thriller that asks questions of identity, of morality, and of the trustworthiness of our own experiences. It’s a book to read and then read again.
I couldn’t put this novel down. It had so many layers and twists and turns. There were multiple times when I thought ‘oh my god.’
I love the main character Fern. She’s so relatable and sweet. My god her father Ted is a piece of work. I wanted to punch him upon the first scene. But his character was so unique and nothing I’ve ever read before.
I loved Fern’s husband Eric. He’s so protective and understands her mental health issues.
It’s currently 2:30am and I just finished the novel. I stayed up late the last few nights reading this.
Loved this novel! Atmospheric and haunting, Behind the Red Door is at once a chilling tale of complicated family dynamics and a riveting mystery. Elegant prose, intriguing characters and taut pacing make this book unputdownable. I read it on a charter flight in Africa and was so engrossed in it that I barely noticed the turbulence.