Before you start reading this book I advise you to clear your calendar and find a comfortable place to read because you aren't going to stop reading until you get to the end. This book literally had me so interested that I couldn't do anything at all until the last page because I was so absorbed by the story and anxious about the outcome.

Cass is a high school teacher with a loving and devoted husband, Matthew. One night returning from a school get together, she takes a short cut through the woods during a blinding thunder storm. When she sees a car stopped along the road, she decides to stop but she is reluctant to go to the car in case it might someone who wanted to harm her. She decides to go home and is shocked the next morning to find out that the woman in the car had been brutally murdered. She is consumed with guilt and remorse once she realizes that she knew the woman who has murdered and starts struggling to remember things. Knowing that her mother had been diagnosed with early onset dementia made all of her forgetfulness convince her that she too had the disease. As her life spirals further out of control, the tension in the book continues to build as no one has been charged with the murder in the woods. I am reluctant to tell you any more about the plot because I don't want to give anything away. What I will tell you is that I had the culprit figured out by the middle of the book and then changed my mind another fifty pages later only to be totally surprised for the last 40 pages of the book.

This is the second book by B.A. Paris and even though I loved her first book, I thought that this one was even better. Can't wait for her next book!

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.

This is the second by this author that I have been unable to resist reading. A psychological thriller that has you on the edge of your seat for a turbulent trip of twists and I certainly didn't expect the twist at the end.. Excellent read and would recommend for others that have enjoyed Behind Closed Doors or other books in the genre..

First of all, I would not compare to "Behind Closed Doors" because they are COMPLETELY different, which is high praise for B.A. Paris's first two novels.

This was a really fast, gripping read for me. I read it in about two days over vacation - so obviously I was intrigued! The beginning took a bit to get into, partly because I was tired, and partly because I was waiting for Behind Closed Doors Part 2.

However, once you get into it, you get INTO it. I kept racking my brain trying to figure out what was happening to Cass. I will admit she started to annoy me after a while just like she annoyed the people in her life. But with good reason, she knew something fishy was going on and kept racking her brain herself. It just got repetitive after a while.

The storyline is full of mystery and intrigue. The characters are well developed, and I definitely felt an emotional connection to Cass. The writing itself had a great flow and was easy to read - which was especially helpful toward the end when I couldn't put it down.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone. It's not scary (if you are worried about that). But a gripping theory where you don't know the truth until the very end. And then you can't put it down. I think most types of people and readers would enjoy this! I'm B.A. Paris's newest fan!

*Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC, for which I have given an honest and unbiased review*

3.5 Stars

The Breakdown is a suspense-filled psychological thriller about a woman who is slowly having a nervous breakdown brought on by a car that breaks down.

While driving home late one night in the midst of a storm, Cass decides to take a shortcut through isolated back roads. She passes a woman whose car appears to have broken down. Since it’s stormy and spooky out, Cass decides that rather than stop to see if she can help, she will call for help when she arrives home. However, she forgets about the woman and the next morning she wakes to discover that the woman was murdered.

Cass’s forgetfulness begins to haunt her. She feels like the murderer is watching her every move. As her paranoia grows, she becomes plagued with forgetfulness. She begins to forget making plans with friends and her husband. She forgets that she ordered things online. She forgets how the appliances in her home work. Pretty soon, she starts questioning her sanity and wonders if she has early onset dementia, a disease her mother suffered from. Cass’s behavior continues to spiral out of control until she comes to the realization that all is not right in her world and not everything she thinks to be true adds up.

While I enjoyed this book, there were times when I was just waiting for something to happen. I predicted the twist, but it was still fun to see how things played out. It goes a bit lifetime movie at times, but overall it was a quick and entertaining read.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Oh wow what a read!!! 5 stars just doesn't seem enough. Fantastic storyline and had me gripped from the start. Best book I've read in a while. Could feel the anxiety in myself getting close to the end. Can highly recommend this book

Cass can’t forget the woman sitting in a car in a pullout. Stopping, but to afraid to get out to offer assistance, she drives off.The next morning there are reports of the woman being murdered.
She begins to forget a lot of other things and worries she might have early dementia. She also
receives silent calls and has feelings of being watched.
As Cass narrates the story, she was so convincing that I could feel her fear and her pain. All the characters felt real the dialogue convincing.
The story flows at a good pace with a lot of action and suspense from beginning to end.
This was a very good read and I recommend it to others.

I flew through this book so that should tell you how good I thought it was. It hits the ground running and doesn't stop until the last full stop and boy is it a fun ride.

