Very interesting and suspenseful. Suspected the husband and friend before they were revealed, but a very good plot overall. Would read more by this author.

A masterpiece in psychological suspense. I could not put this book down. It was like I slowly started to feel myself losing my mind with the main character. It grabbed me from the beginning and would not let go until the end when I went "Whew!"

Cass is having trouble remembering. Why would she have ordered a pram for a baby she doesn't have? She knows her anxiety is helped with the pills, but did she really black out and do all those things? What about the woman parked beside the road in the dark that she passed on her way home? Should she have stopped and helped? Did she know her? Things go from confusing to worse as Cass tries to piece together her life, her friendships and her marriage.

A taut psychological thriller that will leave you breathless. Recommended for all suspense and thriller lovers!

Gripping, engaging and fast!

Just goes to show the level human mind can go to believe if other around you convince you about it - mind games and mental breakdowns are the scary truth of the world we live in - and sadly the power of suggestion can play a major role in this!

This is my second B A Paris book in the year, and massive respect for the author to be able to get the suspense factor right in her writing both the times - my only disappointment this time was that I was able to predict the culprit right in the first 50 pages and thus the ending was a damper!!

NB: Received a complimentary advance copy of the book via NetGalley for an honest review of the book!

I enjoyed reading a book where the main character suffers from mental illness (or does she not?), all the events in this book messed with my head so much, that I couldn't trust everything I read, everyone looked suspicious. So I can say, that I flew through this book in a few days.
However the main character was so annoying and whiny, that at some points I even thought of dnf'ing it, even though I liked the plot (if you know what I mean).
Also I wasn't satisfied with the ending, somehow it felt too rushed and not very convincing. After all that built up of the plot, I hoped for some shocking and amazing ending, but for me it was a little but anticlimactic.
I do recommend this book, if you want something fast and easy to spend your boring evening faster.

This was a fantastic read. The story takes off within the first few pages of the book and keeps galloping along dragging you behind it! When Cass takes a short cut home after a night out, despite her husband warning her not to she unwittingly sets off a chain of events that leave her questioning her sanity.
As she drives along the desolate woodland road during a storm she sees a woman pulled into a lay by. Cass stops her car in front of the woman's car expecting her to jump out and ask for a lift or to call the garage....but the woman doesn't react. Cass starts to think of the stories shed has heard of women being lured from their cars and then attacked. She decides to drive on thinking that if the woman needed help she would have asked for it.
The following morning Cass awakes to the news of a woman being brutally murdered in that exact place last night.....a woman that Cass realises she knew but did not recognise because of the weather. A woman she may have possibly saved.
Feeling a huge amount of guilt she decides that she cannot possibly tell anyone not even her husband as they will all judge her for not helping Jane when she needed it most. The guilt eats away at her and then add to that her memory problems. Fearing she is following in her mothers footsteps of early onset dementia her whole world starts to fall apart.
This book is fabulously written. I will admit that I had my suspicions but couldn't make it all piece together. And it was beautifully put together....seamlessly and flawlessly. Scarily so. I read this book with my heart in my mouth and my stomach in knots. Absolute five star book!

A good, entertaining Brit read. Original plot; loved the ending.

B.A. Paris does it again with Breakdown by following up her book last year, Behind Closed Doors, she sets the reader on edge from page 1 and doesn't let you go until the end! No wasted words just a GREAT thrill ride!!!

I was stuck waiting without my book one day so I pulled this novel up on my Kindle app just to have something to read for the next 20 minutes. The story grabbed me so quickly that I have yet to return to the hardcover book I was reading and finished THE BREAKDOWN in about two days. The author did a great job of keeping my attention.

The book kept me interested, but it wasn't always a fun read. At times I felt the action became repetitive with Cass always panicking with the same outcome every time. It felt implausible to me that she was so desperate to keep her secret despite everything that was going on in her life. The setup went on a bit too long for my taste, so that I was ready for the ending about 50 pages earlier.

All in all it was a decent book and others may enjoy it more than I did. It just didn't wow me as much as I had hoped it would.

The Breakdown was the second novel from B.A. Paris. I absolutely loved this book! It was suspenseful and kept you guessing. Told through the eyes of Cass, whose mother had dementia, the story begins with Cass driving through the woods, taking a shortcut her husband asked her not to. She sees a car broken down with a woman inside, but keeps on driving. This decision plagues her throughout the book because the woman is found murdered in her car. If Cass had stopped could she have prevented the murder? Did the murderer see her? When her mind starts to deceive her she doesn't know who to trust anymore.

The Breakdown is a gripping thriller that you will find difficult to put down!

I will admit her first book gave me nightmares. While this book is get as suspenseful I was able to sleep...after I finished the book. I couldn't put it down until I was done.

I thought The Breakdown was fantastic, I devoured it in one day and absolutely loved the twist, which I kicked myself for not spotting earlier. B.A Paris has become quite a canny thriller writer since her début Behind Closed Doors and she is one to watch. I will be thoroughly recommending this one!

