The Breakdown: The gripping thriller from the bestselling author of Behind Closed Doors (171 POCHE)

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You become so tied up in their lives, thoughts and actions that you feel like they are your friends. Friends that need to be shook to make them come to grips with reality!

The writing is excellent—it flows seamlessly and there are no fillers. And the story is told by the woman, Grace. I always love first-person narration—it makes the story so believable (unless it’s an unreliable narrator, of course, which she is not). I won’t say anything about the plot because for me it’s more fun to go into a thriller blind. If you love a story featuring an unreliable narrator, you will find plenty of material to enjoy in THE BREAKDOWN. Cass is the ultimate unreliable narrator, unable to trust even her own understanding of the events unfolding around her—and B.A. Paris does a great job crafting a believable explanation for Cass' memory loss, making her predicament feel authentic and sympathetic to the reader. I felt like it was a little bit predictable based on the small set of characters in this book (Rachel, John, Cass, and Matthew). So, I pretty much was able to guess part of the plot and storyline. If you are an Author and you’d like me to consider reading and reviewing your book please just message me.Cass is literally having a mental breakdown after the murder of a local woman is discovered…a woman she could possibly have helped. I would give this a 2ish.... Like B.A's first novel... the characters just got on my DAMN nerves. I was super annoyed overall by Cass.... and it made me sometimes want to stop reading the novel.

Holy moly what a ride!! I HAD to find out what happened, so seriously, I stayed in bed until NOON, with no thoughts of family, friends, or world chaos. Dry eye made the words blurry, but who cares? And food? Is that really necessary? My only necessity was finding out how this story turned out, to get me out of the claustrophobic terror created by a holy-shit psychopath. It was some tense! A frighteningly cool portrait of a serious sadist, Behind Closed Doors is a gripping, claustrophobia-inducing thriller... Read at the risk of running from every handsome British lawyer who crosses your path.” — Romantic Times B.A. Paris’ debut psychological thriller, BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, was one of my most-recommended crime books last summer, and I was beyond excited to get my hands on a copy of her next thriller, THE BREAKDOWN. While THE BREAKDOWN doesn’t deliver the same addictive, spine-tingling suspense of BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, I still found myself hooked on this wholly entertaining story. This book is the epitome of a “beach read” if ever there was one. If you’re looking for a crime novel that’s pure entertainment—think fast-paced, not too violent or too dark but still suspenseful—THE BREAKDOWN belongs on your summer reading list. Cass is a teacher who lives with her husband, Matthew, in a great, but isolated house in a small English town. Cass makes the worst decision of her life one rainy night when she decides to take a shortcut home, despite the fact that her husband told her many times the woods are too dark and dangerous for a woman. Cass is a little scared and she believes no one is as stupid as her to drive in the rain, especially in the woods, so she’s surprised to see a car. At first she thinks someone is driving it, but as soon she realizes the car is actually parked and sees a woman in the driver’s seat, she stops. Since the rain is pouring, Cass can’t tell who the woman is or if she needs help, but she’s willing to help with whatever problem she may have. She stays a couple of minutes in her car, waiting for the woman to give her a sign she needs help, but the sign never comes. Cass, wanting to get home as soon as possible, drives off. The next day, Cass finds out from the news the strange woman she “met” was found dead, murdered. She doesn’t tell her husband about the woman, feeling more than guilty, believing she could have saved her, even if she doesn’t know when or how was she murdered. Everything gets worse for Cass when she realizes she met the deceased woman when she had lunch with her not so long ago. When it comes to clues in any book, I usually don't have a clue--always seem to be surprised with most twists and never guess the endings. Maybe this is why I tend to enjoy these books.stars. Okay, listen up. This book is not the next Gone Girl. Don't let anyone tell you that. It just isn't. It's not that kind of twisty, secretive book at all. It's the kind of fast-paced, pulpy read that plays with your emotions without ever making you think too hard. But, so help me, I could not put it down. 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.

I've been dying to read this book every since I first saw the blurb about it. I knew it wasn't going to be pretty and I have an un-holy attraction to books about psychos. Cass starts to think someone is watching the house, that someone has been in the house. When she goes shopping and is leaving for home she can't find her car. She KNOWS where she parked, so it must have been stolen. Cass and the parking attendant look everywhere, on all the different floors only to eventually find her car..... Behind Closed Doors takes a classic tale to a whole new level…This was one of the best and [most] terrifying psychological thrillers I have ever read…each chapter brings you further in, to the point where you feel how Grace must feel. The desperation, the feeling that no one will believe you and yet still wanting to fight because someone you care deeply about will get hurt.” — San Francisco Book Review But since then, Cass has been forgetting every little thing. Where she left the car, if she took her pills, even the alarm code. The only thing she can’t forget is that woman. And now that Cass keeps receiving silent phone calls, she can’t quite shake the feeling that someone’s watching her…Where’s my car? There’s a ridiculous scene in a parking garage, ridiculous because it is a logistical mess. I had to reread the scene many times and in the end it still didn’t make sense. Where oh where did the editor go?

Unsure of her own sanity, Cass begins a slow downward spiral, fighting her losing battle with memory loss, but determined to avenge the death of the woman whose life she feels responsible for. I have read some fantastic books so far this year. This year I have a feeling is going to be awesome. I finished last year on a high and this year has started on a high for just awesomeness in book material.Not sure I buy that Cass wouldn’t call the police immediately when she discovered what was going on. By handling it herself, she was putting herself in big-time danger and she knew it. But then on the other hand, she wasn’t the sharpest crayon in the box. Cass was an unreliable heroine so I obviously questioned everything she said and everything she did for a good part of the story. I sympathized with her and, even though I found her to be an interesting and well-developed character, she frustrated the hell out of me. God, at times, I wanted to slap the woman senseless.