Wonderfully written book with just the right amount of suspense to keep me on the edge of my seat. I read this entire book in one day because I just had to know how it was going to end. I really liked the main character and I was hoping she wouldn't end up actually having dementia. I couldn't even predict the outcome of this book it was that good. Thanks for another great read B.A. Paris.

I loved this thriller featuring Cass, a young woman haunted by her mother's death and early onset dementia diagnosis. When Cass herself begins to misplace things and forget dates she has made, she worries she too has the disease. Compounded by the seemingly senseless murder of a young woman Cass was becoming friends with and crank calls she believes are from the murderer, the novel deals with Cass's unraveling mind and her husband's inability to comfort or help her without the aid of medication. Things go into a downward spiral quickly and many people are suspects in her mind. But there are secrets and lies beneath the surface and Cass must find enough sanity to solve the puzzle. This is a must-read!

Loved that book! It was so much time since I read a thriller where, in the end, everything made sense! In fact, this is a strange sort of thriller. There's not much suspense in the first 3/4 of the book, but at the same time it kept my interest because you know something is not quite right... Cass is losing her mind. She thinks she's got early onset dementia like her mother..but that would be too easy an explanation. There's something more..who is trying to foul her? Or is she really losing her memory and if so, why? I suspected everybody and I went really near the thruth, but it didn't make sense with all the hint I was given from the very start of the novel. I was beginning to think that, like most of the time happens with thrillers, I will be left with some unaswered questions, and some hints that lead nowhere must have been placed all around just to make the reader guess different possible endings without being able to get the thruth before the end really come. But for one time I was wrong. Everything fit as it should, no lead was deliberately put in, and every little hint had some significance. This is something I really appreciate in a thriller, and I hope you would enjoy it even more knowing from the start that the author is not playing tricks with you.. Apart from this the book was enjoyable and kept my interest from the very firs page, it was sometimes a stressful read, but in a good way. Sometimes when I forgot something during the days while I was reading that novel, I was suddenly frightened that I could have early onset dementia too!! Umm.. and the ending..the last quarter of the book, is really diabolical and mostly satisfactory. Wow, I could not guess, well even Cass could not guess until the last page! And I was holding my breath with her!
This is my first B.A.Paris book but I already bought the audible version of her debut novel, Behind closed doors, and I really hope it is as good as this one!

I could tell based on ratings that this is one of those books that people either love or hate. Though I didn't hate it, I could have done without reading it.

I had a lot of trouble with suspension of disbelief. I struggled to stay interested in the narrative when our main character has so serious memory issues that she just chooses to ignore because she is afraid. She goes through stuff, worries about her state of mind, vents to her husband, and that's it. She is obviously distraught but neither her husband nor best friend seem to realise it or if they do they just downplay it and shrug it off. And she never turns to anyone else.

So for at least three quarters of the book we are presented with situation after situation where Cass can't remember things right. And it's not like there was much of an end goal in sight other than time to go back to work approaching, but even that isn't mentioned much. So it all felt rather pointless.

It annoyed me because the writing was very engaging, other than the whining protagonist, and I was sure that by the time the book ended it would all make sense and wrap up nicely - which it did. But there was nothing during the large majority of the book to make me interested in what happened. It was just... stuff, you know?

I wonder how much longer the book would have gone on had our main character not stumbled upon the truth accidentally, or rather had it handed to her (literally). (view spoiler)
So I am still struggling to figure out the point of everything up until that point, which felt rushed due to all the luck involved.

(view spoiler)

As you can see, there isn't much I can say about why I am not a fan of this book without writing spoilers so I will just say that The Breakdown has its qualities, for sure, particularly the writing, and it is quite different from what is out there. However, as far as the story and characters go I was just not content.

Disclaimer: I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I feel bad leaving a less than stellar review for any book but I pretty much figured it out 12% in. I didn't like the main character, Cass, either. I felt she was whiny and made really ridiculous choices. Skipped to the end and lo and behold, I was right.

