If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I wouldn't hesitate!! WOW!! This is one of the best books I've read this year. Through most of the book my heart was breaking for Cass, the main character, as she continues to forget aspects of her daily life, and really thinks she's going crazy. With every turn of the page the story was so well written that it flowed, to the point that I read it in one day--one sitting. Cass was so well likable that I had to know what was happening to her!!

Oh my gosh!! This book...I'm afraid my family did not get dinner for the last two days!! (At least not prepared by me!). Once I started it, it held my attention until the very end! B. A. Paris has another winner! It is destined to be a Best Seller for sure! I truly believe in Karma and without giving out any spoilers, I'll just say, this was the most satisfying psychological thriller I have read in a while!

This novel gave me some mixed feelings.

Initially, I did find that this one was slow to get into, predictable and incredibly redundant. The first 30% of the book is the guilt about seeing the woman the night she was murdered and struggling with the fact that she didn’t do anything to save her. The next 40% of the novel is Cass struggling to remember things and dealing with, what she thinks, is early, onset dementia. Although Paris is consistent in her narrative, I wanted to tell Cass to pull it together!! I didn’t find her incredibly likeable.

I did find the last 20% of the novel was a breeze to read; fast paced and twisty, as the plot unfolded I was completely sucked in and dying to know what the outcome would be. Although I predicted a majority of the plot, I was impressed that Paris has a few tricks up her sleeve and in the end, I ended up having a few things thrown at me that threw me for a loop!

This one read a bit to me like The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins meets Before I Go to Sleep by S.J Watson; a narrator who is struggling and unreliable, yet you feel for them and are unsure if they are on your side. So, if you are a fan of domestic thrillers with an unreliable narrator, you’ll be interested in this read.

What a great read. I loved Paris' first novel Behind Closed Doors. I was anxiously awaiting the release of The Breakdown. I must say, I was very impressed!

This book hooked me right away. The interesting thing is that it does break any psychological-thriller molds. There were also even parts that were a little dull and repetitive. However, I still could not put this one down. The characters are, at times, a bit frustrating. Sometimes I felt like screaming at Cass to tell someone – but as you read on you understand, more and more, why she feels like this. Everyone close to Cass seems to have her best interest at heart and she is really struggling through a difficult mental state.

The less I say the better about this book. I highly recommend going into it blind and riding out the surprise twists and turns. I can't wait to see what B.A Paris releases next.

Special thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for a copy of this great read in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Take one backwoods road on a rainy night. Stir in an anxious woman named Cass trying to get home. Add a woman sitting in a car looking like she was having car trouble. Combine with guilt at not stopping to see if the woman needed help. Mix and stir well .Simmer for 24 hours and don't tell your husband. Take it off the stove when you find that the woman has been brutally murdered.
Thus is the wonderful set up that Paris has created to show a woman on the brink of a nervous breakdown as she fears that the killer might be after her.Combined with the fact that her mother had early onset dementia in her early 40's,and she seems to be forgetting more and more leads to a tension filled novel that will make you clamor to discern the truth.I couldn't figure out who was more nervous-the character or myself? This one is a goody!

This was a read-in-on-go book that kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. It wasn't a relaxing read as I felt myself being drawn into Cass's world and the increasing stress and confusion she was feeling. All of this was very well written and I felt exhausted (just like Cass) by the end of the book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a pscychological thriller.

I really enjoyed B.A. Paris's BEHIND CLOSED DOORS but this book is completely implausible in every way. Nothing the protagonist does makes any sense, she leaps to wild conclusions based on zero facts, whips herself up into unnecessary frenzies, doesn't take obvious actions to help herself, and the main plot is a rip-off of the movie GASLIGHT, something I was able to guess early on.

The Breakdown by B. A. Paris is a mystery/thriller about a young woman named Cass who feels terribly guilty that she could have prevented the murder of an acquaintance after stopping to help her when her vehicle was sitting on the side of a secluded road on a stormy night. After stopping, she gets an uneasy feeling that it could possibly be an ambush and frightened, drives away leaving the woman alone. Cass finds out the next day that the woman was brutally murdered. Cass has also been forgetting things lately, but she cannot forget about leaving the woman alone. What other secrets are waiting to be exposed?

This book had me hooked from the get go and had a promising start full of intrigue and suspense; but lost some of its lustre about a quarter of the way through. There was a bit of a lull in the middle, but it picked up towards the end again. There were no shocking revelations or twists. It's a pretty typical mystery, and a bit predictable, but still interesting enough to finish. Would make for a good beach read. I rate it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review. https://moesbookblog.wordpress.com/

Reviewed: May 27, 2017. Novel Publish Date: July 18, 2017.

I'll start out by saying that I love thrillers. The twistier the better (yeah I know, not a word... but still). This one blew me away. Not only was it suspenseful but everything made sense by the book's end. Now that doesn't really happen very often with this genre. I read it in a day because I had to know what happened and now will recommend it to others. Get yourself a copy as soon as it's published! Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Plot follows typical trajectory expected in this genre-not a bad thing in light thriller reading. I did have the ending figured out within 50 pages or so but still enjoyed watching it play out.

This was a quick read, mainly because it kept me intrigued, so I wanted to keep reading -- even though I figured out a lot of it from the get-go. No worries, though. I really enjoyed it. Yay for Paris, another "very good" from me!

Thanks so much to NetGalley, St Martin's Press and BA Paris for the opportunity to read and review this great book!

If the sign of a good book is that you literally.can't.put.it.down - then 5 stars to The Breakdown! I just finished it, still in my jammies, all work that I was supposed to do today left undone. Because I just had to finish this book!

