In this thriller, one might driving home on a shortcut through the woods on a rainy night, narrator Cass sees a woman in a car on the side of the ride, but not being signaled to in anyway, doesn’t stop - only to find out the next day that the woman was murdered. Cass is consumed by guilt, which only gets worse when she discovers that she had met by the woman, and starts thinking the murderer is calling her and not speaking, and over the course of the book her mental state deteriorates as she fears she is falling prey to the early onset dementia her mother had.

This one was just a big mess/miss for me. I am just so over the “unreliable narrator” trope and think it’s totally played out, though perhaps when this book came out in 2017 it was a bit fresher? But also there were so few characters in this book that there was not a ton of suspects though I must admit there was twist that surprised me. The ending revelations and how they played out were a little strange though.

This book is a ride. Surprising and suspenseful. Felt as if there were some gaps that wouldn’t allow me to hit four stars.

Matthew told Cass not to take the shortcut through the woods at night, especially tonight when a storm was predicted. But it makes the ride home so much shorter than Cass decides to do it anyhow. She sees a car pulled over with a woman inside. Could she be broken down in this rain and need help? Cass pulls over and waits for the woman to come to her but no one gets out. Perhaps she already has called for help. After waiting a while, Cass goes ahead and drives home.
The next morning, she hears that a woman was killed in the woods last night. Even worse, it was a woman that Cass had recently met and lunched with and was hoping to form a new friendship with. Cass is immediately overcome with guilt. She is just getting her life back in order after several years of caring for a mother with dementia. Matthew was the start of her new life but has she ruined it already?

As the days go by, Cass feels more guilty rather than less. She starts to feel afraid to be in her house alone as they are the closest house to the woods. She starts to hear and see things that Matthew insists she is imagining. Is Cass starting to show the same early onset dementia symptoms as her mother? Soon packages start to arrive that she doesn't remember ordering and workmen show up with signed contracts to do work that she doesn't remember signing. She talks things over with her best friend and a doctor but the symptoms keep getting worse. Is Cass's life about to be over before she can enjoy it?

Readers will be torn between sympathy for Cass and a desire for her to shake herself and get on with things. There are several twists and turns and red herrings before the mystery is revealed and everything gets resolved. B.A. Paris has written several other mysteries in this vein with women who seem at a loss at how to get on with life and who are easily fooled into believing things that a normal person wouldn't give credence to. This book is recommended for readers of mysteries.

Ooof what a rush! Talk about a fast-paced, pulse-pounding book!! You really don’t know who to trust in this one! Poor Cass and her early onset dementia, devastating!!! What a wild ride, loads better than Bring Me Back.

Ooh time goes by and if i don't write the review right away...sigh. I'm trying to be better. The best i can do right now is give a star count...

I found this thriller to be an entertaining if somewhat predictable take on the unreliable narrator trope. Did Cass really see what she saw? Or is she delusional and on the cusp of a mental breakdown? Overall, I found this book moderately entertaining but I don’t think it was unique enough to really be memorable.

Omg wow this book is amazing it's full of twists and turns it will keep you up all night I really enjoyed this book

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an eARC of this book for review.

This was a wild ride. The main character quickly became annoying with her victim mentality and fragility she wore like a badge. I knew from the beginning this had to be about Cass' money. I felt that her husband and her friend were up to something. The friend seemed to be a good one; patient, kind and concerned and her husband to be extremely understanding to the point of being an enabler. While critically reading, I continued to go back and forth with my theories of who could be harassing Cass.

I was on edge. I can see this as a Netflix movie or series. I highly recommend The Breakdown and will definitely re-read this one again!

I listened to this audiobook, and initially, I really enjoyed the narrator. After a while, though, I was getting a little irritated. I’m not sure if it was really the narrator or just the main character herself I was irritated with. I suspect the latter. Time after time something would happen that Cass couldn’t remember and seemed surprised about it even though her Mom had had dementia and there was a definite pattern forming. It sort of reminded me of the character in Girl On a Train that just couldn’t stop drinking and made me just want to shake her. This mystery/thriller was a bit predictable in the end, but aside from the irritation mentioned, I did enjoy it. It just wasn’t as good as I was hoping.https://www.netgalley.com/member/book/106886/review#

From start to finish I was immediately hooked with the story that BA Paris put together. This played like a movie in my mind and I kept growing more and more attached to the characters and needing to know how it ended. Which, was way too soon. This cemented BA Paris as a must read author for me and I can not recommend this enough!