Cass, a young teacher on her way home from her school holidays break up party, despite her husbands insistence not to, because of the really bad storm and the bad state of the roads that way, decides to take the short cut home. Through the pelting rain and windy roads she sees a car stopped at a lay by. It's in the middle of nowhere, not somewhere you would willingly stop, especially for the night that's in it. As she drives slowly by she she's a woman's face in the window of the drivers seat. She pulls in ahead of the car to see if she needs assistance. Maybe she has broken down?
She waits in her car expecting the woman to get out and come to her or flash her lights or do something but she doesn't budge. Cass is in no mood to get out into the pouring rain and run back to the stopped car to see if she is ok so, after waiting a few minutes to see if the woman in the car approaches her, she drives the short distance home deciding the woman must be ok.

She wakes up the next day to the news that the woman in the car has been brutally murdered. Riddled with guilt she can't bring herself to tell anyone that she saw the car and stopped but didn't help, especially not her husband.
Her life starts falling apart as she becomes consumed by guilt. She starts forgetting things and then forgetting more things and is terrified she may have the symptoms of early onset Alzheimer's, a disease her mother was diagnosed with in her early forties.

But that's not all Cass has to worry about. She's convinced the murderer saw her stop that night and knows now where she lives. She is receiving phone calls everyday but there's no one on the other end. She's having more and more trouble remembering things she did and is convinced she will be the next murder victim, all the while her guilt of not helping the woman in the car is eating her up and she fears she is losing her sanity.

Wow this was one enjoyable read. I flew through the book. Couldn't wait to get it finished to see how it all played out and it didn't disappoint. I said earlier it hit the ground running and it really did. Like one of those wind up toy cars that you rev the wheels up first before placing on the ground, it just shot off from the word go. There's a real urgency to the writing that suited the story perfectly, as the story is told from Cass,s perspective.

You have total empathy with Cass throughout as she falls deeper into hopelessness, struggling to keep her sanity. There's a small cast of characters but they all play their part in the story, a story that's perfectly paced and played out. My reading just got quicker and quicker the last few chapters as I couldn't wait to find out how it all ended.

A brilliantly entertaining psychological thriller, I just had great fun and got great enjoyment out of reading it. An easy five star rating and of course would whole heartedly recommend you get your hands on a copy.

I would lie to thank NetGalley, Harlequin (UK) and B.A. Paris for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited to read The Breakdown after having read Behind Closed Doors and let me say IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT! The Breakdown is a crazy story that is full of suspense and will have you yelling at the book just hoping the character's will listen. There are so many twists and turns that even though you may know "who did it" you will still be shocked at the end. I did not want this book to end! Now, knowing I have to wait another year for the next book by Paris is killing me!!

WOW. What a believable description of early onset dementia. I felt so sorry for Cass. . It is very difficult to write much without giving away the storyline and spoiling it for others. Enough to say that it was a brilliant book and equally as gripping as B.A.Paris's earlier "Behind Closed Doors" She has earned a place on my "favourite authors list"

This was a fantastic read!!! Enjoyed the book from the very first page to the last!

Cass happens to hear about a murder near her home and realizes that she saw the woman that was killed the same night of the murder. She begins to feel a lot of anxiety about being so close to the murder and she begins to forget things, such as making dinner plans and buying things off the shopping network. She talks to her husband and her friends about her concerns but they don't seem to take her anxiety seriously. She begins to become paranoid which makes her feel like she is having a mental breakdown. Is someone making her feel this way or is she really losing her mind? I really enjoyed this latest novel by B.A. Paris and it will be a great beach read this summer! Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Wow - this Knocked my Socks Right Off! What a Crazy Wild Roller Coaster of a Ride. 5 Stars!

This has to be the thriller of the year! There were times when I was holding my breath, gripping the book so intensely I thought I would break my e-reader. It was that crazy. B.A. Paris’ “The Breakdown” is an emotional psychological thriller. It grips you from the first sentence and keeps hold till the last.

The main character, Cass is a teacher who, after leaving a party, drives down a poorly lit, wooded road and sees a car stopped on the side of a road with a woman inside. Cass stops in front of it and tries to get the woman’s attention to see if she is alright but decides not to get out her own car in case it’s a trick as she is a woman alone and has always been told not to do so. Fearing for herself, Cass drives off, as most women alone would. I know that I probably would.

The next morning, Cass discovers that this woman was murdered that evening, on that dark wooded road. For fear of being judged, Cass told no one that she saw this young woman, not even her husband Matthew. This woman’s name was Jane, and it turns out that Cass knew her. And that triggers a chain of events, leading Cass to fear for her own life. She becomes scared, forgetful, paranoid and begins to show signs of early onset dementia, which what her mother passed away from.

