The Breakdown by B.A. Paris ~ #BookReview

August 16, 2018

Title: The Breakdown 
Author: B.A. Paris
Release Date: July 18, 2017  
Publisher: St. Martin's Press 
Genre: Thriller 

Source: Copy for review from the publisher  

Purchase: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | IndieBound | Book Depository

My Rating:  

Synopsis 

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…

I wish I could give The Breakdown all the stars in the world. This book absorbed every fiber of my being from the first word on the first page, and the emotions the main character, Cass, was feeling were tangible for me. I could have reached out and touched her frustration, fear and despair.  

Starting right away with a murder, the story propelled me into the action and had me questioning the people around Cass. I suspected each of them for various reasons. Paris did an excellent job planting seeds of doubt in my mind about all of the characters, even Cass. She sometimes has problems with remembering things, even when people try to help jog her memory. She was also emotionally vulnerable and fraught with stress and anxiety.  

I empathized with Cass immediately, however, even as I wondered about her. I desperately wanted her to confide in someone about her drive home because I knew she'd continue torturing herself if she kept quiet. Her distress was suffocating, and it's meant to be that way to pull you further into her dilemma. It's strange to say this, but I loved that feeling of suffocation because it was what kept me glued to the pages, dying to know what was going to happen next. 

The ending doesn't disappoint. The plotting was so well done I want to read it again to see what I missed the first time around. I'm definitely a huge fan of B.A. Paris and can't wait to see what she writes next! 

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