scknitter 's review for:

The Breakdown by B.A. Paris

5.0

---

Cass, a young high school teacher with a loving and attentive husband, makes a reckless decision one night when driving home during a horrible storm. She goes against her husband’s explicit request and takes a shortcut home along a lonely and desolate road. Halfway to her home with the rain pouring down Cass sees a car stopped on the side of the road with a woman inside. She pulls up ahead of the car and stops to see if the woman signals her in some way or gets out and comes to her car. When the woman doesn’t do anything to signal that she needs help, Cass drives on home assuming if she broke down she has already called for help and is just waiting for someone. The next day not only does Cass find out that the woman was brutally murdered after she drove by but also that she was someone Cass knew.
Thus begins Cass’s downward spiral. She is already concerned that she is experiencing signs of Early Onset Dementia, a condition her mother was diagnosed with. Added to that is the guilt she feels for not doing anything that horrible stormy night. Cass is soon convinced that the murderer saw her and it is he who is making hang up phone calls to her house. As Cass comes closer and closer to having a nervous breakdown the pace of the novel becomes even more intense. Fans of Behind Closed Doors will not be disappointed and if this is your first psychological thriller by Paris hold on tight you are in for a heart stopping ride.