I haven't read B.A. Paris' widely praised novel Behind Closed Doors yet so I was able to start this novel with an open mind. It might not be a bad thing in this case because a lot of people might compare the book to the first unintentionally.

This being said, I still find it difficult to give this novel one single rating. I loved how the story developed towards the end but I must admit that the pacing was steady but not super fast for a good part of this book, relaying all the extremely aggravating events that were happening to Cass. I was also expecting certain things because of its genre so my expectations didn't make me doubt certain events as much as probably intended. I know I'm being mysterious here but it can't be helped.

Right from the start and all through The Breakdown Cass feels extremely guilty for having driven past a woman in a car one stormy night only to hear the next day she was murdered. What's worse is the fact that she even knows the woman who was murdered because they had lunch together some weeks before.

Cass starts to fear the murderer saw her and might think she saw him. Especially when strange things start to happen around the house. She gets mysterious phone calls for example. At the same time she starts to forget certain things. Her mother died of young dementia so of course she's wary now that she might suffer the same. She's never told her husband for fear of him not wanting to marry her any more if he knew what might be waiting for them in the future, so now she's trying to cover it up as best as she can. Only things get way, way! out of hand. Her paranoia, her guilt and fear made this a perfect mix that kept me wanting to read on and on and on. Is she really suffering from a breakdown, is it dementia, is the killer on to her?

I can't tell which one it is (or isn't) but know that this one had a superbly crafted plot and the story knows a big revelation, thanks to a little thing called serendipity which changes matters drastically in how they stand up to that point. Cass finally becomes a woman who is no longer crippled by fear but goes looking for those most needed answers. More surprises are just around the corner and the ending was splendid. Let me correct myself, the ending was excellent, gripping and did I mention splendid?

I know people don't like it but this is indeed one of those books that remind me of the book that is always mentioned on plenty covers with an intricately crafted plot that makes you gasp out loud when you reach the climax in the end. It's not as fast-paced but plotwise I can certainly see they are a match for each other.

Like most readers and reviewers I absolutely adored Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris, her debut psychological thriller. I recommended it to so many people and not one came back to say they were disappointed. So as soon as her second novel came up on Amazon, I pre-ordered it straight away. But then the publication date was pushed back and I started to worry a little. Was she struggling with that second novel syndrome that can strike after such a brilliantly received debut? How would this new book compare with Behind Closed Doors and was it unfair of me to compare it anyway and have such high expectations? So it was with a smidgen of trepidation that I started to read The Breakdown. But OH MY WORD! Once that book was in my hands, it did not leave them! The term “unputdownable” seems a strangely mild description of how much this book grabbed me by the throat and squeezed tighter and tighter until I could hardly swallow! I think I was physically shaking with the dread of what was happening to Cass and how it was all going to end.

The opening scenes of The Breakdown are absolutely terrifying. It was like watching a horror film where the heroine always does what she’s told not to do! In an horrendous summer storm, Cass doesn’t take the better lit and busy dual carriageway whilst driving home from a meal with colleagues. No, scared by the water and the lorries on the road she takes a shortcut onto a dark and twisting country lane. Why would she do that!? But that decision ends up setting off a series of events that make Cass doubt her very sanity. This was where I started to appreciate the cleverness of that ambiguous title as Cass seemed to be heading for a breakdown of her own. But instead of the frustration I expected to feel with the way the plot was developing, I was gripped, well and truly overinvolved in the petrifying path Cass was quickly sliding down. And all the time it felt so utterly convincing and truthful, that I just couldn’t tear my eyes away from the page.

I always say I like the surprise nowadays with these types of books as this is such a popular genre nowadays that it’s so difficult to keep twists new and fresh. But weirdly enough here, it wasnt about that! It was about a natural storyteller drawing me in from the very start and refusing to let me go by developing characters I really cared about and situations I felt powerless to stop. And I’m going to let you in on a little secret now-I actually think I loved this more than Behind Closed Doors! It’s certainly as good as its predecessor, if not better and I feel ashamed to admit that I ever doubted that it wouldn’t be.

Very highly recommended by me!

