--- product_id: 66175495 title: "The Breakdown: A Novel" price: "€ 24.40" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 8 url: https://www.desertcart.be/products/66175495-the-breakdown-a-novel store_origin: BE region: Belgium --- # The Breakdown: A Novel **Price:** € 24.40 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Breakdown: A Novel - **How much does it cost?** € 24.40 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.be](https://www.desertcart.be/products/66175495-the-breakdown-a-novel) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description desertcart.com: The Breakdown: A Novel: 9781250179838: Paris, B.A.: Books Review: Another Super Read from B.A.Paris.... - I got so excited after I opened the mailbox and see a package from St. Martins Press because I just KNOW something wonderful will be inside. Totally unexpected…and wonderful! An advance readers copy of The Breakdown by B. A. Paris! WhooHoo…my plans for the next few hours have changed! I gathered the green tea, fruit, chocolate, coffee, trail mix, comfy socks, favorite pillow and headed for my big leather chair. But now that I have smacked you with readers envy, let’s get to the book! The Breakdown does not disappoint the reader with the psychological thriller and suspense written into the story. I won’t post spoilers, but I knew before I opened the book to have myself prepared. The main character, Cass had been at a party with friends from work on a very rainy evening. It is the end of the school year and Cass has a few weeks of vacation to enjoy before the next teaching session resumes. As she is leaving her husband Matthew calls and tells her he has a migraine and is going to bed. He adamantly warns her not to take the shortcut through the woods home during the storm. He is worried for her safety and she promises to avoid the wooded secluded road. As the storm and traffic on the highway increases Cass impulsively take the shortcut home. It is getting dark, the rain is pounding and the rural road is deserted except for …up ahead she sees a car pulled over to the side. This begins a regrettable and emotionally tortuous event in her life. Psychological suspense, worry, and some bad choices plague Cass during her weeks when she should have been enjoying her life. She has a secret she has not shared with Matthew about herself before they were married. When she wakes up the day after her stormy drive through Blackwater Lane, she discovers a shocking horror and decides to keep another secret. As I read the story I personally felt so badly for Cass as she faces the possibility she may be losing her memory. As a reader I felt she made some poor decisions due to her secrets and fears. This is another ‘must read’ book by author B. A. Paris and once you start reading…you will not want to stop until the end!! Review: More of a Domestic Drama than a Domestic Noir, but the end is worth the wading you have to do to get there - Firstly, let me just say that I cannot stand the current 'fad' of adding unnecessary drivel to the title of Kindle suspense/thrillers. In this case,"The Breakdown: The 2017 Gripping Thriller from the Bestselling Author of Behind Closed Doors". Seriously. Personally, I find this presumptuous and pompous: I, the reader, will decide if it's "gripping" or even a thriller. 2017 is a fact that is irrelevant to the title, as is the rest of the promo b.s. that follows. It seems you can't even buy a novel without having to get the trailer/tagline too. And everyone seems to be doing it. I wanted to deduct an entire star for that alone, so pay attention indie authors and publishing PR departments....you're on this ice with this nonsense. Now, to the book. Having started off badly with me (see the above paragraph), this book ad a lot to overcome. The first 20 pages or so...great. Riveting. Even "Gripping." And then we hit the downward spiral. MILD PLOT SPOILER: the majority of the book is really about a woman terrified that the phone might ring. This is punctuated with occasional daily events, but really, that's what it boils down to. There are the repercussions to her personal life from this fear, her ruminations on why she's afraid, on what this fear and her behaviour is doing to her marriage and her friends and her sanity, but I found that this part seemed to take f.o.r.e.v.e.r. There was enough periphery to keep me following along, but I was missing 'gripping' for the entire middle and then some. BUT. About 2 chapters from the end, suddenly it seemed that we had all suffered enough (the author, the character and the reader) and the story suddenly veered off in an interesting (but not "gripping") direction. I loved those last 2 chapters and I even forgave the author and the character the extensive wandering in the middle...because it was relevant to the plot, though less might have been more. All in all, I enjoyed this. It's no 'Girl on the Train' (THAT was gripping), because I think that the 'suspense' that was supposed to be created by the events just didn't suck me in. I didn't subscribe to the character's jeopardy - at least, not the jeopardy that she was trying to sell me. Maybe it worked for others, but I was left feeling like I was listening to someone with a bit of an overactive imagination who excelled at putting two and two together and routinely arriving at five. So, despite the fact that this was more of a domestic drama than a domestic noir, the last 2 chapters and the alignment of the plot pieces made it an interesting read. But 'gripping'? No. That's just the sales sheet. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #44,934 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #874 in Murder Thrillers #1,008 in Psychological Thrillers (Books) #1,797 in Suspense Thrillers | | Customer Reviews | 4.2 out of 5 stars 25,419 Reviews | ## Images ![The Breakdown: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91hV4hmRHWL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Another Super Read from B.A.Paris.... *by D***L on May 28, 2017* I got so excited after I opened the mailbox and see a package from St. Martins Press because I just KNOW something wonderful will be inside. Totally unexpected…and wonderful! An advance readers copy of The Breakdown by B. A. Paris! WhooHoo…my plans for the next few hours have changed! I gathered the green tea, fruit, chocolate, coffee, trail mix, comfy socks, favorite pillow and headed for my big leather chair. But now that I have smacked you with readers envy, let’s get to the book! The Breakdown does not disappoint the reader with the psychological thriller and suspense written into the story. I won’t post spoilers, but I knew before I opened the book to have myself prepared. The main character, Cass had been at a party with friends from work on a very rainy evening. It is the end of the school year