The Breakdown: The gripping thriller from the bestselling author of Behind Closed Doors (171 POCHE)

Product Information

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..... My initial reaction during the beginning of this book was, "What The Hell Is Going On." I knew it wasn't good and I had an idea but ideas are never totally what your thinking.

Making her smash debut, Paris [keeps] the suspense level high. In the same vein as Gone Girl or Girl on the Train, this is a can’t-put-down psychological thriller.” — Library Journal (starred review) and that would be a terribly boring book without some conflict lurking underneath. the synopsis up there pretty much tells you all you need to know about what's really going on, but i'll repost it here in spoiler tags just in case: and as much as i hate to use this review space to rant about something only tangentially related to the book, these things matter to me. plus, this is one of those books where i can already hear the shrieking of the people about how all of the spoilers in the world are being spoiled by me so it's probably best for me to do this instead.i am absolutely fine with calling this a marriage thriller or a psychological thriller, but the word "suspense" and the wrong readalikes set up certain expectations that will be unmet by this book. But it was all in good fun…well, as fun as something this demented and extreme is allowed to be. And, like The Breakdown, my addiction to this read was instantaneous. Now imagine seeing a stranded motorist, waffling on the decision to stop and offer assistance or pass on by, then ultimately deciding it was safer to drive on past, especially since the driver didn’t appear to be injured and did not indicate they wanted help. Cass was an unreliable heroine so I obviously questioned everything she said and everything she did for a good part of the story. I sympathized with her and, even though I found her to be an interesting and well-developed character, she frustrated the hell out of me. God, at times, I wanted to slap the woman senseless. The other major theme is dementia. What a horrible realization it must be to discover you are, for all intents and purposes, losing your mind. If this insidious disease runs in your family, any tiny misplaced item or forgotten appointment could trigger alarm bells.

I was a huge fan of P. A. Paris' debut novel, "Behind Closed Doors," and I was eagerly awaiting her next book. Fear,’ he whispered. ‘There is nothing quite like it. I love how it looks, I love how it feels, I love how it smells. And I especially love the sound of it.’ I felt his tongue on my cheek. ‘I even love the taste of it.’" I believe if 'you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all,' so I thought Ms. Paris had a great idea for a storyline. I can't go into details, without spoilers, but she added a new twist I've not seen used before that I found quite clever, and like her previous novel, "The Breakdown" was also a very fast read. 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? Debut-novelist Paris adroitly toggles between the recent past and the present in building the suspense of Grace’s increasingly unbearable situation, as time becomes critical and her possible solutions narrow. This is one readers won’t be able to put down.” — Booklist (starred review)

Need Help?

It took me just an afternoon to read this book and by the end, my heart was pounding. If you like fast and frantic stories, you'll love this." — The Sun

Some might call this true love. Others might ask why Grace never answers the phone. Or how she can never meet for coffee, even though she doesn’t work. How she can cook such elaborate meals but remain so slim. And why there are bars on one of the bedroom windows. The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Paris, B A. The Break Down. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2017. stars. Okay, listen up. This book is not the next Gone Girl. Don't let anyone tell you that. It just isn't. It's not that kind of twisty, secretive book at all. It's the kind of fast-paced, pulpy read that plays with your emotions without ever making you think too hard. But, so help me, I could not put it down. A frighteningly cool portrait of a serious sadist, Behind Closed Doors is a gripping, claustrophobia-inducing thriller... Read at the risk of running from every handsome British lawyer who crosses your path.” — Romantic TimesAnother sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. Is she actually losing her mind or is something or someone else to blame. If you can't trust yourself, who can you trust? It sounds interesting, but the story puts all its weight on the reveal... and it is too easy to guess. And I don't mean just guess who is responsible, but also guess the entire reasoning behind it. The pool of suspects is too small; there are so few characters in the book, and many readers will be immediately suspicious of the culprit (honestly, they seem shady as hell).

And let me just say that little Millie, she's brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Millie has it figured out and now all Grace has to do is find a way to execute the plan. But in Grace's world there is nothing easy to execute. Prisoners in a jail have it easier than Grace! The narrative, told from Cassandra’s first person perspective, begins with Cassandra (Cass) leaving a gathering with fellow teachers at the end of a school year. She is anxious to get home to her husband even though she has called him and knows that he will not be waiting up for her because he has a migraine. Even though she promises him that she will not, Cass takes a shortcut through the woods. Along the way, she sees a stopped car and struggles with whether she should stop and help the woman in the car or continue driving. She decides to stop ahead of the car, but she continues home when the woman does not imply that she needs help. The next day she hears that a woman died on the same road. She assumes that the woman is the same one she saw and begins to feel guilty for not doing more to help her. Her guilt increases once she discovers that the dead woman is Jane Walters, someone with whom she had recently become friends. This story highlights the fact that there are flaws lingering beneath all surfaces of perfection, and shows just one horrific example of what could really be going on behind closed doors.I have been wanting to read Behind Closed Doors for quite some time. When it was available on NetGalley I requested it right away but unfortunately was denied. I think that just made me want it more! Mas o tentador atalho é uma faca de dois gumes — pode pô-la em casa nalguns minutos, ou... levá-la a derrapar calamitosamente!