Thanks to Net Galley & Harper Collins Publishers for an ARC of this book. A brilliant read. Fast paced page turner.
Cas's mother had early onset dementia and Cas is worried sick that she now has the same. She is forgetting things, simple things at first, but things get worse following a murder near her & Matthews home and to make things worse Cas knew the woman Jane who was murdered. Cas feels enormous guilt that she passed Jane in her car the night of murder.
Cas is stressed by the murder, silent phone calls to her home put her on edge, she believes the murderer is targeting her. Her memory gets worse , she can't remember how to switch on the washing machine, use the coffee machine & forgets where she parked her car a day.
Her husband Matthew is beginning to loose patience with her.
Cas,s life is spiralling out of control.
A must read for those who like suspense.

Another fantastic book from this author. I loved her first book and this one certainly didn't disappoint. It was full of twists and turns that had me hooked from the first page. I loved how the whole story panned out and how it ended which I definitely didn't see coming! I would definitely recommend this book. Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

I really enjoyed this book. It was quite a page turner for me and was reluctant to put it down. I read lots of thrillers and mysteries and almost always work out the plot and/or whodunnit. I did with this one - there are clues everywhere. But there was also an unexpected additional twist at the end which I liked.

The characters are all relateable. The process of the main character's breakdown is well written - a lesson on how to create self doubt and drive yourself mad in very easy steps. I particularly liked the use of text messages to tell the other side of the story. (Had to stay awake overnight with my son in hospital. Reading this on my kindle made the hours fly by really quickly and I didn't even feel dozey once. Certainly kept me gripped).

Worthy of it's psychological thriller description. Ripe material for a movie which I'd definitely watch. Highly recommend it and there a few books group I'll be suggesting it to.

Amazing.
I read Behind Closed Doors by this author, and really enjoyed it. I loved The Breakdown even more. I look forward to seeing what B A Paris can give us next.

Seriously impressive new book by the wonderfully talented B A Paris, I was completely hooked on this book and the unfolding story and read it in one sitting. The writing drew me in from the start, and it really made me think at times as to what I would do in the same situation.

If you were driving in a storm, and had taken a short cut through the dark woods late at night, with poor visibility and saw a car just stopped in a layby, what would you do? Well Cass stopped, but given the woman in the car didn't seem distressed or flash her lights or anything, Cass drove away, intending to call the police just in case once she got somewhere with reception.

Feeling guilty but too scared and not really wanting to go out into the storm, Cass drove away having done nothing, and then a text message distracts her once home. By the following morning, Cass's living nightmare starts, when the woman is found dead in the layby, and Cass can't bring herself to own up to having been there that night.

I'm not entirely sure what I would have done in the circumstances, but Cass feels guilty, and then is terrified when she starts receiving silent calls, on a very regular basis. Not only that but she feels she is losing her mind and seeing things when a series of incidents occur.

The book is written entirely from Cass's perspective and you really are on this journey with her, experiencing her fear at the silent calls and also wondering just what is up with her memory. I was scared for her many times in the book and had to keep reading to see what would happen next.

I was so hooked on this book, that about a third of the way in, there was a knock on my door at home and I jumped out of my skin, thinking it was the person who had been making the silent calls! I can't say how glad I am that I was reading this book in daylight and not at night, although I may still have disturbed dreams!

I'd been slightly apprehensive before reading The Breakdown, purely because I had loved Behind Closed Doors so much, that I was scared that it may have been a one off - needless to say my fears were unfounded as this was superb. There is much of the last third that was completely unexpected, from the direction I would have predicted the story was going in, but it was a good surprise and worked incredibly well.

B A Paris' writing is clear and very easy to follow, and she seems to have a knack of writing about subjects that don't come up in everyday life and give you new ways to think about them. There is a lot of talk about early onset dementia in this book, as well as Cass' original moral dilemma.

The Breakdown is a fantastic story, that is gripping and informative and one that I would heartily recommend.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and HQ for this copy that I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I really enjoyed this book, however I have read one so similar in the past that the twist and outcome were exactly the same, so I knew exactly what was going on very early on which did spoil it for me somewhat. If you haven't read the other book, you will love it.

Behind Closed Doors was outstanding. The Breakdown is even better! B A Paris has written an absolute belter of a tale that had my heart literally pounding. The first person narrative races along and I felt as if I were actually inside Cass Anderson's head, experiencing events in the same way that she did. That's skilful storytelling.

