The Breakdown

Product Information

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and B.A. Paris for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. I put my phone in my bag, smiling at his insistence. As I maneuver out of the parking space, fat drops of rain splatter onto my windscreen. Here it comes, I think. Told from multiple points of view that all feel unreliable and deceptive. I trusted none of them, dodgy people with too many secrets. In fact the only one who seemed close to honest was Celeste, the one we are led to believe is losing her mind, that’s how twisted this story is.

To cap it all off, people are having a hard time taking Cass seriously after a series of baffling occurrences have her family and friends convinced she has early onset dementia. A car accident leads to a cesarean delivery that Celeste cannot even remember. She doesn't remember the accident. She doesn't remember giving birth to baby Violet. She doesn't even understand what happened to Violet soon after her birth. Suffering from major memory loss, Celeste is in a vacuum of darkness.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. THE BREAKDOWN by B.A. PARIS is an interesting, thrilling, suspenseful, and cleverly written psychological thriller that takes you on a very emotional and apprehensive tale here questioning the psyche of our main protagonist, Cass. Is she really having a breakdown, early onset dementia, or is there something more sinister at work here?

Arianne made me smile ear to ear with her dedication to her readers. It is an honor and a privilege to read and review for her and Bookouture. As a fierce storm rages, Cass fights to maintain control of her car as she makes her way home on a dark and winding road. Straining to see through the pounding rain, she passes a car pulled over to the side, and catches sight of a woman's face. Desperate to get home and out of the storm, Cass drives on, vowing to call the police to alert them of a possible breakdown of a vehicle by the side of the road. Upon arriving home, Cass fails to make that call. She forgets. Next day, the news is full of the murder of the woman in her car. But since then, Cass has been forgetting every little thing. Where she left the car, if she took her pills, even the alarm code. The only thing she can’t forget is that woman. And now that Cass keeps receiving silent phone calls, she can’t quite shake the feeling that someone’s watching her…HOLY FLUFF! HOLY FLUFF! WHHHAATTT?!?! What did I just read?! 😳🤯 Great grief my mind is absolutely spinning! I can't... what ... but I ... but she?! ... WHHHAAATTT?!?! 😱 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). 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. Unsure of her own sanity, Cass begins a slow downward spiral, fighting her losing battle with memory loss, but determined to avenge the death of the woman whose life she feels responsible for. It is set over multiple time lines. When books show what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present I find it really helps the reader (if it is well done) understand why things are happening and what has lead to the present activities and decisions. It also shows the bigger picture.

Behind Closed Doors takes a classic tale to a whole new level…This was one of the best and [most] terrifying psychological thrillers I have ever read…each chapter brings you further in, to the point where you feel how Grace must feel. The desperation, the feeling that no one will believe you and yet still wanting to fight because someone you care deeply about will get hurt.”— San Francisco Book Review Who can complain about being on an island off Maine? Well, if you are having memory issues, and your husband is always whispering to his sister and your daughters.... I guess, Celeste has a lot to complain about! 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.Let me preface my review by saying, I was not one of those readers that was over the moon for this author’s first book, Behind Closed Doors. While I liked the characters, especially memorable Millie, and found myself engrossed in the storyline, the execution didn’t wow me; in fact, I felt there was something major missing. Behind them sits a place my husband refers to as our summer house. Apparently it’s my favorite place in the world, not that I can remember. Since the car accident, I’ve struggled to remember a lot of important things in my life, like giving birth to my daughter, Violet, just days after the crash. Or how perfect my marriage is. Where’s my car? There’s a ridiculous scene in a parking garage, ridiculous because it is a logistical mess. I had to reread the scene many times and in the end it still didn’t make sense. Where oh where did the editor go?

I can't say too much about the characters as I really do not want to risk giving anything away. They were all realistic and strong and I became completely invested in each of them. Your given the storyline from the perspectives of Celeste, Jayne, Dr Stephens and Adele which worked out perfectly as you could see what was going on from each of their perspectives and it made you also question each of them. I won't say anymore at the risk of dropping any spoilers. Needless to say the characters worked perfectly with this absolutely gripping unputdownable psychological thriller. Cass starts to think someone is watching the house, that someone has been in the house. When she goes shopping and is leaving for home she can't find her car. She KNOWS where she parked, so it must have been stolen. Cass and the parking attendant look everywhere, on all the different floors only to eventually find her car.....We meet the au-pair whose nativity frustrated me no end, poor girl. Perhaps another pawn in a bargaining tool? Wait and see! And despite another player leaving an impression on me, his actions fell a little short. I doubt the author wanted me to like the nurse, either. Well done here, Richmonde. It’s been a while since I’ve had so many convoluted feelings. Her husband Matthew is worried about her, and when the doctor says she may have early onset dementia, a disease which took her mother, Cass is naturally terrified. 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 redundant. There were several parts of the storyline that beggared belief. Unlike a lot of mysteries, I started having a strong inkling of who the guilty party was early on. And I was proved somewhat right, although the author threw in a few twists I didn't see coming. 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.