The Breakdown

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For a story that started so promisingly, I felt it dragged in the middle. What was meant to show the building fear and confusion started to just feel Cass is literally having a mental breakdown after the murder of a local woman is discovered…a woman she could possibly have helped. Naturally this sequence of events does not help Cass’ mental state. Why didn’t she help? What if the murderer is after her next? And why does she keep getting these silent phone calls, only when her husband isn’t home? The only thing she can't forget is that woman, the woman she might have saved, and the terrible nagging guilt. You won't be able to put down B. A. Paris's The Breakdown, the next chilling, propulsive novel from the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Behind Closed Doors.

Cass had promised her husband, she would avoid taking the shortcut that night, but changed her mind. Knowing he would be furious with her for taking such a risk, and feeling like a horrible human being for ignoring the driver, she never tells anyone what she witnessed.

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. She can’t stop dwelling on it, though, and the guilt nearly eats her alive. But, Cass has other issues to contend with as well. She has begun to experience some serious memory lapses. With her family history, this is especially troubling. Her sophomore novel, The Breakdown was immediately added to my TBR after I completed her debut, Behind Closed Doors.

The other major theme is dementia. What a horrible realization it must be to discover you are, for all intents and purposes, losing your mind. If this insidious disease runs in your family, any tiny misplaced item or forgotten appointment could trigger alarm bells. Her first novel is called Behind Closed Doors and was released in 2016. The second book is called The Breakdown and was released in 2017. Her third book in the series will be coming out in 2018. Consumed by terrifying thoughts, Cass is blanketed in paranoia. She begins to hear unaccustomed sounds within her house, misplacement of items, phantom phone calls, and the dreaded presence of someone watching her. Her greatest fear seems to be coming true. Her mother was diagnosed at the young age of forty-four with early on-set dementia. Is this what awaits Cass or something far more menacing? I loved her first book (“Behind Closed Doors”) so had high expectations for this one. The story is truly suspenseful. During a severe storm Cass comes across a car parked at the side of the road. She stops and waits for some indication that the female driver needs assistance. None comes so Cass drives on to her home. The next morning Cass learns from her husband that her friend Jane had been murdered. She is devastated when she learns that it had been her friend Jane’s car on the side of the road.

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After a few short chapters, I started becoming irritated with the main character's stressing over her guilt. The first half of the book was so repetitive, it became boring, and I was considering not finishing it. The only character I found likable throughout the book was the deceased. Cass' days are spent feeling convinced she's being watched, worrying that someone is trying to break into her house, and someone keeps calling her house but not saying anything. She's coming utterly unglued, and to make matters worse, she's starting to forget things—plans she's made, occasions she's planned—even whether she took her pills or activated the burglar alarm. The only way she can seem to cope is by taking pills to calm her anxiety, but they leave her in a drugged stupor, much to the chagrin of her husband. This book grabs you at the start. Is there anyone who hasn't been deathly afraid driving through a pounding rainstorm, hands gripping the wheel? And it's totally understandable that Cass doesn't stop when she comes across a car stopped along the side of the road, given the location, worries that it could be trap and the miserable weather. But the guilt compounds the next morning when she learns the woman in the car was later murdered. She keeps quiet, not telling either her husband or friends about what she did (or rather didn't do) for various reasons. And on top of the guilt is the worry about her faltering memory. Her mom died of early onset Alzheimer's at an age just 10 years above Cass’s own. Consumed by guilt, she’s also starting to forget things. Whether she took her pills, what her house alarm code is – and if the knife in the kitchen really had blood on it.

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. Her mind feels like it's going to break....everything is spiraling out of control. She's in a constant state of anxiety. The phone calls are amplifying all of her fears. Plus all of the things she's forgetting makes things worse. With everything going on Cass is desperate to know.... I believe if 'you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all,' so I thought Ms. Paris had a great idea for a storyline. I can't go into details, without spoilers, but she added a new twist I've not seen used before that I found quite clever, and like her previous novel, "The Breakdown" was also a very fast read. 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. It bothered me that Cass didn't take any responsibility for her own health or wellbeing. She seems content to turn over too many decisions to Matthew.To say I was excited for this novel is an understatement. I loved Behind Closed Doors so I couldn't wait to see what B.A Paris had in store for me this time. Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. I very much enjoyed the incorporation of text messages into this story as well. It helped to keep me engaged as the puzzle pieces began falling into place. B.A. Paris was born in Surrey, England, in 1958 to a French mother and Irish father. She is the third of 6 children, including 4 brothers and a sister. After completing her education, she moved to France, where she worked as a trader in an international bank in Paris for several years. During this time, she met her husband, with whom she now has 5 daughters. They eventually left the world of finance to set up a language school together. It was one of those situations where I thought I knew what was going on, but I kept pushing through the tedious chapters and hoping I was wrong and that the ending would surprise me. It didn't. It's way too easy to work out. You might even be starting to suspect the answers before beginning if you read the author's previous book.

This is a psychological thriller that features Cass a young woman who fears she is suffering from early signs of dementia an illness that her mother had.The book starts with Cass taking a shortcut home by driving through the woods when she sees a car parked up. Through the heavy storm she glances into the car to see a woman who shows no signs of distress and decides to drive off without stopping. You’ll be unable to rest until you’ve followed the twists and turns to an ending you didn’t forsee’ Daily Express It’s far-fetched that Cass would get her hands on Rachel’s burner cell phone and it’s far-fetched the way it happens (though actually, I give the author credit here for ingenuity). From beginning to end, this read was addictive. I gobbled it whole, and even though some of the logic in this plot may not hold up under the heavy scrutiny of the savvy thriller-reader—I cannot recommend this one enough to fans of the genre! To sum it all up it was an entertaining, gripping, fast-paced, and an easy read with an unexpected and exciting ending. Highly recommend!!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. Cass experiences fear of the phone ringing and the letter box clattering. She spends time eating lunch at Sour Grapes (really who would eat there?) with a friend just so she is not at home alone. THE BREAKDOWN brings readers along for the ride as one woman begins to lose her memory—and her mind. NetGalley and St. Martin's Press provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!