and Cass has a few weeks of vacation to enjoy before the next teaching session resumes. As she is leaving her husband Matthew calls and tells her he has a migraine and is going to bed. He adamantly warns her not to take the shortcut through the woods home during the storm. He is worried for her safety and she promises to avoid the wooded secluded road. As the storm and traffic on the highway increases Cass impulsively take the shortcut home. It is getting dark, the rain is pounding and the rural road is deserted except for …up ahead she sees a car pulled over to the side. This begins a regrettable and emotionally tortuous event in her life. Psychological suspense, worry, and some bad choices plague Cass during her weeks when she should have been enjoying her life. She has a secret she has not shared with Matthew about herself before they were married. When she wakes up the day after her stormy drive through Blackwater Lane, she discovers a shocking horror and decides to keep another secret. As I read the story I personally felt so badly for Cass as she faces the possibility she may be losing her memory. As a reader I felt she made some poor decisions due to her secrets and fears. This is another ‘must read’ book by author B. A. Paris and once you start reading…you will not want to stop until the end!! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ More of a Domestic Drama than a Domestic Noir, but the end is worth the wading you have to do to get there *by J***. on September 16, 2017* Firstly, let me just say that I cannot stand the current 'fad' of adding unnecessary drivel to the title of Kindle suspense/thrillers. In this case,"The Breakdown: The 2017 Gripping Thriller from the Bestselling Author of Behind Closed Doors". Seriously. Personally, I find this presumptuous and pompous: I, the reader, will decide if it's "gripping" or even a thriller. 2017 is a fact that is irrelevant to the title, as is the rest of the promo b.s. that follows. It seems you can't even buy a novel without having to get the trailer/tagline too. And everyone seems to be doing it. I wanted to deduct an entire star for that alone, so pay attention indie authors and publishing PR departments....you're on this ice with this nonsense. Now, to the book. Having started off badly with me (see the above paragraph), this book ad a lot to overcome. The first 20 pages or so...great. Riveting. Even "Gripping." And then we hit the downward spiral. MILD PLOT SPOILER: the majority of the book is really about a woman terrified that the phone might ring. This is punctuated with occasional daily events, but really, that's what it boils down to. There are the repercussions to her personal life from this fear, her ruminations on why she's afraid, on what this fear and her behaviour is doing to her marriage and her friends and her sanity, but I found that this part seemed to take f.o.r.e.v.e.r. There was enough periphery to keep me following along, but I was missing 'gripping' for the entire middle and then some. BUT. About 2 chapters from the end, suddenly it seemed that we had all suffered enough (the author, the character and the reader) and the story suddenly veered off in an interesting (but not "gripping") direction. I loved those last 2 chapters and I even forgave the author and the character the extensive wandering in the middle...because it was relevant to the plot, though less might have been more. All in all, I enjoyed this. It's no 'Girl on the Train' (THAT was gripping), because I think that the 'suspense' that was supposed to be created by the events just didn't suck me in. I didn't subscribe to the character's jeopardy - at least, not the jeopardy that she was trying to sell me. Maybe it worked for others, but I was left feeling like I was listening to someone with a bit of an overactive imagination who excelled at putting two and two together and routinely arriving at five. So, despite the fact that this was more of a domestic drama than a domestic noir, the last 2 chapters and the alignment of the plot pieces made it an interesting read. But 'gripping'? No. That's just the sales sheet. ### ⭐⭐⭐ 2.5 Stars Rounded up *by R***R on July 30, 2017* I really wanted to love this book!! Based on its ratings, I am one of the few who did not. SYNOPSIS The plot is a bit complicated. Cass is happily married to Matthew, loves her job as a high school teacher and is still super close with her lifelong BFF, Rachel. Cass has just been through a very rough patch in her life; losing her father to a car accident, then spending 3 years taking care of her mother who was suffering from severe early onset dementia until her mother's death. Now that the worst is behind her, Cass is determined to appreciate her life, her husband and the rather large nest egg her mother has left her. Everything is going fine until one rainy night. Cass takes a heavily forested back road home from a party and comes across a car on the side of the road, it looks like the driver may be in distress. She makes a limited attempt to help but ends up getting spooked and leaves the scene. When she wakes up the next day to find the driver was murdered, she is overcome with guilt and regret. In the meantime, Cass keeps having episodes of forgetfulness. At first she thinks nothing of it, but it begins to escalate and considering what happened to her mother, she begins to worry that she is suffering from early onset dementia like her mother. When weird things begin to happen, she wonders if it was her imagination or if the killer noticed her at the scene and is coming for her. WHAT I LOVED Again with the British obsession! I love books with British settings. It's just so darn quaint. Love how everyone is always having tea. Love the variations of dialect; "car park" for "parking lot," "lorry" for "truck," "jumper" for "sweater." Yes, I'm a total nerd but I LOVE it all. Good concept for the plot but not great execution. It should have been a great book with that plot, too bad it wasn't. WHAT I DIDN'T LOVE By page 25 I had the whole thing figured out and I am not an overachiever when it comes to outsmarting authors of thrillers. Usually I have a few theories and one of them ends up being mostly right, but this was so darn obvious. I wish it hadn't been. Maybe I've read too many psychological thrillers lately and need to take a break. OVERALL I didn't love it but I am clearly in the minority. It has very solid ratings. I am also one of the few who didn't like B. A. Paris's other book, "Behind Closed Doors," so if you liked that one, you should probably ignore my review. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.be/products/66175495-the-breakdown-a-novel](https://www.desertcart.be/products/66175495-the-breakdown-a-novel) --- *Product available on Desertcart Belgium* *Store origin: BE* *Last updated: 2026-05-18*