The plotting is superb and there's a real sense of tension and pressure as the events take place over a few weeks in the summer holidays. Cass is a happily married teacher. She has a good friend, Rachel, whom she's known for years. A local lady is murdered and Cass realises that she knows her and saw her just before the murder. She could have helped and from this point, Cass's life starts to spiral out of control. Tension builds inexorably with silent calls, shadowy figures in the garden, memory loss, missed appointments until Cass can barely function. She's under threat and unable to trust her memory, she becomes increasingly reliant on her husband and friends to keep her anchored. But who should she trust and who will be betrayed?

I was convinced at around the half way point that I knew where the story was leading. I was totally wrong and the denouement in the final section is sublime. Poetic justice, beautifully wrought and delivered in fast paced chunks in a twist that's revealed by working through events in reverse. Read this in almost one sitting; it grips and doesn't let go. Simply brilliant.

Possible spoilers here - don't read unless you finished book.
I liked Behind Closed Doors, which is why I requested this from Netgalley and wasn't disappointed. Though Paris can go through slow patches, with what appears to be unnecessary detail, after the big reveal it becomes clear how necessary the build up was.
My only criticism here was that the ending, in contrast, was too fast - not enough loose ends being tidied up and no satisfactory schadenfreude where you get to see the villains suffer!

My review which will be posted on my page on Goodreads:

There are already many rave reviews being written about this book. As I worked my way through it I didn't think I would be adding my praise.

However, about two thirds of the way through the story suddenly takes off.

My early notes for this review mentioned chick-lit and rambling descriptions. At one point I nearly gave up. However I'm glad I didn't, because when the psychological thriller aspects of the novel kick in they do so with abundance.

I am sure this will be one of the early successes of 2017.

This is certainly a book with a big twist. I hoped it would come, eventually it did. On the strength of this I will look out for future novels by B.A. Paris.

I offer thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin UK for a copy of this book in exchange for this impartial review.

I nearly gave up on this book, about two thirds of the way through, it became repetitive and needed something to happen in the plot.
I'm so glad I didn't! The ending is fantastic. I thought I knew what was going to happen from the beginning, but there were many twists that I hadn't anticipated.
The characters are frustrating at times, and there are a few unrealistic things happening, but overall, I recommend this book.
I would have liked more descriptions about the main characters, the location etc.

Twelve months ago I was gripped by B. A Paris' debut novel Behind Closed Doors, so much so that it made my list of top books of 2016 so I couldn't wait to read The Breakdown. I was eager to find out if her second book would be as good as her first, but it wasn't. . . . . it was even better!!

Cass is on her way home, it's a filthy night and all she wants to do is get home. Deciding to go against her husband Matthew's advice she takes the shortcut down a dark, wooded and lonely road which will cut a few minutes off her journey, not knowing that it will be a decision she will very quickly come to regret.

Spotting a car in the lay-by she pulls up level with it to see if she can help the driver, but although she can make out a female sitting in the drivers seat, the woman makes not attempt to communicate with Cass. Not wanting to drive off and leave the unknown woman possibly stranded, she pulls over infront of the car to see if that encourages the driver. In the short time that Cass patiently waits her thoughts run away with her and she starts to think that maybe it's a trap and that maybe someone will steal her car if she gets out. With no movement from the car behind and no mobile signal she decides that the best thing to do would be to carry on home and make a call once she's there.

Cass never makes the call and is horrified to find out the next day that the female motorist has been murdered. Understandably she is absolutely riddled with guilt, going over and over the previous night in her mind - what if she had got out of her car, what if she hadn't forgotten to make a call when she arrived home, what if she had got out of her car, she might have been killed too - the list is endless but of course none of this will change the fact that a woman has died.

When the police find out who the mystery woman is Cass realises that she knew her and had lunch with her just a few weeks before. Her husband Matthew is supportive but he's worried when Cass starts to forget things and even more worried when she voices her fears that the murderer is making silent phone calls to the house.

In my opinion The Breakdown is an exceptional book and B A Paris is an exceptional writer. The further I read, the more palpable the tension got and at one point I could almost feel Cass' heart racing as she struggled to make sense of her life and battled the demons inside her head. No character was safe from the finger of suspicion being pointed at them and I was totally gripped, wanting to read faster to find out how it was going to end but at the same time not wanting to finish such a compelling book. As the ending was getting nearer I could feel my lips curling into a smirk and then growing wider into a grin as I realised what was happening and for me the ending couldn't have been better, but don't worry I won't spoilt it for you all.

