B.A. Paris | The Breakdown

So, not only did I have a busy weekend and really forced myself to finish my last read last night, but after finishing catching up on some television, I couldn't keep my hands from starting The Breakdown by B.A. Paris. I had recently read and loved Behind Closed Doors, so I was eager to see what her follow-up had to offer. With the plot given, I was really intrigued to start this and gobbled up the first 100 pages last night and was immediately sucked in. 

While, I've really had good luck with my reads this year, I wanted to really take my time with this one and was so excited to continue today. Not only did I take my time, but I was completely enthralled in this read and could not put it down, which is why I finished it today! 

Plot:

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. It was on the winding rural road, in the middle of a downpour, and a woman was 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, and she probably would have been hurt herself if she’d stopped. Not only that, her husband would be furious if he knew she’d broken her promise not to take that shortcut home.

But since then, she’s 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, the woman she might have saved, and the terrible nagging guilt.

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

Review:

This is BY FAR the best thriller I have read in a while. I was seriously hooked. Like...addicted hooked. Not one page was wasted by skimming through or just praying I could get to the end. While I did like Paris' debut novel a lot, sometimes psychological thrillers don't hit me until the very end. I don't have time to lose myself and really enjoy the meat of the novel as I am guessing, wondering, and waiting. Her second novel did not leave me feeling this way.

The beginning of the story starts off like a horror movie and the imagery was frightening. Poor Cass just trying to get home as quick as she can during a terrifying storm and driving her car through a shortcut in a wooded area. Paris describes this scene as the trees swaying in the heavy wind like the branches could scoop her car up at any minute. My heart was already beating. When she comes up on a car pulled over and a woman inside, Cass does the unthinkable. She pulls over. Nerves building and tension at an already high rate, could this be a trap? Is this woman in danger? If Cass helps her, will she be endangering herself? The woman doesn't appear to be distressed and isn't doing anything to get Cass' help. So Cass takes off and gets home safe. The end.

Kidding. Cass' husband wakes up the next morning and tells her that a woman was murdered in the woods and Cass begins to immediately be taken with guilt. The guilt turns into grief when Cass realizes that it's a friend of hers. Then the phone calls start. A man is seen outside of their house. Things are being moved. Cass is being stalked and her memory is starting to fail her. 

Let me just say that while this is absolutely a psychological thriller, this is also a masterful suspense novel and a whodunnit murder mystery with so much going on, you won't want to stop. And I didn't. I completed this in one day and was left dumbfounded. My jaw on the floor. At about 3/4 of the way through, I had guessed the ending and decided to ride out the remaining quarter of the book. Well, I was wrong and I believe my jaw was stuck to the floor for minutes after finishing. 

I know that every thriller, mystery and suspense novel is listed as the next Gone Girl, the next Girl on the Train, the next blah blah blah. I mean, yes. Who doesn't want a book as good as Gone Girl and Girl on the Train? I hate the comparison because it's a cheap ploy to get you to read something that isn't even similar. This book is definitely a must-read for FANS of Girl on the Train and anyone who really enjoys Peter Swanson. This is the book that people will be raving about, devouring, and recommending to all of their friends and family. Guaranteed, this is the next book people will be comparing future mystery and suspense novels to. This is the book that makes me ecstatic to be a blogger. 

Rating: 5/5