Loved it! 5 stars; I'll be back with my full review soon

OMG I just loved this book this Author is defo one that is going on my favourites Authors list..
I read the first book this Author wrote and so enjoyed it so i had to also read this one and yes it did not disappoint it was just as good....This Author has a great future in front of her if she keeps turning out books like these 2 I am not going to say what it was about you can read the blurb for that just to say the book is really well written the characters are all great and the ending is wow...

Thank you Netgalley the Author and Publisher for a chance to read this book...

I would like to thank NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and B.A.Paris for the ARC of "The Breakdown" by B.A. Paris for my honest review. B.A. Paris is the author of "Behind Closed Doors", and her novel "The Breakdown" doesn't disappoint. The genres of this novel and Mystery and Thriller. One of the blurbs for this book are" If you can't trust yourself, who can you trust."
I find that B.A.Paris describes her characters as complex and complicated.This story reminds me of the movie,"Gaslight". I read this book in one sitting and did not stop until I was finished. I just couldn't put this down.
The story starts when Cass is driving home from a torrential downpour and is forced to take a path through the woods. She sees the headlights of a car, and barely notices a woman sitting in it. Not sure what to do, she flashes her lights and looks for some indication that the woman needs help. It is an isolated area, and with the heavy rain and lightening, Cass decides to move on. There is no cell reception to make a call.
Cass is extremely insecure, and had been taking care of her mother, who had dementia at 44 years old. When the mother passes away, Cass inherits a tremendous amount of money that she had no idea existed. Cass has a career teaching, a husband and friends.
When Cass gets home, she is distracted and relieved, and forgets to call for help for the woman in the woods. She doesn't tell her husband she went through the woods, because he would be furious.
The next day Cass finds out the identity of the woman in the woods who has been murdered. Cass feels guilty and starts questioning her decisions. Cass's house is near the woods and isolated. There is no information that is given that can determine the killer or the motive. There is a murderer running around. There is concern and tension.
Strange things start happening. Cass starts getting phone calls,with no one on the line. She has the feeling someone is watching her. Things are misplaced, and Cass has no idea how this could happen. Packages arrive at the house with items that Cass does not remember buying. Cass is missing appointments with friends, and making appointments she does not remember making.
Why is this happening? Who is the murderer? There are twists and turns. Some of the characters are not likeable. Some of the characters seem to be suspect. I enjoyed this intriguing book and would highly recommend it.

I must start this review by saying I'm surprised about how much I enjoyed this novel. For those that follow my reviews (and thank you!) you may be aware that this author's first novel upset me immensely. Behind Closed Doors was a fast paced thriller that had a strong story of an abused wife. I would have loved it if that's all it was. But adding in the gimmicky feeling of torturing a mentally retarded girl ruined it for me. So when my fellow reading friends convinced me to give her a second read I did so cautiously. And I am so glad I did. B.A.Paris is a creative story teller and a genius at twists and turns. Her stories are haunting and shocking enough without adding anything. In THE BREAKDOWN her talents really shine through! Ms Paris reels you in and has you questioning everyone around you including yourself. The story takes a bit to develop but stick with it because everything comes together and you will be completely invested. I'd say at the 40 percent point I didn't want to stop reading. Also make your own theories but keep them close because these twists will make you question them all! Absolutely loved this book and hope the ones that come out stick with the strong story and twists so I can read her more

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an early read! This is the perfect mid summer read just read it with your phone off, doors locked and all the lights on!!

Cassandra is a woman afraid. Coming home late one night she sees a car parked halfway on the road. She pulls up in front thinking someone needs help. It is storming and the rain is coming down in sheets ... all she can vaguely see is a blond woman. But as the woman doesn't wave or get out of the car, Cass drives off. She tells herself it could have been a trap..maybe someone was waiting to attack her.

The next morning she hears on the news that the woman was murdered. She feels so much guilt thinking that perhaps she could have stopped it. She doesn't tell anyone what she saw. But she does place an anonymous call to the police.