I loved Behind Closed Doors and the author's latest is another thriller. The author is gifted at drawing you in, making you feel what the characters are going through, and not letting you go until the end.

Cass is a newly-married high school teacher, looking forward to summer break after a tough time. Her mother had early onset dementia whom Cass put everything on hold for to take care of. After her mom died, her teaching job was her way of rejoining life.

She is coming home from an end-of-school-year event, in the midst of a horrible storm, and decides to take a shortcut through the woods to home, even though she promised her husband she wouldn't. She passes by a car parked alongside the road with a woman inside - she pulls over thinking the woman will run out to her if she is in trouble. Cass is hesitant to get out of her own car in the raging storm, so she eventually pulls away. She later learns that the woman was murdered in her car. Cass doesn't tell anyone, not even her husband, that she saw the woman because she is filled with guilt that she didn't help her.

Then the silent phone calls start. Cass feels like someone is watching her and knows that she was there that night. Things at her house start happening as well as Cass starts experiencing periods of forgetfulness. She fears that she is developing dementia like her mother.

This is just a great thriller - I loved it!

Having read and enjoyed Behind Closed Doors I was really looking forward to this book, but for me it was nowhere near as good. It definitely wasn't 'a psychological thriller full if twists and turns', more a light holiday read. I guessed the plot from the beginning bug kept on reading hoping that the 'twist' would prove me wrong, but sadly not. Very disappointing. Thanjs to Net Galkey and the publisher for giving me the opportunity of reading and reviewing this book.

This book was enjoyable and fast paced. I really enjoyed BA Paris's first book and was eagerly looking forward to this one. It did not disappoint.

devoured B.A. Paris’ first book, Behind Closed Doors. It had everything I wanted in a thriller. So when I saw the author’s name on a new book, I said okay I need this. I am always apprehensive when I love a first book by a new author because I usually have high expectations of their sophomore outing. I tried really hard to not have the expectations this time and while I managed to stay neutral, this book was underwhelming.

It was not a bad book by any means. I gave it a solid three stars. But there was nothing outstanding about it. Cass, the female main character, was well-written and sympathetic. I felt for her throughout the entire story and cheered with her ups and sat there with her during the downs wanting to give her a hug and tell her it would be okay. I had my suspicions about the bad guy fairly early on and was not wrong. I would still recommend the book, I just was not wowed.

I will say that Paris can write a mental breakdown like no one’s business and I will gladly pick up any book with her name on it in the future.

The Breakdown will be released on July 18, 2017 by St. Martin’s Press. I received an advance copy through NetGalley which in no way influences my opinions about this book.

I literally could not put this book down! What a suspenseful, addictive read! I thought I had it all figured out, and pretty quickly. But kudos to the author for surprising me!

On a dark and stormy night (yes, really), Cass, in a rush to get home, takes a short cut down a deserted road and sees a stranded car with a woman behind the wheel. She pulls over but wisely doesn't get out of her car. There's no signal of distress from the driver so Cass drives on home. The next morning she hears the news that the woman was found murdered in her car, and it's a woman she had recently met. Cass is riddled with guilt for not stopping or reporting the stranded car to the police.

Shortly afterward, Cass begins to receive nearly daily phone calls with no one speaking on the other end. She becomes convinced it's the murderer who thinks she is a witness, and she will be his next victim. When she begins to find indications that someone has been in her house when she’s not home she starts to unravel.

In a twist on the title, in addition to her paranoia and anxiety, she also begins to exhibit signs of a mental breakdown –or perhaps, like her mother, early onset dementia. She forgets how to work simple appliances in her home, entire conversation and plans are forgotten, medicine isn't taken, she sees things that aren't there, and more. Cass’s fear and terror are palpable. I was tense and anxious and couldn't flip the pages fast enough. By the end I was fully in Cass’s corner and loved the twist. As a tense, page-turning thriller this one delivers in spades!

From the first page I was drawn into the tense storyline of Cass who faces a dilemma whilst driving home through local woods in the midst of a terrifying summer storm. Cass spots what she believes is a break down in a lay by in the woods and although she stops to assist the female driver she is reluctant to get out her car into the storm. When the female makes no indication that she needs assistance or leaves her car Cass makes the fateful decision to drive away only to discover the following day that this woman was found brutally murdered in her car. What follows is a tense and atmospheric story following Cass as she struggles to deal with her guilt and her belief that she is being stalked and tormented by the murderer. Due to Cass' potentially hereditary health issue she may be an unreliable narrator which enhances the plot immensely - is Cass being stalked? Is it all in her head? I saw the twist coming from about halfway through but this did not ruin my enjoyment at all. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel from B.A. Paris as well as the previous title "Behind Closed Doors" and eagerly await the next. 5 stars and thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the advance review copy - a 5 star review has also been posted on Amazon and Good Reads.

This one was ok. I definitely wanted to know what was happening to Cass, and why, but it dragged a little bit too much in the middle and her helplessness started to grate on my nerves. When she finally ended up standing up for herself and taking control of her life it felt like there was no development that brought her there, it just happened. I felt like it was a book that was very much on the surface, good for a quick read but no depth at all.

Thanks for the ARC NetGalley!

This was so good. Amazing fast paced mystery thriller novel that kept me on edge. And the twist that came and the interconnections of the characters was seamlessly revealed. Recommended to any mystery suspense lover.

This book was very enjoyable to read! The pacing was great--kept me hooked all the way through! I thought I knew where it was going, but the last few chapters totally threw me off!