- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: HQ (9 Feb. 2017)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1848454996
- ISBN-13: 978-1848454996
- Product Dimensions: 12.6 x 2.7 x 19.8 cm
Synopsis
It all started that night in the woods.
Cass Anderson didn’t stop to help the woman in the car, and now she’s dead.
Ever since, silent calls have been plaguing Cass and she’s sure someone is watching her.
Consumed by guilt, she’s also starting to forget things. Whether she took her pills, what her house alarm code is – and if the knife in the kitchen really had blood on it.
Review
The Breakdown is the first book by B A Paris that I have read, but after reading this it won’t be the last and I have actually just bought Behind Closed Doors that I am told is brilliant. The Breakdown is a tense psychological thriller about how guilt, paranoia and fear can effect someone’s life. The plot is narrated the first person by Cass, who whilst driving home after a work night out sees a car in a lay-by but doesn’t stop, only to find out the next day that the car’s occupant was murdered and that Cass knew her. The first person narrative gives this book a personal feel, as the reader you are part of Cass’s life as it all begins to fall apart.
Cass is one of those characters that you can’t help but like. She has spent quite a few years caring for mum who had early on set dementia, which meant giving up her job and her life. In the three years since her mother’s death she has trained for a new job and got married. She is a naturally caring person who likes to please, and in turn her work colleagues and friends really like her. However, after the murder she starts to receive silent calls which play on her mind and make her think the murderer saw her that night and followed her home. Her fear is further enhanced by memory loss; she forgets buying a present for a work colleague, where she put things and meals out. She begins to worry that like her mother she has early on set dementia. The medication she is put on only makes things worse, she is more confused, more paranoid and this makes the crux to the plot. Her fear is tangible, of both the phone calls and her memory loss and we are witness to that. Her husband and best friend try to help and be sympathetic but find themselves wondering if maybe she is slowly going mad.
I really fell under the spell of this book, I loved the characters and found them personable and engaging. The plot was dark, suspenseful and stomach turning that made me read this in only two sittings. The plot line around paranoia and memory loss treads the line between reality and the mind playing tricks, and there is a sense of dread about Cass and how this will end for her. The Breakdown of the title refers to Cass’s breakdown, her fear, her sadness, her frustration at not being believed all take her down a very dark and sinister path. The story does bring to the fore the serious and heartbreaking condition of early on set dementia and how it can destroy not just the life of the person with the dementia but also those around them. I felt B A Paris dealt with this in a very caring and understanding way, at no point was this condition demeaned or treated frivolously.
I absolutely loved this book, I was hooked in Cass’s life, I felt her frustration, her fear, her confusion, her sadness which I have to say is exhausting at times. The tension is there throughout and builds to a fabulously dark conclusion that will have your pulse racing. An amazingly addictive and nail-biting read, I now can’t wait to read her other books.
Thank you for reading my review of The Breakdown, I’m sure some of you will have read this already as I am bit late to the party with B A Paris, but I am putting that right over my summer break. If you have read it, let me know your thoughts.
