Title: The Breakdown
Author: B A Paris
Publisher: Harlequin

[Synopsis]

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…

[My Review]

The Breakdown had me gripped pretty much from page one. I read a large portion of it in bed at night, and I have to say that made for tense and eerie reading! I don’t usually get unsettled whilst reading or watching things (I am a big horror film fan) but, perhaps due in part to the darkness and being alone, this did leave me feeling a bit creeped out – it plays on your mind, but not in any way that hampered my enjoyment! I raced through it and felt it was a real page turner.
The characters are, at times, a bit frustrating – sometimes I felt like screaming at Cass to tell someone – but as you read on you understand, more and more, why she feels like this. They all feel like really well-crafted,convincing people that you can imagine having in your life…
As a reader you can also get a real sense of how it must feel to worry that you’re going mad or starting to show symptoms of dementia, and how that must affect how you confide in people.
This is a story where you’re never quite sure who’s being honest, who’s telling the truth or who’s a threat – and I love books like this. I’m a huge psychological thriller fan but some novels in this genre can get rather samey and completely ridiculous. This felt like a fresh take on the genre – it had some strange parts to it which seem a little unbelievable at first, but it all makes sense in the end!
The Breakdown felt like something a little different; something that stands out in the genre. It really gripped me, leaving me completely absorbed in the story and not wanting it to end! A definitely recommendation for any fans of the genre – or anyone fancying a fast paced, captivating read. I definitely want to read her other novel, Behind Closed Doors, now!

[My Rating: 5/5]

Many thanks to Harlequin and Netgalley for providing a copy of this novel on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review.