Member Reviews

Another fantastic read by BA Paris. A complete page turner. I loved it and kept me in suspense until the very last chapter. Highly recommend.

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Loved Behind Closed Doors. This one was good but not great. Bit predictable and not as gripping but still very readable.

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A definite page turner right from the beginning! I did find myself a little confused at where the story was going at some points but it all came together cleverly in the end!

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This book was a real page-turner I couldn't put it down. It drew me in from the beginning and at times I thought I had worked out what was happening and the end proved me to be correct, but that didn't stop my enjoyment of the story.

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I am currently developing a section of the school library that will present a diverse and eclectic range of contemporary crime and thriller novels. This genre has been so popular in terms of what is being borrowed, but I feel like the young people are sticking to 'what they know' in terms of titles or writers that they've already heard of or have seen their parents reading. My mission is to include more novels like this one and improve the range and diversity of fiction that they can choose from in order to expand their reading horizons. I absolutely loved this book. It kept me gripped from the very first page and without giving away any spoilers, was a dark, intense and satisfying journey. I think that the young people will love its distinctive voice as well as be gripped by the story and intrigued to follow it to its tense conclusion. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for intelligent, credible writing with a strong hook that won't let you go. Treat yourself to The Breakdown!

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I've struggled with this one, I had tried several times over months particularly as so many people have been raving about it but I just found it impossible to connect with the characters on this occasion.
Leaving unfinished so not adding reviews to social media as I find it unfair to review unfinished books

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I could not put this book down, and is sincerely sorry for only getting around to reading it now. This book was brilliantly written and totally worth the very little sleep! Highly recommended.

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Another fantastic thriller by BA Paris! I enjoyed this one even more than her previous novel. It was well paced, well written and I couldn't predict the ending. The writing was tense and the writing detailed but the story was still fast paced and thrilling!

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Cass Anderson is on her way home after a night out. She sees a woman in a car, parked in a layby. Cass didn't see if the woman needed help and the next day she finds out she's dead. Ever since Cass is convinced the murderer is after her too. Silent phone calls start to terrorise Cass.

I really enjoyed this book, which wasn't quite what I expected. From the beginning I was instantly drawn into the story. I did want to see what was going to happen to Cass as her life starts to fall apart.

The story was a roller coaster of a read. So many things go wrong for Cass I'm thinking can it get any worse. When things fall into place I have to say I didn't see it coming, and I didnt find the story too predictable. I didn't quite like the ending with the reason why. I can't say too much because it will spoil.

I did think however that at times the story became a bit repetitive at times especially when Cass first starts to get the phone calls. The story then picks up speed leaving me wanting to turn the pages.

A satisfactory thriller with plenty to keep interest. I recommend to anybody who especially likes the domestic settings for thrillers.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review the book.

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*I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Sometimes it’s hard to find a really good Thriller novel, what with there being absolutely thousands upon thousands of them, you will read some mediocre and some pretty bad ones, ‘The Breakdown’ was neither of these, it was fantastic.

Cass has just been to a house-warming and deciding to call it a night, gets into her car and makes her way home. The weather is horrendous, it’s raining heavily, wild wind and it’s pitch black. Before she leaves she rings her husband to let him know she is on her way home and he makes her promise to take the longer route home due to the weather and that it’s 1am in the morning. However, Cass decides to take the shortcut through the woods despite promising her husband she wouldn’t. Through the woods/forest is 20 minutes off her journey and she really just wants to get to bed, however halfway through she sees a car parked up and a glimpses and woman inside. Cass pulls up and waits to see if the woman will jump out of her car for help, after 5 minutes with no sight of the woman Cass decides to carry on home. In the local papers the next morning a woman has been found dead exactly where Cass had stopped, the guilt builds up and she wants to tell the police but what if they think it was her? and what would her husband say if he knew she was in the woods?

I am not going to lie, I flipping loved this book a lot. I loved the characters, I loved the plot and the twist too. It just has everything you want in a good thriller. What made it great for me was the unreliable narrator and that it was so realistic and believable.

