The Break

A Novel

By: Katie Sise

Narrated by: Samara Naeymi, Sarah Naughton

Can she trust the people she loves? Can she trust herself? A new mother is pushed to the edge in a provocative thriller by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of Open House.

After the traumatic birth of her daughter at a New York City hospital, Rowan O’Sullivan returns home to her apartment with her perfect newborn, Lila. At her side are her husband, Gabe, and June, a part-time babysitter hired to help Rowan in any way she can.

But in this time of joy, Rowan can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t right. She feels dread. She’s breaking.

Rowan’s growing instability leads her to accuse June of unspeakable things. And when June disappears just days later, Rowan becomes a suspect. The neighbors heard the screaming. But only Rowan knows what really happened. If her mind can be trusted. Since Lila’s birth, her memory has been both unreliable and frightening.

To uncover what happened to June and protect her new baby, Rowan must try to untangle the deep recesses of her mind and face the dark things she’s so desperate to keep buried. When she does, no one is prepared for where the truth leads.

©2022 Katie Sise (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Narrators Samara Naeymi and Sarah Naughton are opposite but inseparable sides to this compelling coin. Rowan’s fractured, frenzied thoughts contrast disturbingly with June’s upbeat innocence, and both narrators perfectly portray the emotions of their parallel narratives. This audio will appeal to listeners seeking psychological suspense rife with tension and twists, and a turbulent tale of motherhood, memory loss, and murder. Recommended for fans of Gilly Macmillan, B.A. Paris, and Tarryn Fisher.”—Library Journal

“With this white-knuckle journey, Sise shows her mastery of suspense.”—Publishers Weekly

One of the narrators destroyed it

Whoever narrates June drives me INSANE. It’s so hard to listen to the cadence of her voice. Every sentence ends like a question. It’s awful. I can’t imagine how Audible let’s stuff like that go . The story was good but with that narrator it’s like nails on a chalkboard to listen to so be sure to read the book and avoid the audio version if you actually want to enjoy it.

The break

It was a great read! Loved the story. Not the normal story line! I will read or listen to more of her novels.

Excellent book and a good ending!

I really enjoyed this book. When I started it I thought I might be 25 years too old as it was very much around a new mom storyline and my own children are mid 20s. I found myself getting more and more into it and thoroughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend it. Easy listening and well narrated.
I was gifted the book by the author but I like listening in my car, so I downloaded too.

Loved the Twists

Definitely twists coming from multiple directions which made guessing who did it was impossible. A few seemingly unrelated storylines came together impressively with an amazing ending!

Narration was excellent!!

Mediocre at best

The reviews led me to believe this would be a suspenseful mystery but it was mostly just a disappointment.

Good story- narration not so much

The second narrator, the voice for June is HORRIBLE! Who talks like that. It is almost unbearable at times. The story was good, it drug on and on but kept me listening till the end.

Really great listen

The storyline was quite life-wise and a bit heartbreaking at times. I didn’t expect the twist. Like… at all 👍

HARD TO PUT DOWN!

I was completely hooked on this book. It wasn't fast-paced but steady and transitions back and forth between Rowan's and June's exchange of events. Just what did happen to June? No one seems to know but the closer we get to finding out, everyone seems to be a suspect.

Hang in there

This book was so incredibly slow I almost bailed several times. About a third of the way through it finally picked up. The narration was so good it kept me pushing through. There are so many good audio books available, I wouldn’t waste my time on something mediocre like this.

Great book

I loved the plot and the characters. I liked that there was so many suspects you couldn’t figure out which one done what. It was a great book!