After the murder, Cass is terrorized and spends every second looking over her shoulder. And we do too. My heart was in my throat throughout most of this book, petrified for Cass, wondering if she was in danger or if she was imagining everything. B.A. Paris did an incredible job keeping the readers on the edge of their seats. I wanted to tear through the book as fast as possible but didn’t want to miss a second of it.

This is the best emotional psychological thriller I have read in years. I can’t recommend it highly enough. If you want to read a book you can’t put down, that will keep you on the edge of your seat from the second you pick it up, till the moment you put it down, this is it.

I did not read B.A. Paris’s debut “Behind Closed Doors” - however, “The Breakdown” was so fantastic that I just ordered it on Amazon and am planning to read it next as this was amazing and I can’t wait to read her debut.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and B.A. Paris for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Published on Goodreads and NetGalley on 2/12/17.

*Will be published on Amazon on 6/20/17.

I would like to thank NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and B.A. Paris for the advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review. Cass and her husband Matt seem to have the perfect marriage. One evening, Cass is on her way home from a night out with friends as she passes a suspicious car on the side of the road during a downpour. The next day a local woman is found brutally murdered in her car. Cass realizes that she may have been a witness to that murder. She chooses not to come forward but the guilt gnaws at her. She starts to receive silent phone calls, she becomes forgetful, and she's frightened at every turn. Her life goes into a tailspin. Paris' prior novel, 'Behind Closed Doors', was a blockbuster debut and this second novel is a thrill ride that is hard to put down.

I received this book from netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. Wow. This book was great. It's sucked me in from page one, and I didn't want to put it down.

Loved it! Favourite book so far from net galley. Kept me hooked even though I kind of guessed who was behind it..... always suspicious when two characters "hate" each other. But still an overall very enjoyable read. Thank you

I consumed this book in two sittings and I was on the edge of my seat. I don't really even want to say much about it as I wouldn't want to give much away. My only issue was with the ending, which I felt was a little abrupt

I read a lot of thrillers and horror stories and i like to think it takes a lot to creep me out but my god was i ever on edge reading this. The level of tension created in this story is incredible and even in the middle of the day i was as tense and worked up as if i was on the creepy back road with Cass where the story begins.

It's only February but i know this is going to be in my top five books of the year come December because it's just that good. Well written, intriguing story and engaging characters it was exactly what you want from a psychological thriller.

Really enjoyable thriller, with an intriguing plot that kept me turning the pages. Will definitely look forward to more by this author.

I loved B.A. Paris's first book, "Behind Closed Doors" so was quick to read her new novel, "The Breakdown". There was an element of concern, after all, how many really good books can an author churn out in a brief amount of time. I'm very happy to say, at least two!

Cass has been struggling with guilt since seeing a woman in a broken down car during a rain storm, and not successfully stopping to help. That concern quickly turns to fear when she learns that the woman was murdered, and is someone she recently became acquainted with. As she comes to terms with the news, strange things begin to happen which make her believe she is suffering from the same early onset dementia that only a few years earlier claimed the life of her mother. As these occurrences become more frequent, and explanations few and far between, she must find out what is happening in her mind before madness consumes her.

This is a completely different plot than her first book, but with unexpected twists that will keep a delighted reader interested until the last page is turned. For readers who enjoy Gillian Flynn and Carol O'Connell, this is a can't miss book for 2017.

Behind Closed Doors was one of my top reads in 2016 so I was I couldn't wait to get my hands on The Breakdown!!!! I am ecstatic to announce that B.A. Paris has knocked it out of the park once again!!!

Just like the title says, this enticing novel centers around a breakdown. While driving home on a stormy night, Cass Anderson spots a woman on the side of the road waiting inside a broken down car. Cass initially thinks she should stop to offer assistance, but thinking of her personal safety, Cass ultimately decides to keep driving. That women ends up dead!!!!! From that point, Cass has found herself in a tailspin of should've, would've, could've!! And then strange and unexplainable occurrences start happening to Cass and she fears she's being targeted!!! Wowzer!!!

I love a novel that shocks me with it's outcome, and The Breakdown was definitely shocking! The twists and turns were very well timed--love that!!!! I can honestly say that as much as I tried to come up with my own theories, I was completely at a loss!! When B.A. Paris finally put all of the puzzle pieces together my jaw actually dropped...totally stunned!! The Breakdown is a 5 star book that is definitely on my 2017 favorites list!! I cannot wait to see what B.A. Paris has up her sleeve next!!!!