Cass thought she's feel better after calling the police, but the exact opposite is happening Police are going to the media asking that the woman who called to please call them back. And when Cass suddenly starts getting hang up calls, she's afraid that the killer thinks she knows more than she does.

This whole scenario sets the stage for a woman who is afraid she's losing her mind. The calls only come when she's alone. Is someone watching her ...watching her house? And now she's forgetting things like where she parked her car .... ordering jewelry from home shopping TV...she doesn't remember asking friends over for a BBQ. What was that alarm code again? Why did she order a pram when she isn't pregnant?

With a history of having a mother who died of dementia at a young age, Cass is so terribly afraid. She doesn't know who to trust .... especially if she can't trust herself.

I read this author's first book .. BEHIND CLOSED DOORS... and was extremely impressed by her writing. I was so hoping this one would create the same feeling ... and I was not disappointed. This is a well-written psychological thriller.

The first half of the book is setting the stage ... you can feel Cass's terror as she realizes that she is losing her mind. Her husband is trying to be compassionate but even he, after a while, begins to wonder. There are several characters that play a secondary part of the story, but they are all so important.

The ending is not what I had envisioned. There are some major twists and turns that took me by surprise. This is an author who is well-worth watching.

Many thanks to the author / St. Martin's Press / Netgalley for the digital copy of THE BREAKDOWN. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Leave yourself plenty of time when you start this book, because once you start, you will not be able to put it down. Thankfully, I started it on a 7 hour plane ride! The perfect place to start and finish this excellent psychological suspense story. A thrill ride of a book that has you guessing just how much to believe of this unreliable narrator's story. Nicely done Ms. Paris!

I enjoyed this book. I loved the ending and I didn’t see it coming. However, I also feel that it ended kind of abruptly. I don’t feel like the story was properly wrapped up and I would like to have known more about how certain characters ended up. This is the first book I've read by B.A. Paris and I was very impressed. I can't wait to read more from this author!

THE BREAKDOWN BY B.A. PARIS

This book was a more compelling read for me than the first book. Cass Anderson is forgetting all kinds of things. Her mother died young from pneumonia after having the full blown diagnosis of at age 44 of early onset dementia. Cass thinks that she may have inherited the illness from her mother and she has a BREAKDOWN. Cass is riddled with guilt because on a torrential down pour of a rainy night she took a dangerous road on her way home and she pulled her car over up ahead of a car that she sees pulled over on the side of the road. Cass can not exactly see who the woman is in the car that she has pulled over for. Her husband made Cass promise not to take that dangerous road home. The next day Cass sees on the news that the car that she pulled over to help was a blossoming friendship with a woman named Jane who was murdered and the murderer is still at large.

Cass can't confide in her husband that she had pulled over on that dangerous road to help because she swore she wouldn't take that route. Cass feels more guilty as each day passes knowing that it was Jane stranded in the car and she might have saved Jane's life if she only got out of her car and walked over to the stranded car. Cass sees Jane's husband by chance in the park with Jane's two beautiful twin girls. Guilt can be a corrosive emotion to carry around and Cass starts receiving on her landline phone an unknown number at the same time everyday. When she answers the phone nobody speaks. Cass thinks it is the murderer calling her everyday and is afraid to stay in her house alone. She only gets these phone calls when her husband is at work. Cass deduces that the murderer is watching her house which is in an isolated area.

This was a very clever story and I read it in one sitting because I couldn't put the book down. This was far more better storytelling than B.A. Paris's first book. The first book was very predictable where this one was not. I was not able to solve this until Cass solved it and I sorta thought it could be, no it can't be going through my mind. I had said that psychological thrillers were all cookie cutter formula's in that they were all written pretty similar. Not so with this one. This one held my attention up until Cass by pure serendipity solves whose behind gaslighting her. It is almost Hitchcockian in the taut suspense plot and characterizations. Keep writing like this B.A. Paris and move over Stephen King. I absolutely LOVED this book and Highly recommend it.