I adored Cass,I felt that I could relate to her in so many ways. She drove off after no-one jumped out of the car but I would have done the exact same thing. A young woman on their own in the woods is a no-go but I might have done somethings differently, who knows until you are put in that situation. She has a great husband who adores her and is very understanding. She seems to be having memory issues and becoming rather forgetful which is causing her to get stressed, the guilt of not doing anything in the woods is eating away at her and everything starts to become too much. Also she is getting silent phone calls,I mean how much more can one woman take.

All the side characters were good, such as her friends and colleagues and felt they were all integral to the story.

This is the first B A Paris book that I have read and I absolutely adored it, it was fast paced and had you on the edge of your seat. I felt so much sympathy for Cass but also a lot of respect. I cannot wait to read ‘Behind Closed Doors’.

The only thing that let this book down for me that it was a little bit predictable but the joy I got reading this book out weighed that con.

I rated this 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Great read! Was interesting watching how Cass's mind started unravelling and then piecing it all back together again - dementia is a scary thing :-(

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Driving down a road in the middle of the storm is what Cass promised she would never do, but she will get home quicker that way.

That is until she sees a car at the side of the road. A woman is in the car.

What does Cass do? Stop and make sure she is okay? Drive by?

What if your actions, the choice you make, the guilt, then haunt you.

It is this catalyst which the rest of the story is based on and has us as readers launched head first into Cass thoughts and feelings as she begins to break down from what she knows is reality.

Strange phone calls, objects not in the right place, parcels arriving, all point Cass towards dementia, she might be too young but her mother died of it and she has never told her husband this. Her husband even starts to question her sanity. It seems Cass is very much on her own with this guilt, this belief.

As Cass life begins to unravel slowly, ironically the pace of the book picks up. It is a page turner, because whilst you feel so much sympathy for Cass, I did reach a couple of points where I thought she really did have dementia. The author could have taken the plot any number of ways and it was this that kept me reading.

The niggles about the story never went away for me and I guessed fairly early on who had to be behind it but the writing was so good that I even began to doubt the author was going to take us in that direction. Could you breakdown all actions separately and see them as isolated events, or were they all part of a very cleverly weaved plot. The only way to know was to keep on reading.

An excellent thriller, certainly nothing like her debut novel and if this is the quality of writing and work for that notorious 'second' novel then I cannot wait for what the author writes next.

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Wowsers what a book. I was so freaked out I had to sleep facing the bedroom door! Yep it got to me!

Although I guessed part of the ending in the first chapter, this book spooked me right out.... I had to read over 24 hours to be sure of a nights sleep the next night!

Very well written and I loved it. Full review on our blog closer to the publication date. But thank you for the ADC.

Included on our Blog Post Today 12.05.2017 - http://www.serendipityloves.website/2017/05/a-good-book-is-what-you-need.html

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I was a massive fan of Behind Closed Doors mainly because it took my expectations and threw them out the window so I was ecstatic to receive and ARC of the new thriller The Breakdown. Unfortunately I think my expectations were a little high as I'm afraid I didn't enjoy it nearly as much. Good points first, the premise is a excellent one. Returning from a night out Cass takes a shortcut and sees a woman sitting in her car at the side of the road. Stopping in the pouring rain to see if she needs help she drives on when the woman stays in her car. The next morning she is horrified to learn that the woman has been murdered and worse, she knew her.
What follows is a psychological cat and mouse game as Cass is plagued by her failing memory, silent phone calls and a growing mistrust of all those around her. What I didn't like about the whole idea was that it was all a bit predictable. I found it difficult to accept that the guilt Cass felt would devour her in such an overwhelming way or that a few silent phone calls would cause quite so much terror. It's also not terribly difficult to work out what's actually going on the clues are not particularly well hidden. However I feel it suffers in comparison to Behind Closed Doors. It's a good read it just didn't blow me away like B.A's first outing.

