A nice easy read, nothing groundbreaking or particularly shocking and in fact the ending was a little predictable and I wanted more - perhaps more characters, more twists and turns - but nevertheless I read it to the end as if was obviously that some loose ends needed pulling together which I was keen to find out about. I enjoyed the read, I haven't read Behind Closed Doors but I think I will following this book. It's not an edge of your seat thriller, but it certainly has enough to keep a reader engaged to the very end.

The weather was so horrible with such downpours that Cassandra (Cass) Anderson couldn't see where she was driving so she took the back way to her house, even though her husband (Matthew) had told her not to. There was a car that was parked on the side of the road, but the rain was pouring so badly that Cass kept on going and didn't stop for the car of a stranded woman. Little did she know but she found out the next morning that the woman she didn't help was murdered. Along with the guilt of not stopping for the woman, Cass descends into a whirlwind of depression, and constant forgetfulness. Her husband tries to help her but the constant periods of forgetfulness wears on him. He eventually takes her to his doctor; and she is prescribed medication. Even her best friend, Rachel Baretto, is worried because she can see how the murder is slowly destroying Cass. Cass starts receiving phone calls, but no one speaks; and Cass thinks that the murderer is still out there and has targeted her. With her home being so isolated, she becomes very frightened. The calls, along with the pills that she has been prescribed, are isolating her and causing her to become more and more paranoid. She can't remember ordering an alarm system, but her signature is on the work order. Packages start being delivered to her home that she supposedly ordered; however, she can't seem to remember paying for them. When Matt objects, she informs him that it's her money anyway. Her mother left her an inheritance and she's very well off! Her world is deteriorating around her, and Matt and Rachel are questioning her mental capacity. Cass hopes she isn't suffering with early dementia, just like her mother did. Cass eventually has to stop teaching at the school. She stops communicating with all of her friends and co-workers. Everyone is worried. Is she having a mental "breakdown?" Will the murderer be captured? Will Cass become so paranoid that they finally institutionalize her? This book was so well written that I had the hardest time putting it down! The plot was brilliant!! The intrigue and mystery kept me turning the pages sometimes until the wee hours of the morning. I certainly didn't see the ending coming - what a big surprise!! The characters were written so well that the reader could relate to their every action and emotion. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading many more written by this author!!

The Breakdown Audio Book

The Breakdown is quite the book! I’ll be honest in that the first 2/3 of the book I was wondering when we were going to get down to the action. That last 1/3 of the book makes up for a bit of a slower pace in the beginning of the book. BA Paris really lays a nice foundation for the story and the readers, or listeners in my case, are left wondering if Cass is really losing it!

If you’ve read BA Paris’s first book, Behind Closed Doors, and you liked it, this set up is extremely similar. She seems to spend most of the book setting up that gripping ending. The question is can you make it through nearly 2/3 of a book that is ok, and has somewhat of a slow pace, when you’re reading a thriller… that’s question you should ask yourself. For me, I’m really happy I stuck with this book. Let me tell you what I enjoyed…

Since I was listening to an audio book, one of the most significant things for me is the narrator. The narrator, Georgia Maguire did an outstanding job. I adored her British accent. Besides just have a pleasing voice she delivered the different characters very well. Maguire added the perfect amount of tension and fear to her voice needed. She was able to convey Cass’s confusion throughout the book perfectly. One of the best narrations I’ve listened to!

One of my main problems with the story though was Cass herself. I wanted her to be stronger instead of this sniveling and quivering mess that she was. I think it’s why I really enjoyed the last third of the book… it was filled with tension and Cass seemed to remember who she was. However, this story was so extremely relatable and it wasn’t really far-fetched. Cass’s fears and life concerns were softly unraveled like the thread in clothing.

Just like in Behind Closed Doors, there was a twist, just like that! I was left reeling and I wasn’t able to consume this book quickly enough. I was entranced and it was utterly addictive! I loved the ending! There were parts of the conclusion that really left me flabbergasted… I didn’t see it coming! Although, it wasn’t exactly surprising, you could feel the buildup, but it was the acts themselves that was surprising.

Even when the book was a bit slower, than I would have preferred with a thriller, I found I tore through it within a few days. I found myself listening quicker and quicker so I could get to the ending. That buildup was seriously intense and once BA Paris hit her pace, she didn’t let up until it was over. Once the last word was read to me, I found I wanted more. I wanted to know what happened afterwards to all the people. I was hoping for good things for Cass and possibly John. What happens to Matthew, or Alex? I see that as a good sign… I enjoyed the book!

Audiobook was provided for review by AudioBookReviewer.com.

The only reason I kept reading this book was to see if I was right with my prediction from about 20 pages into the story. Frustrated with the lack of originality or depth of character presented. Need way more twists in a story like this one.

Enjoyed the book as a fun weekend read. Don't see a place in my curriculum, but will recommend to friends (and already have).