Really fast-paced read. I kept picking it up in the middle of the night as I had to know the outcome. Nothing too taxing - just a typical domestic thriller. I would have liked to give this book 5* but I have a problem with stories that are built on a lie or someone not being brave enough to tell the truth. If everything was as perfect with Cass & Matthews marriage, why on earth would she not say that she had to take the back road as the motorway was so dangerous in the storm? I also dislike dementia being added to stories but in this case, I could cope as it did not seem to be lingered on for too long.
I'll definitely read more B A Paris - I like the fact that I sort of guessed the outcome but actually not really.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this reader's copy. In exchange, I am providing an honest review.

One stormy night Cass is driving home, alone, and decides to take a secluded route home even though she had promised her husband, Matthew, that she wouldn't. But what could go wrong? While the road is creepy because it is isolated and stormy and there is no cell phone reception during the length of it, Cass is anxious to get home. Driving along, she spots a car on the side of the road and as she passes it, she sees a woman sitting in the car by herself. After a moment of hesitation, Cass pulls over and considers helping the woman. But then she second-guesses her "good samaritan" thoughts, pulls away, and heads toward home. The next morning the news is full of reports of a dead woman found on the same stretch of road Cass traveled the night before. Fearing her husband's anger at taking the road when she said she wouldn't and fearing the disdain of people in general for not helping a stranded motorist who is now dead, Cass keeps quiet. But keeping quiet begins to wear on her nerves and she quickly becomes paranoid and spirals downward toward a mental breakdown. Matthew, and her best friend, Rachel, along with other friends try to help Cass cope with this secret she hasn't revealed but Cass falls deeper into the pit of darkness she feels descended on her when she pulled away from helping the woman that night.

Oh so twisty, turny, and manipulative. So utterly quiet in its deception. As the reader, I knew something was off but Paris did a great job of making me second-guess my suspicions about people and their motivations in the story. Paris did a great job of scary the crap out of Cass through the use of everyday circumstances and her backstory of a mother with dementia. When it all came together at the end I was in admiration of Paris' ability to make it all work and keep the suspense heightened throughout.

I was wary going into this book, so many people raved about BEHIND CLOSED DOORS last year, but I wasn't so thrilled with it. I was willing to give this author another chance. As soon as I opened the first page I was addicted to the story. It was so completely different to BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, and I couldn't read it fast enough. So utterly terrifying. It definitely makes you think. I won't be giving anything away, you just have to read for yourself!

This is one of my favorite authors so not sure why i never read it but havent yet. Will review when I do.

I don't know why I bother with this author. I didn't like the first book and I am not a fan of this one.

Don't know why I forgot to review this, but catching up. This was the first and best BA Paris novel! Enjoyed it, thought it was well done!

There was much to enjoy here, but I found I couldn't connect with it. I'd read more from this author in the future though.

I'm a huge BA Paris fan but this book did not grab me. I kept expecting there to be more of a twist because the plot seemed obvious. Unfortunately the twist didn't come. However, I would definitely purchase any books by this author for my library.

A tense mystery that enjoyed delving in to. It does what every good mystery should: keep you guessing. It felt a bit slow in the middle but not too bad.

One of my favorite reads!!

The story about lies and love in one book will surely makes you on edge. Cass Anderson is driving during the storm when she passed by this woman. Little did she know that this woman will lead her to the truth of the one’s she truly cared about.

I really loved this book because it is different on her first book – Behind Closed Doors, it’s different the way she writes, on how she delivers the story to the readers, and the plot twist. I have bad experiences on Behind Closed Doors and I’m glad that this book didn’t give me a traumatic ending but rather gives me a mind-blowing experience.

Also, one of the things that struck me on this book is how Paris add the medical stuffs here and it creates an intense balance in the story. Cass forgets all the things she did and she thought that it’s because of early onset dementia. The whole journey of the book gives the readers a questioning look even to the characters.

This is definitely a page turner and heart pounding book of B.A Paris.