Having seen all the praise heaped on Behind Closed Doors, I decided to go about things backwards and start my B.A. Paris experience with her newest novel, The Breakdown first.

What a fast-paced and addictive book! I've been in a bit of a reading slump for the past month and have found myself wary of starting something new since I've been disappointed by a lot of the books I've picked up in the last few weeks. Luckily, The Breakdown was exactly what I needed to get my reading mojo back.

While there were several key aspects of the plot I was able to figure out fairly early on, my sleuthing abilities in no way took away from my reading enjoyment. Cass' fear and anxiety were palpable - enough so that I found myself feeling equally stressed about being home alone while reading. This was not a typical reaction for me, especially considering I live in a third floor apartment in the middle of a big city and could no way fear the same things as Cass initially did in her isolated, country home.

Although it became clear that Cass might not be the most reliable narrator early on in the plot, I still found myself fully connected to her emotional experiences and couldn't peel my eyes away from my Kindle no matter how late into the night it became. I ended up finishing The Breakdown in one, tense-filled sitting and have zero regrets about the sleep I lost because of this decision.

While a few aspects of the plot were somewhat predictable, I personally didn't feel that they took away from my enjoyment of the novel. I was much more wrapped up in character development than the events that occurred since the combination of suspense and an unreliable narrator are definitely my favorite combination in a psychological thriller and The Breakdown nails both of these qualities down perfectly.

Couldn't put this book down! After the murder of a friend, Cass seems to be having a meltdown - forgetting things, losing things, and seeing things. But is her mind really playing tricks on her? Or is something more sinister at play? A gripping read that will keep you guessing up until the end!

Must read! Fell in love with Cassie the Main character! My heart broke for her! I had the chills! Definitely recommend this book

3.5 stars

This one had all the makings to be a top thriller read, for me. Cass sees a car stopped on a deserted road, in a storm. She decides not to stop and help the person, but then finds out the next day that the person was murdered. Her decision to not help the stranded driver weighs heavily on her and is only made worse by her forgetfulness. It starts with small things, but quickly escalates to things like forgetting she ordered a baby stroller (when she isn't pregnant) and taking too many pills when she can't remember if she took them. Cass makes a startling discovery when she starts looking into who the stranded driver was.

The beginning and ending of this novel were gripping and fast paced. Unfortunately, the middle part seemed to drag for me. It was a lot of internal dialogue with Cass and trying to figure out if she had a mental illness. It became slightly repetitive as it tried to throw you off course from what you may have figured out from the beginning. There was a HUGE clue given right from the start. You may not be able to put together all the pieces, but you'll have an idea where the plot is headed.

I was given an advance copy from the publisher via Netgalley.

Another thrilling page turner by B.A. Paris. My readers are always looking for recommendations and they devoured Behind Closed Doors so this will be a great June read for those awaiting the next hot read. Paris knows how to hook her readers and string them along a mysterious path. I was surprised at the ending, but in her usual style, I got tremendous joy out of it. Prepare for another all nighter. You won't want to put this one down.

The Breakdown didn't grab me until about halfway through... then the pace and the ending made sticking with it worthwhile. The beginning was necessarily slow and tedious in order for the second half to make sense. Definitely worth reading!

B. A. Paris has no need to fear the dreaded “sophmore slump.” Bestselling debut novel Behind Closed Doors left fans with high expectations, and I’m sure more than a few wondered if she would be able to catch lightning in a bottle twice, and worried her next book may not be as stellar as the first.

Wonder and worry no more, reader. She did, and it was.

Cass Anderson took a shortcut through the woods (despite promising her husband she wouldn’t) as she was driving home on a stormy night, and saw a woman sitting in a parked car alongside the road—presumably a breakdown. Fearful of offering help in case things weren’t as they appeared to be, Cass goes home. The next day she learns the woman in the car was murdered, and worse still, she is someone Cass recently befriended. Overcome with guilt (could she have prevented her friend’s murder?) and unwilling to admit the broken promise to her husband, Matthew, Cass stays silent. But the more she hears about the murder, the more fearful she becomes that the murderer might come after her next… a fear that seems justified when she starts receiving silent calls that feel menacing in nature. Fears of a different nature surface when Cass begins to have serious difficulty remembering things—her mother had early-onset dementia, and the problems Cass is having feel heartbreakingly familiar to her. Paralyzed with fear and weighted-down with guilt, Cass is unable to cope and it wreaks havoc on her mental health. Is someone stalking her… or is Cass having a breakdown of her own?

The Breakdown is simply phenomenal. I was able to guess a particular event that takes place, and I was disappointed at first, but what I didn’t know was that laid the groundwork for an explosive reveal that was truly astonishing. Fast-paced and clever to the core, this novel is destined to be a hot topic of conversation between readers. Trust me. This is a book you do NOT want to miss out on!

B. A. Paris is well on her way to becoming my go-to author for psychological thrillers. If you’ve read her books, I’m sure you know why. If you haven’t…. what are you waiting for?

Loved the plot. Couldn't put it down. The author really understands the interaction of her characters. Classic gaslighting! Would make a terrific film.