B.A. Paris has become one of my favorite authors. I love the suspense, twists, and turns in her books. If you enjoyed BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, you are not going to be able to put this book down until you turn the last page.

St. Martin's Press and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of The Breakdown. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Cass Anderson, wracked with guilt over the death of a woman, feels that her life is coming unglued. Unmoored by the illness that took her mother from her prematurely, Cass is increasingly concerned that she may be following the same path. With forgetfulness that threatens her very safety, and that of those around her, will Cass be forced into taking drastic measures?

The biggest issue that I had with The Breakdown was the relative ease with which the main character is able to figure out her situation. With the psychological trauma coming fast and furious for weeks, I doubt that she would be able to become clearheaded so quickly. The story did have a great pace and I was genuinely interested in the outcome. Having read many psychological thrillers, I would rank this one squarely in the middle. It has good characterization and an interesting plot, but the resolution did not sit well with me. Regardless, I have enjoyed the two books that I have read by this author thus far and look forward to more in the future.

Really disliked it up until the end. The end was great. Predictable but great.

This story is basically about Cass. One night, Cass drives by a car that is parked on the side of a road that winds through the middle of the woods near her home. It is storming out and Cass worries that the woman has broken down or needs some help. Case stops, but does not get out of her car. Case gets scared because she is in an isolated area with no cell phone service and she feels unsafe, so she drives away leaving the woman in the car behind. The next day, the woman is reported as having been killed in her car. Cass feels immense guilt over not having helped the woman. That is when things start to go downhill for Cass. She starts forgetting things and becoming more frightened. What is going on?

I didn't think there were any big surprises in this one, but it still kept me engaged. I thought about it while I wasn't reading it and looked forward to getting back to it. Yet, I wasn't shocked by the ending.

I had two issues with this book. First, I was a bit frustrated with the MC in the middle of the book. The book felt a bit repetitive as we followed Cass's decline. And as the scenes / thoughts repeated and got progressively worse, I wanted to shake Cass and tell her to snap out of it! She could not get out of her own way and did not think logically for too much of the book.

Second, the end was too coincidental. Something ends up in someone's possession in a manner that was just too easy. I won't say more, so as to not give anything away, but it was really the most difficult part for me to ignore and suspend my disbelief.

Aside from those two bits, I really enjoyed this one. Not much happened (action-wise) for a lot of the book, but it was written in a way where it felt suspenseful. This was my first book by B.A. Paris and I really enjoyed her writing style. The book was engaging and suspenseful. I look forward to reading more by this author.

I would definitely recommend reading this book to anyone that is interested in the genre.

I'm so annoyed by this book but still think it's very good. Having read the author's first book, I knew what to expect. She sort of sets out the whodunit pretty early, but it's the "why?" and "how?" that still keep you reading to find out everything.
I had issues with this book because of the theme of early onset dementia. Being the child of a parent who died of Alzheimer's and believes there is a target on my back, I'm pretty sensitive to these themes. However, this story is more of gaslighting than anything else, so there was some comfort knowing/sensing early on that all was not what it seemed. Yet, I was annoyed by the over description. But the over description is critical to the unfolding of the whydunit.
While B.A. Paris is a brilliant storyteller, I felt that this story was a bit far fetched. I need to know motivations and this one fell short for me, which is why I deducted in my rating. I will always love Behind Closed Doors and will read everything written by B.A. Paris, but this one was really hard for me to read through. Yet and still, it's a good one.
Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for letting me read this book. It was a good read.

The Short of It:

Another unputdownable read by B.A. Paris.

The Rest of It:

I’ve spent this summer reading page-turners and I have to say, it’s be a really pleasant summer for these types of reads. In The Breakdown, we meet Matthew and Cass. Newly married, they live in a large home in rural part of town. A home that backs to the woods and a road that Matthew has warned Cass not to take late at night. After an evening out with friends and the horrible storm-related traffic on the highway, Cass goes against her better judgement and takes the shortcut home. What she didn’t expect to see was a woman pulled over to the side of the road. She makes a snap decision to NOT stop to see if she needs assistance and to her horror, the woman turns up dead the next morning.

This is a fun book to read. I’ll admit, Cass has some issues and they get a little repetitive in the telling. For one, she has signs of early onset dementia, which her mother had so everything she does and knows cannot be relied upon because of her failing memory. Plus, she’s jumpy from the fact that a murderer is on the loose so there are a lot of false alarms but man, I couldn’t stop turning those pages.

I really enjoyed Behind Closed Doors so when I heard that Paris had another book out, I jumped at the chance to read it and I am glad I did. It was fun and suspenseful even though I kind of figured out what was going on. If you like quick, psychological thrillers and don’t mind an unreliable narrator (I love them!) then be sure to pick it up.