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This one took a while to get going but once it did it was great fun, really exciting finish. I'd recommend and recommend sticking with it if you are struggling in the first half, turns out to be a really memorable read.

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I read and read and read until my eyes ached with tiredness but such was the pull of this excellent psychological thriller that I really couldn't stop reading except to replenish my cup of tea.

Some books are said to be 'unputdownable' when they clearly are not. This one is most definitely unputdownable.

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Cass is having a break-down and is beginning her descent into early onset dementia. After pulling into a lay-by one evening during a storm to attempt to help a woman alone in her car, Cass decides it could be a trap and drives home. The next day, she finds out that the same woman was killed that night and she questions if there is anything she could have done to help her. On top of this, Cass is gradually forgetting things; how to work the coffee machine, inviting her friends over for a BBQ and even ordering products that she had no memory of ever ordering. Cass begins her descent into madness, fuelled by silent calls that she receives on a daily basis and the feeling that someone is watching her.

The Breakdown is a traditional mystery, I had an enjoyable time reading it but I did find myself with a couple of issues. Firstly, Cass slowly losing her mind was necessary in the storyline, but it got to a point where I felt like the events were a bit same-old, and there were too many repetitive events happening, I felt a bit bored of them. Thankfully, not long after I thought this, the storyline was slowly being revealed so the repetitive feeling I had didn't last for long. The second issue I had with this book was that I guessed parts of the reveal and that disappointed me. I like to be surprised when reading mystery thrillers and whilst parts of it were surprising, the mystery caller wasn't surprising at all to me. I had put the pieces together around half way through the book, but watching how it played out and how everything else intertwined was definitely fun to read.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to mystery/thriller lovers. It kept me gripped and after I had put the book down to go and do something else, I immediately wanted to get back into the story to find out how it would all play out. Great book.

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I read B A Paris' previous book, Behind Closed Doors, and quite enjoyed that one, so seeing this on NetGalley decided to request. And was granted approval so thanks to all those involved for that.

Now, onto the story itself. Cass Anderson is in a rush to get home back to her husband. Instead of sticking to the main roads during a stormy drive she decides to take a back road through villages and woods to her house. On the way she comes across a car that appears to be stuck and is torn as to whether she should get out of her car or not as it's absolutely bucketing down and very late. Her hesitation turns out to be a costly mistake as she goes home thinking the lady in the car must have called for help already. In the morning Cass is left reeling with shock as she learns said lady had been murdered the previous night in the woods.

Cass is left feeling completely guilt ridden. Should she have gotten out of her car to help? Would the victim still be alive? Was Cass in danger herself? Questions that keep going round and round in her head. As time moves along Cass becomes more and more agitated as her feelings of guilt won't let go and starts to feel that her own life is in danger as she fears the murderer is still out there.

What follows is a fairly predictable storyline. It's an enjoyable read but I felt that I knew what was coming as I read on. With so few characters to choose from it wasn't that difficult to work out what was going on and who indeed was behind everything that was happening to Cass. And dare I say too similar to Behind Closed Doors in terms of suspects. In fact I'm kind of surprised that this route was taken?!! Maybe it's just me but this wasn't as good as I was hoping for but I know many have enjoyed ....... so it probably is just me!!

See for yourself ...... it's a page turner, for sure, with easy to read storytelling. It may well keep you guessing!

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I read the previous book behind closed doors and so when this came out it was a must read for me, and I wasn't disappointed!!!

Had me hooked from the start in the same way the previous novel did and didn't let up until the end!
I found it hard to believe what Cass was saying half the time as she comes across pretty unreliable and so then who can you trust?! That's the question she asks a lot, as the book goes on her mental stability decreases and then your left scratching your head even more! Haha

Great book I liked the red herrings given along the way, just as I thought I knew who was making those late night phone calls something else happened and I was put on the back foot again!

Great book a must read!

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This was a real knuckleduster ride. I was getting more and more worried about the outcome as I continued to read . What an amazing story with its twists and turns, rising tension and final denouement. It certainly raises the pulse rate.

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