This book raises the bar in the psychological thriller genre and although it's only January I'm pretty confident that The Breakdown will be one of my favourite books of the year. If you only read one book this year. . .make sure it's THIS one!

With kind thanks to NetGalley and publishers Harlequin UK for the review copy.

As someone who has driven past a motorist with their car bonnet up and later learned they had been struck by a car and killed, I could really relate to Cass and her guilt over the decision not to stop and assist the woman in the car. Add in the forgetfulness and the silent phone calls and this really was a chilling, gut twisting read for me. I was well and truly manipulated by the author and jumped from suspect to suspect each time convinced I had it solved. I felt a like the ending was a bit rushed but that might have been because I just wasn't ready to let the characters go. Don't you just hate it when readers say 'this would make a great movie', but this truly would.

WOW...... I have never been so tempted to skip to the end of a book to find out what happens and then go back, until now, that's how much I enjoyed this book. Nail biting, edge of your seat story, absolutely brilliant. One of the best psychological thrillers I've read to date. A must read in my opinion.

What a fantastic story from a fantastic author loved both of your books and can't wait to read anymore in the future x

Another unputdownable (when are they going to accept that word into the OED?) read from B.A. Paris. I really enjoyed her "clever, claustrophobic" debut BEHIND CLOSED DOORS and this read was "more" and "better". As POV protagonist Cass slips further and further into confusion, unsure what is her Early Onset Dementia and what is the murderer trying to scare her, so too does the reader become wonderfully discombobulated. While Cass may appear to be the very definition of "unreliable narrator" (and arguably does the wrong thing when she doesn't stop to help the woman "broken down in the woods") there is a careful depth to her that keeps you rooting for her all the way through.

I must admit that I worked out what was going on but that didn't spoil the ride. A beautifully constructed and paced domestic thriller that genuinely had me glancing behind me during my walk home.

Having loved B A Paris' debut novel Behind Closed Doors, I was really looking forward to reading her latest book The Breakdown unfortunately although I enjoyed it, this one didn't quite hit the mark. It's a psychological thriller filled with murder, paranoia and plenty of suspense, with flawed characters that make you question there integrity at every turn, but personally I expected something more. Maybe I have read one to many books in this genre, and I have come to expect a storyline to shock me and leave me breathless, unfortunately for me this is where this novel didn't meet my expectations.

One night Cassie decides to take a short cut through the woods after a night out, what she doesn't realise is that a woman will be found murdered on the very same night she passed her. Cassie starts out feeling guilty that she didn't stop to offer help, but guilt soon turns to paranoia, suspicion and dread. It soon becomes evident that Cass is having problems remembering things and as her life spirals out of control and drags her to the brink, it begs the question is this a woman struggling with mental health issues? or is there something far more sinister a foot. B A Paris convincingly describes Cass loosing her grip on reality, and you can't but help but for empathy for her character, as the author describes her emotions and feelings with such conviction I found it heightened my own feelings of anxiety and paranoia.

The Breakdown is an intriguing read and I just know there are going to be plenty of readers who will love every page of this well written novel. Unfortunately I pretty much guessed where this novel was heading, so when the twists were revealed they didn't come as a great surprise to me, I really thought there would be a twist that would make me change my opinion of this book but unfortunately it never materialised so I was left feeling slightly deflated as I had such high hopes for this novel. In the authors defence she has written a well plotted book, building skilfully on the tension and suspense and I'm sure it's a book that will become a bestseller, but for me it lacked the "thrilling" or mess with my head element I've come to expect in books of this genre.
4 ⭐ this review maybe altered slightly and edited prior to publication on my blog

I thought this book was very exciting multi layered and a damn good story I liked the main character and although I did guess the outcome towards the end it didn't detract from the story or my enjoyment in reading .I liked the ending not giving anything away but it was good.Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Having read and loved Behind closed doors I was thrilled to be able to read the secondition book from BA Paris.
The breakdown is a brilliant book, cleverly written and following the apparent happy lives of Andrew and Cass. Following the murder of a young woman close to their home Cass is finding things difficult to deal with, her fear that the murderer is close by, that they will come for her next. Those fears are compounded by strange goings on at home, silent phone calls and the feeling that she is being watched.. Cass is convinced that the killer knows who she is but does he and will she be able to escape?
Loved it, highly recommended to family and friends