Thank you to Net Galley, B.A. Paris It was a pleasure, and St. Martin's Press for providing me with my digital copy for a fair and honest review.

B A Paris certainly knows how to write a good book. I loved Behind Closed Doors but this one really is outstanding. Such a clever plot. I can't wait to see what's she writes next. Excellent

WOAH! This book absolutely blew me away!!! BA Paris knows how to get the heart racing and this book proves it. Writing with sharp precision and adding just enough anticipation over what is going to happen next will leave any reader hanging by the edge of their seat. This book is divine and I can definitely see it topping the best sellers list.

** My full review of this heart stopping novel will be posted on my blog and retail outlets closer to release"*

Oh my goodness. I have one word for this book, trippy. If you have read Behind Closed Doors and liked it, you will totally enjoy the next book by the same author, B.A. Pris, The Breakdown. Even the cover looks completely intriguing.

Let me tell you a little about this tale. Cass is a teacher, a seemingly normal 30 something woman who just happens to stumble across what is later known as a crime scene. While driving home from a party one night she sees a woman in her car, only to learn hours later that that same woman was found murdered just minutes after Cass drove by. Not only does she blame herself for not stopping to help this woman, she finds out that the two actually knew each other, and had gone to lunch together.
All of this information is too much for Cass, and soon she is having a mental breakdown. She can't remember simple things she did, like when she orders an alarm system for her house, or the fact that she is almost certain the person who killed that young woman is now going to come and get her. Add on top of that all the things she seems to lose track of, like if she took her medicine or the fact that she lost her car in a parking garage. Being a witness is really taking a toll on her life, and on her marriage.

Then the calls start, no one is on the other end, at least no one is speaking. Could it be the killer? Or something even more crazy? This book has a whirlwind of twists and turns that will keep your little eyes in anticipation until the very last page. I for one, never saw the end coming, but maybe you can figure it out before you have your very own breakdown.

This book was just such a win for me. I had so much fun reading it, it gripped me from the very beginning because there was just so much information coming in from all directions. Not only that, but there was just something off about Cass, and I had to figure out what that something was. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars, this will be the next best read of 2017, you just watch. I received this book from Netgalley, make sure you pick this one up!

This was such a good book! It kept me up late and on the edge of my seat. Very well crafted. I am a mystery lover and this book was definitely a page-turner. Highly recommend. I will be reading more from this author.

After reading Paris' debut Behind Closed Doors, I couldn't wait to get my hands on The Breakdown. A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Driving home in the rain, Cass decides to take a shortcut through the woods against her husband Matthew's wishes that she stick to the main roads. She is surprised to see another car on the road in such poor weather. She pulls in front of the car, but is too scared to get out thinking this may be a trap set to entice her out of her own vehicle. When the female driver does not approach, Cass figures help is on the way and drives off.

The next day, Cass hears on the news that the driver she passed was murdered. She is incredibly distraught and guilt-ridden thinking she could've done something. The guilt begins to eat away at her, especially after she learns the identity of the woman, and she was someone that Cass recently met. Her emotional state is smothering. On top of this, she is growing increasingly paranoid and forgetful—she is certain that she is suffering from early onset dementia, the same condition that her mother had—and therefore is not credible. She is convinced the murderer knows her identity and is responsible for the silent phone calls she has been receiving. But with her family history of dementia, and her mental state, who is going to believe her?

Paris brings nothing new to the realm of the suspense/thriller genre, in fact, there was nothing really that was overly shocking by way of plot twists, and Cass' inner dialogue was often repetitive. So why read this book? It is a page-turner and hooks you plain and simple. The novel is perfectly timed and flawlessly executed. Given the main character's paranoia and hysteria, the denouement could have been obvious and trite, but it wasn't because of the way she developed her unreliable narrator—this was the perfect angle from which to tell the story.

This book kept me on edge of my seat from the beginning. Surprised at the end. great read!