The Breakdown by B.A. Paris

B. A. Paris has no need to fear the dreaded “sophmore slump.” Bestselling debut novel Behind Closed Doors left fans with high expectations, and I’m sure more than a few wondered if she would be able to catch lightning in a bottle twice, and worried her next book may not be as stellar as the first.

Wonder and worry no more, reader.  She did, and it was.

Cass Anderson took a shortcut through the woods (despite promising her husband she wouldn’t) as she was driving home on a stormy night, and saw a woman sitting in a parked car alongside the road—presumably a breakdown. Fearful of offering help in case things weren’t as they appeared to be, Cass goes home. The next day she learns the woman in the car was murdered, and worse still, she is someone Cass recently befriended. Overcome with guilt (could she have prevented her friend’s murder?) and unwilling to admit the broken promise to her husband, Matthew, Cass stays silent. But the more she hears about the murder, the more fearful she becomes that the murderer might come after her next… a fear that seems justified when she starts receiving silent calls that feel menacing in nature. Fears of a different nature surface when Cass begins to have serious difficulty remembering things—her mother had early-onset dementia, and the problems Cass is having feel heartbreakingly familiar to her. Paralyzed with fear and weighted-down with guilt, Cass is unable to cope and it wreaks havoc on her mental health. Is someone stalking her… or is Cass having a breakdown of her own?

The Breakdown is simply phenomenal. I was able to guess a particular event that takes place, and I was disappointed at first, but what I didn’t know was that laid the groundwork for an explosive reveal that was truly astonishing. Fast-paced and clever to the core, this novel is destined to be a hot topic of conversation between readers. Trust me. This is a book you do NOT want to miss out on!

B. A. Paris is well on her way to becoming my go-to author for psychological thrillers. If you’ve read her books, I’m sure you know why. If you haven’t…. what are you waiting for?

I received an advance review copy of this book courtesy of Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press.

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Author: B. A. Paris
Title: The Breakdown
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Publication Date: July 18, 2017 by St. Martin’s Press
Rating: 5 stars

About the Book

THE NEW CHILLING, PROPULSIVE NOVEL FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLING BEHIND CLOSED DOORS.

If you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust?

Cass is having a hard time since the night she saw the car in the woods, on the winding rural road, in the middle of a downpour, with the woman sitting inside—the woman who was killed. She’s been trying to put the crime out of her mind; what could she have done, really? It’s a dangerous road to be on in the middle of a storm. Her husband would be furious if he knew she’d broken her promise not to take that shortcut home. And she probably would only have been hurt herself if she’d stopped.

But since then, she’s been forgetting every little thing: where she left the car, if she took her pills, the alarm code, why she ordered a pram when she doesn’t have a baby.

The only thing she can’t forget is that woman, the woman she might have saved, and the terrible nagging guilt.

Or the silent calls she’s receiving, or the feeling that someone’s watching her…

About the Author

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Behind Closed Doors, B. A. PARIS, grew up in England but has spent most of her adult life in France. She has worked in finance and as a teacher.

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