If you liked Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train, you'll love this! It's a tense, psychological thriller that will keep you reading late into the night.

While suspenseful and fast paced - I knew way too early who and what was going on.

The characters were very one dimensional so easy to read through them.

However - it had enough suspense that it kept me wondering if I was really right so I couldn't put it down.

This is an enjoyable story, having said that, unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book as much as the author's debut novel. The author did a great job with building anticipation, suspense, and nail biting moments but they were often followed by a predictable trajectory. Predictability isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I was left feeling a little disappointed. I

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley, my review has been voluntarily submitted.

This weekend, in between finishing this book and another thriller- You by Caroline Kepnes which was insane- I watched a person living in the walls horror film. I won't tell you what it's called because the twist of this movie and others like it depends on surprise.  What I can say is that I was immediately scared when I realized this, because until then the film was just another scary movie about ghosts. My fiance asked me why I was suddenly so much more frightened and I tried to explain that a person was a fear I could get behind.  

I think that's why I'm so drawn to the current domestic/suburban thrillers trend. The idea that real danger is so close to home in these seemingly perfect settings really keeps my attention.  I won't say too much about The Breakdown, because I did struggle with getting through the middle, but I'm glad I stuck around for the ending. This novel is nowhere on the level of crazy as B.A. Paris' Behind Closed Doors, but there's a lot enjoy here.  The mystery is simple but an unreliable narrator is always a good draw. I don't want to say too much, because I think this is a book that is improved the less you know about it prior to reading.

You know you love an author when you’re dying to read their new novel but also terrified at what you’re going to find inside. I read B.A. Paris’s debut novel last year and talked about it for days afterward. It was SO thrilling but also it gave me mini heart attacks. Needless to say, my expectations were pretty high going into this one. Also, I need a baby blanket to almost fully cover my eyes while reading her stuff! Someone get me my mommy, or a therapy dog, or something!

The Breakdown starts off innocuously enough but as I said above her writing is psychological, so the entire first section of the book, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. It does but over time. What I love about Paris’s writing is that she knows how to turn up the volume and just when the crescendo is getting to where I cannot stand not knowing what is going on, she gives you a breather. The pacing is extraordinary and keeps me glued to the pages even while I’m dying to flip through to the end.

This book is about a gal, Cass, who’s mother died of dementia. Sadly for Cass, she believes she’s starting to get signs of it as well. After a murder, on a street that is very close to home and one she drives down frequently, she starts freaking out. There are things happening around her that she can’t quite understand. Many things go missing, or she frequently forgets appointments, meetings with friends, stuff with her hubby, etc. She’s feeling crazier and crazier and on top of that, she has a killer in her neighborhood. That’s enough to drive anyone mad!

The only bit that upset me was that she immediately turns to dementia. Everyone forgets, it’s normal but even as the reader, I was worried for and about her. To the point that I was not sure what she is even capable of. The other characters do not know how to help her as she is slowly descending into madness. It’s infuriating for her, for them, and for me!

I managed to figure it out but it was a reach. I guessed and it was a blind guess but in the end I wound up being right. I would say, follow the clues because they’re there, but allow yourself to enjoy the story.

I have to leave the review at that because it will be so easy to spoil this one!

In short: B.A. Paris did not disappoint. This is different from her first, in various ways, but still just as fascinating.

This book is a cleverly plotted psychological thriller. It started with a bang, slowed in the middle, and redeemed itself in the end. There seemed to be a few questions left unanswered in the end which was a little disappointing but there were plenty of secrets revealed. You will have a hard time putting this one down.

British author, BA Paris (one of my favorites) returns following her sensational debut, Behind Closed Doors, on my Top Books of 2016 with another gripping second thriller THE BREAKDOWN – A fitting title for a mysterious car breakdown, to a possible mental breakdown.

The dark truths behind a façade. From friendship, love, trust, deception, madness, jealousy, gaslighting, to murder.

It is summer in July and Cass’s husband has told her to drive carefully. There is a storm coming. Secondly, he cautions her not to drive through the woods on her own at night. She promises.

Cass leaves a party early to go home when it begins to rain. She should have waited out the storm with her friends. However, she does not heed the warning. At the very last minute, she veers off to the left, taking the shortcut, Matthew told her not to take.

An eerie setting, Cass is determined she will be home soon. Suddenly there is the wind and she is in her Mini. She fears she will be stranded in the woods. More thunder and lightning. The road is deserted. She does not want to wake her husband. He would be furious. She cannot call him. She sees a car up ahead. The car is stopped. It is a woman. A woman looks back at her, her features blurred by the rain.

Thinking she has broken down, she pulls in a little way in front of her and comes to a stop. She waits to see if the woman will get out of the car. She does not get out. Why can’t she leave the car? Why is she just sitting there?

