A twisty, intriguing, absorbing thriller which keeps the reader guessing the whole way through. You find yourself fully absorbed in Mirren's heartbreak when her daughter mysteriously vanishes- yet Amanda Cassidy's superb writing creates a sense of unease, nothing is as it seems but you can't put a finger on why. I really enjoyed this book!

This just wasn't for me. It's so slow and I just wasn't interested in the characters. I skimmed a lot of it and the ending does get better but i wouldn't be recommending it to friends

Unfortunately I struggled with this book, found it difficult to get into the storyline and I wasn't keen on the characters. It did 'pick up' slightly the more I read but for me personally it wasn't for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Canelo Books for this ARC, I just wish I could have enjoyed it more.

I really tried. I wanted to love this. I heard about it encapsulating the guilt of a mother and such. Well, it should because she is terrible.

The Fitzpatricks were supposed to be on vacation. The couple traveled with their kids from Ireland to the Florida Keys, where they had been married years ago. Their marriage is struggling so this should be a time to reconnect and share new memories with their children. They have one biological daughter named Rea and an adopted daughter named Alannah.

The impromptu vacation put stress on an already volatile situation so when Mirren, the mother, was having a few drinks to calm down, tragedy struck. Alannah went missing. Vanished into thin air.

This is big news. The daughter of a renowned cancer doctor goes missing right under her nose? It turns out she didn't have the best relationship with Alannah so people grow suspicious. Did she want rid of her or is she a scapegoat?

This is an interesting premise but it's very wordy and Mirren is just unlikable and I realize that's for a reason but it just didn't land for me. I don't even need a likeable main but she is extra annoying and self-absorbed. She just didn't come across as an authentic character.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review.

When an adopted daughter goes missing on vacation, her family is devastated. However, suspicion immediately falls on the mother. Is she responsible or just an easy scapegoat?

I was excited for this one but struggled to connect with the characters early on so it wasn’t my favorite.

Wow this book grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go until the very end! A shocking book of twists you won’t see coming!

Great book , characters were easy to relate too ,had me gripped from chapter one.I will be reading more from this author. Twisty ,never seen that ending coming.

This book is a show stopper - one I would give to my friends. I would buy multiple copies of this book for people! After reading plenty of thrillers it takes a lot these days for me to not work out the ending but this one totally got me. Overall really clever, well written and one I will be recommending

What a frightening concept! I did struggle a bit with this one. The main character was hard to like which I believe was a choice but it still made it difficult for me. I also struggled a bit with the police and crime solving. Thats not typically my genre so I think that's just a personal preference. If you like to read about crime solving and unlikable characters, give this a read!

I am now a fully paid up member to the Amanda Cassidy fan club and can’t wait to read more from this author.

But why, oh why in nearly all mysteries is there always a policeman sent to a town in disgrace! Right my one and only gripe over now back to the book.

Breaking tells the aftermath of a little girls disappearance during a family holiday and the catastrophic impact on those involved.

The plot was well crafted with lots of twists and turns. I was constantly thinking the story was heading in one direction before being quickly proved very wrong.

The chapters were kept to just a few peoples narrations which is exactly how I like it! Especially with a book that has a rollercoaster plot it would be very easy to go off on several tangents and loose the key plot line but the author stayed true to the plot and makes the readers feel that they are in safe enough hands that they can be whisked away with the family.

Although I think I can safely say after finishing the book that the family have proved that they are capable of just about anything and I think I would be very nervous if they became my new neighbours!

The subplots in this book were very interesting and gave each character so much depth and history that I feel like this book could have easily been a series.

The writing style and the plot I think would work very well as a script and I can easily see this being adapted to a fantastic tv drama.

Fluid, Edgy, Dark…
Florida Keys, an idyllic holiday, a happy family, sun, sea and sand and then - a missing child. The race is on to find the adopted daughter of Dr Mirren Fitzpatrick. Police seem suspicious, rumours abound, Mirren’s guilt seemingly knows no bounds and then - a body is found. This slow burn suspense successfully draws in the reader from the off and continues with an underlying vein of menace and tension. The narrative is well done and credible and the switch between characters and time lines fluid. Edgy, dark and disturbing leading to a well done denouement.

Breaking by Amanda Cassidy is a stunning debut and one that kept me thoroughly emgaged throughout a clever and carefully nuanced plotline.

Mirren, an Irish oncologist, is vacationing in Florida with her family when her youngest daughter goes missing from the beach. Complicating the situation, it is soon discovered that Mirren had been drinking at a nearby bar when the child disappeared, and she quickly moves from a figure to be pitied to a villain in the eyes of the media. Is Mirren a struggling mother battling demons of her own, or is she somehow involved in her daughter's fate?

