I would like to thank Harlequin UK and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Breakdown’ by B A Paris in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
Cass is taking a shortcut through the woods during a thunderstorm and sees a car parked in a lay-by with a woman at the wheel. Thinking that the driver might need assistance she stops her own car in the lay-by ahead of the parked car but thinking it might be a trap she drives off. The next day she discovers that the woman in the car is her new friend Jane – and she’s been murdered!
Cass starts receiving silent phone calls and has the feeling that someone is watching her. She becomes convinced the murderer has noted her car’s registration number and is going to kill her too. Then Cass starts to experience memory lapses, how to turn on household appliances, appointments she can’t remember making, items she can’t remember buying, and is convinced she has the symptoms of early onset dementia which her mother died of at the age of 44.
This is a fantastic second novel by B A Paris, it has a brilliant storyline and compelling characters, is unbelievably chilling, and I can guarantee that once started the reader will be unable to put it down.

Cass drives by a parked car which she later realises contained a woman who was killed and not only that it turns out she knew her - the ensuing guilt eats her up, and the fact that she feels unable to share that guilt with anyone, not even her husband. She also has a number of memory lapses which result in unexplained happenings - like losing her car, but she also begins to receive silent phone calls.


This is going to be a hard review to write as I don't want to reveal too much about what happens in the book. I actually read this book in just two sittings which I hardly ever do - I just had to know what was going on. There aren't any chapters, just dates, so I found it difficult to place an end of chapter marker and put the book down. However, the style of writing was so easy to read that it just flowed from the page - making me turn ever faster.


I thought I had guessed what was happening in this book early on, but then I decided I had the wrong idea about it. There are plenty of red herrings to lull the reader into thinking they have guessed the outcome of the plot. The full plot is finally revealed and it is done in a really clever way. Then comes the twist and I have to say I got a little scared for Cass but was so proud of her.


My only misgiving is the final pages which seemed a little lame compared with the rest of the plot. Personally I preferred the plot in her first novel Behind Closed Doors which was much richer and much more terrifying.

I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars.

My thanks to Netgalley and HQ UK for an advance copy of the book for review.

I loved this author's previous book, Behind Closed Doors, and I was sceptical whether the same psychological tension could be replicated in this new book. But it was as every bit as tense and twisty! I flew through the pages; I had my suspicions about what was really going on..was she really suffering from Early Onset Dementia?..or was something else at play?...but I couldn't quite guess correctly! Great book, great storyline, great ending!

Cass is about to make the worst decision of her life when she decides to take a shortcut home on a dark and stormy night. The drive home takes her on a rural road through the woods during a torrential rainstorm. She passes a car parked near the woods with a woman inside, and she stops the car momentarily, thinking the woman will approach her if she needs help. The woman doesn't get out so Cass drives off. The next morning she discovers that the woman was later found dead in the car - and had been brutally murdered!

Cass is beside herself with guilt, could she have saved this woman? or would she herself have been murdered if she'd stopped to help?

Her decision that night has impacted badly on her health and she becomes really forgetful, forgetting even the simplest of things. This causes her extreme anxiety as she believes she's suffering from early onset dementia, just as her mother had. Then she starts receiving silent phone calls and believes whoever murdered the woman must have seen her that night, and is now watching her!

Oh Boy! I thought the author did a good job with her last book 'Behind Closed Doors', but she's excelled herself with this one. The characters are well formed, the plot is intricate but extremely clever, and the anxiety and fear jump out from every page - you've no choice but to be pulled helplessly along, yearning to discover what's coming next.

As is usual for me, I had a suspect lined up for the murder immediately- had them questioned, charged, and locked away. Well I was wrong! And that's what happens when I pit my my wits against someone as adept at her craft as B.A.Paris is.

Do yourself a favour and don't miss out on this one - you'll be missing a treat if you do!

I was given an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and independent review.
I really enjoyed B A Paris' first novel and had high hopes for this one. It did not disappoint. A thrilling, pacy tale with twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat. Excellent characters and I particularly empathised with Cassie and the situation she found herself in. The book is cleverly written and really drew me in to the unfolding drama.
4.5 stars

At the start of the book I was thinking "NO......I KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING"
then at 15% I am thinking" but why . No this doesn't make sense". All through the book my mind was working over drive.
This is kind of book you can't stop reading . I read it in one day, couldn't stop until I finished .
This book was brain teaser.

The Breakdown is the first book I've read by B A Paris and I'm so glad I've found this author.

The Breakdown is the perfect chilling thriller that will have you hooked from the first chapter.

The story follows Cass, who after driving home one night can't get the image of the woman she saw parked in a car in the middle of the woods. The car belongs to a woman who was killed. Trying to put the car out of her mind after her husband told her not to drive that way home and reasoning with herself that she would have been hurt too if she'd stopped. But ever since then, she finds she is starting to forget things. Did she take her pills, what is the alarm code, did she order all the things that keep arriving at the house?

This book is a real page turner. The characters interweave perfectly and there is an underlying tension simmering throughout the whole book which adds to the gripping finale.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and give it 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin UK Ltd and the author for the chance to review.

Brilliant. This is the first BA Paris book for me and although a slow start where I did consider abandoning it, so glad that I didn't. A very gradual build up of tension with a very dramatic climax that just kept me up all night reading.

Paranoia sweeps central character Cass in ‘The Breakdown,’ after she realises she could have helped her friend.

On her way home through the woods on a stormy summers evening Cass notices a broken down car by the side of the road. After briefly stopping, feeling vulnerable, she decides to continue driving. It is only later that she learns that the woman she saw has been killed and that she was a friend.

As Cass ruminates on what could have been, she begins to unravel. B.A. Paris has created another tension filled, fast paced novel which gives the reader a constant feeling of unease until the satisfying ending.

A round of applause to this author for another book that gripped me so whole-heartedly and was so compelling, that the outside world just disappeared whilst I was reading it.

I chose to read this NetGalley ARC for which I have given a voluntary and unbiased review.

BA Paris has done it again. Another fantastic, fast paced, roller coaster of a read. I felt the horror and guilt Cass felt by leaving the girl on the side of the road. Her life seems to fall apart from thereon and she struggles with memory. Is she a reliable narrator or is she losing the plot. Great characters but are they friends and can they be trusted. This book had me all over the place but not guessing the very good, satisfying twist of an ending. Thanks to Harper Collins and NetGalley for the advanced copy for review. Highly recommended.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book as an arc.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Cass witnesses an apparent car breakdown on her way home, but doesn't stop to help. She learns that the driver was murdered later that night and is tormented by guilt, feeling that she could have prevented the murder. Over the next couple of weeks, she starts receiving silent phone calls and she is convinced the murderer is targeting her now. She also believes she is suffering from early onset dementia and finds herself becoming a recluse, hiding away from the world in fear.
Of course nothing is as it seems and there are plenty of twists and turns before we learn the true story behind Cass's torment. There is a claustrophobic feeling of unease throughout, keeping the reader unsettled and anxious to to keep reading. Would thoroughly recommend this book and those who enjoy a good psychological thriller/domestic noir will love this.

I absolutely loved 'Behind Closed Doors' so couldn't wait to read this one. It didn't disappoint at all, I loved it just as much as the previous book.

The Breakdown is a psychological thriller which grips you from the start, with so many twists and turns there is no chance of getting bored. A real page turner with an ending that blew me away, a highly recommneded book.

I can't wait for the next one from this author, this one gets a massive 5 stars from me.