Then Cass notices there is something off about the way she is sitting with her headlights on. A shiver runs down her spine. It does not seem right to drive off and leave her. Maybe someone is on their way to help her.

She is afraid and does not want to stop and help because it could be dangerous. Everything tells her to go. So, she does. But the woman is still her on her mind and wonders if she could call the breakdown services to tell them or the police.

Then she sees a text from Rachel. The message was strange. Did she forget something? She racks her brain. Memories of her mum, uncomfortable ones flood her mind and she quickly pushes them away. By tomorrow she will have remembered.

Rachel is the sister she never had. Their mothers had been friends. Rachel had spent a large part of her childhood at their house and they always referred to her as their second daughter.

Cass is a teacher and had to give up her job to take care of her mum. She and Matthew had not been on a real honeymoon because they had been busy renovating their cottage. Turned out when her mom died she had been wealthy instead of a penniless widow after her father passed away. Her mum had lived on so little when she could have lived in luxury.

The next morning, she learns the woman is on the news. A woman was found dead. Blackwater Lane. Could it be the same woman?

A woman had been found dead in her car near Browbury in Suxxex. Did she commit suicide?

Feeling overwhelming guilt, Cass thinks if she had stopped to check on her, things might have turned out differently.

Her death was being treated as suspicious. Had the killer been in the same spot? Had he been lurking in the bushes waiting for the opportunity to kill. Murder.

Cass cannot stop thinking about taking this road. What about the woman? She had left her to her fate. . . to be murdered.

Turns out the mystery woman was Jane Waters, a young mother whom Cass recently befriended. A mother with two-year-old twins. She is shocked. She recently had lunch with her. Her cottage was only a few miles from where she was killed. She was her new friend. They had met by chance at a party.

Between this, Rachel and her husband continuing to tell her she is forgetting things, she begins questioning her own sanity. Or, is she getting like her mom with early onset dementia? She is terrified.

Rachel and Matthew do not like one another. There is mistrust there. Rachel disapproved of Matthew. Could Rachel be jealous that she has someone in her life?

Jane haunts her. The constant nagging guilt. She has to find out what happened. Should she contact the police? She was on the road at around eleven-thirty but another voice tells her not to because she kept this information to herself. Could she be putting herself in danger if the killer is still out there?

Now she is worried about her own safety living so close to the murder. Strange things begin happening.

The only thing she can’t forget is that woman, the woman she might have saved, and the terrible nagging guilt.

Cass has a surprize for Rachel. A house. She will give her the keys to her house of dreams. She will keep the secret. Her mum and dad would have wanted her to have it.

Tension builds to the point of madness or is it paranoia? Either someone is gaslighting her with an evil plot to make her think she is crazy, and losing her mind or she is actually losing her mind.

From Matthew to Rachel, something is not right. Someone is manipulating circumstances and Cass soon does not trust anyone.

From the intensity and worry of trying to solve Jane’s murder — could there be a connection with her husband, Rachel, and Jane? The calls. Nothing is as it appears and Cass feels like she has nowhere to turn. Why is everyone out to get her? Does someone want her money?

Cass wants the truth no matter how it turns out. However, will she get too close to the truth and put herself in harm's way?

Once again, the author delivers a brilliantly crafted intense psychological thriller grabbing you from the first page to the last. Enjoyed reading the inspiration behind the book by the author.

Gripping, riveting, and maddening, the author takes readers on a twisty, dark and scary journey. A page-turner which will keep you on the edge of your seat turning into the night. Emotional and addictive— (great cover)! Would make a suspenseful movie. Love the author’s style.

The setting reminds me of all the rainy stormy late nights stuck out in the dark deserted woods on the Silver Comet 150 mile bike trail in Atlanta, GA — I rode every week (alone) 8 hrs (for years) and often after the time change I would be stuck out after dark before returning to the end, where I parked my car. There was no cell signal since most parts were very remote. I literally could not see anything in front of me, and no one on the trail for miles and miles. Pitch dark in the middle of thunder and lightning and pouring rain storms.

Everyone warned me to stop doing this, but I was an avid cycler. Later, of course, several women were murdered on the trail. (guess it was fortunate I moved to Florida ). Also hiking on a mountain top in the dark with thunder, lightning, and rain on so many occasions. When looking back on these times, I wonder how I survived. Young, crazy, foolish, and adventurous. Would love for someone to write a book about this trail. I definitely have some scary and chilling stories.

In addition to the reading copy also purchased the audiobook, narrated by Georgia Maguire for a chilling performance. (love the accent).

Fans of Wendy Walker, Mary Kubica, and Fiona Barton (also my favorites) will enjoy this top-notch psychological suspense thriller. Can't wait to see what's next! Bring Me Back Coming Feb 2018 (a definite pre-order).

A special thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an early reading copy.

JDCMustReadBooks

Enjoyed this book immensely. Twists and turns in this novel kept me guessing until the end.