This was a most impressive debut, and Amanda Cassidy is one to watch.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Canelo for an ARC.

This was a very slow burn. Still, I was intrigued. And then the pieces started fitting together one by one and the suspense ramped up. I couldn't put this down toward the end. I wish the whole book had been as fast paced.

Breaking, Amanda Cassidy's new crime thriller, is one of the most carefully plotted and well written stories I have read in a long time. And I say this as someone who has read some very good books recently!

Reading this book, you would not guess that it is a debut novel. Cassidy writes with great self-assurance - and perhaps more unusually, considerable elegance. That is just one reason why I think it would be unfair to classify this book simply as a crime story or a thriller. It is far more sophisticated than that.

Mirren is an Irish doctor, on a visit to Florida with her husband Nick and two daughters, when her 8 year old daughter, Alannah, disappears from the beach. Her teenage daughter Rea was supposed to have been watching Alannah at the time, but left her playing on the rocks before returning to reclaim her own spot on the beach.

An explosion of media interest and a massive hunt for the missing child yield few results, and Mirren's frozen despair (coupled with the revelation that she was getting drunk at the beach bar at the time when her child was last seen) means that the situation quickly turns hostile. The media feeding frenzy around the case leads members of the general public, as well as the head of the police force, to regard Mirren with suspicion.

Her mental health history is put under a microscope, and her relationship with her husband is examined for any cracks that might start appearing there. The fact that Alannah is adopted also brings in an added dimension with respect to the investigators' questioning. Because as we soon discover, Mirren's relationship with Alannah is a far cry from the closeness she feels to her older daughter (who is also her biological child), Rea.

The roots of this lie in Mirren's own troubled interactions with her alcoholic mother, who has passed away recently. Cassidy's forensic examination of the challenges of motherhood and the consequences of being perceived to be a "bad" mother are very much part of the narrative here. As are the terrible consequences of failing to nurture your children properly. But her shortcomings as a mother are just one of the many skeletons that lurk in Mirren's closet.

The only person who seems to believe in her professed innocence is disgraced police officer Antonio Rolle, who has been transferred to this tourist town from Miami as a punishment posting.

Antonio's wife Alice, whom he loves dearly, has not been dealing well with their change in circumstances. But he is so busy fighting his own demons that Antonio is unable to see how much trouble his marriage is in. Something that will come to haunt him when it is too late.

There are a number of story lines underway in this complex and interesting narrative, far more than I can do justice to here. Suffice to say that the pace of storytelling is maintained throughout the book, and there are a number of good twists on offer.

What is far more unusual about this book is the empathy with which Cassidy treats her characters, and the way in which she is able to make the reader feel for them as they face their various predicaments. Mirren, Antonio, Alice, Glades (the mother of another missing child, who receives strikingly different treatment at the hands of the authorities), Rea and a number of supporting cast members come alive in these pages. So much so, that I felt quite emotional about what some of them were put through.

It is likely that the word "breaking", in the title of the book refers to what happens when a person reaches breaking point. But for me, the title says a lot more than that. Not just a very good crime thriller, this book is about the actions we take, the consequences that they can have, and the price that's paid in terms of broken hearts, broken lives and broken people. Read this excellent debut novel *now* - please!

Dr Mirren’s daughter goes missing from the beach where she was seen drinking.

This was a plot I wanted to see unfold, the media’s poor treatment however was the only highlight.

There wasn’t enough detail in the plot and while it was achingly slow, it didn’t have enough plot.

I am so sorry, but I could not finish this book.

I was struggling so hard with this book and halfway through I just couldn't to it anymore.

I just didn't connect to this story.
I would have been more invested if the whole book was told from the perspective of Mirren. I found it very intriguing to be in her head and feel her pain. Also her take on how she is portrayed as a cold hearthed mother by the media.

But I absolutely loaded the chapters told from Rolle his perspective.
They were incredibly boring and very pompous written.
Rolle and Logan were very unlikable characters and as a reader I just didn't care about them.

So no a DNF for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.

Mirren and her family are on holiday. Mirren is a renowned oncologist, and with her are her husband Nick and daughters, Rea and Alannah. Difficult circumstances in her life have led Mirren to drink, and she is at the bar when tragedy strikes. Her youngest daughter Alannah disappears from the beach and there are few clues as to what happened.

This book built up the suspense slowly. All the clues began to fit together and point towards one suspect. Then we see the twist. I enjoyed the slow build exploring the feelings and frustration of the detective investigating, and of Mirren. We also got her backstory and what had led to how she was acting.

A great read.