This had an interesting premise, unlike any that I've read before, which was a definite plus.
The start was really absorbing and had me drawn into the story.
It did start to get a bit long and winded towards the end though. And the ending itself wasn't as surprising as I thought it might be.
I would still be interested in reading more from Katherine Faulkner though, as I liked her writing style, overall.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The break in is a complex tale, full of twists, turns and surprises.

The story follows Alice and her family, set in three parts. The story unfolds and eventually all the gaps are filled in.

A story that starts out with clear right and wrong but soon makes you question who is in the right, what you would do in the characters positions, does seeking revenge change the parameters of right and wrong?

A complex web of lies and connections, a gripping read.

I was gripped during the first half of this book but then it turned too implausible for words. Not for me – sorry.

I enjoyed The Break-In by Katherine Faulkner. It’s a tense, twisty read that kept me turning the pages late into the night. Faulkner does a great job of building suspense without going over the top — it felt grounded and believable, which made it all the more gripping.

The characters felt well-drawn, especially the lead — flawed but relatable, which made the emotional stakes hit harder as the story unfolded. There were plenty of red herrings and little clues dropped along the way that kept me guessing (and second-guessing) what was really going on.

It’s the kind of thriller that makes you wonder how well you really know the people around you, and I loved the London setting too — moody and atmospheric without being cliché. If you’re into psychological thrillers with a domestic edge, this one’s definitely worth picking up.

I loved Greenwich Park and had high hopes for this new novel and I wasn’t disappointed. The twists and turns kept me up until the early hours. Perfect holiday read for those that love a twisty psychological thriller. We’ll be hand selling this one. Thank you for the ARC.

The Break In is a tense domestic psychological thriller with twists galore and a "slow burn" that hooks from the beginning .This is a book that is very hard to put down ,my favourite sort ! Some very good characters this is a mystery with many facets leading to a surprising ending. A very enjoyable thriller .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC

This is the second book that I read by the author, and I enjoyed it as much as the first. Katherine Faulkner is able to keep the reader on the edge of their seat, and she's very skillful at building tension. I read a lot of thrillers, and this was one of the good ones. Page turning plot, morally gray characters, and good writing.

Another clever and twisty read from Katherine. She really knows how to keep the reader interested and this book certainly did that. I was hooked frog m page one until you finished it. What a delight to read. My thanks to netgalley and the publisher's for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Alice is a London mother who kills an intruder in their home while she is hosting a play date with her daughter and friends. The police rule self defense but Alice can't let it go and begins investigating the life of her intruder Ezra. What she finds is not at all what she expects and some secrets are much closer to home than she thinks.

This book was a well written domestic thriller that had me hooked from the start and kept me guessing till the end !

Thank you to Netgalley, Bloomsbury Publishing and Katherine Faulkner for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very well written book which grabbed me from the start. I immediately felt immersed in the story which swaps timelines and characters’ narratives. At the heart of the book is as the title suggests, a break in to a family home in the edgier part of London and the tragic event that took place. People are not whom they seem and the pace is perfectly pitched so that the reader can appreciate the nuances of the protagonists while wanting to turn the page for more information. I confess there were a couple of late nights when I said to myself ‘just one more chapter’. I found the denouement very satisfying and again, brilliantly written.

This was a very complicated story which was totally absorbing, trying to guess what was coming next. A variety of characters also brought the story to life. An unexpected conclusion!

Katherine Faulkner is a gifted contemporary crafter of stories that illuminate human relationships, and this is another fine novel from her pen (or should that be laptop?). The introductory scene must be all-too-familiar to many readers: protagonist Alice has invited two friends over for a kitchen dinner to celebrate her new job. The women have already consumed a fair amount of champagne in celebration when a ranting intruder by the name of Ezra inveigles his way into the home. Fearful for her friends, her children in the next room, and herself, Alice tackles him with a chair and knocks him dead in a move that the police enquiry later terms self-defence. Yet naturally Alice cannot put this traumatic episode behind her and sets off to investigate the life story of this tragic and mysterious young intruder. Who was Ezra really and what brought him to Alice’s house? The final two-thirds of the novel are a little long at times, but the story is well-written and leaves a mark on your memory long after you have closed the pages of the book. I wish to thank Gallery Press and NetGalley for the free digital ARC that I received in exchange for my review of this haunting novel, due for release in the summer of 2025.

Very good read. A well plotted story which has been thoroughly thought about., It must have taken a lot of planning. You cannot stop reading it. Loved it

A great thriller with good twists and turns. Alice seems to be content until a break in at her home during a play date. When she kills the intruder, she finds it hard to deal with the guilt, even though it is classed as self defence. She wants to know more about the man she killed, and his home life.
No one is as they seem as Alice probes further into why someone broke in.

Twisty, tense, and totally unputdownable—The Break-In gives you all the domestic thriller vibes with a sharp, stylish edge. From the very first chapter, you’re pulled into a world of secrets, suspicions, and so many “wait, what?!” moments. 👀🖤

The writing is slick, the pacing is spot on, and the tension builds beautifully. Perfect for fans of The Couple Next Door or The Girl on the Train—but with a fresh, modern feel.

Best enjoyed with a cosy blanket, a strong coffee, and your detective hat firmly on. 🕵️‍♀️☕📖

I chose to read a free eARC of The Break-In but that has in no way influenced my review.

I thoroughly enjoyed Katherine Faulkner's debut, Greenwich Park, when I read it in 2021. So much so that I have been meaning to get hold of a copy of Faulkner's second book, The Other Mothers, for a while now. So when I heard Katherine Faulkner was on the brink of publishing her third novel, The Break-In, I jumped at the chance to read it. And oh my goodness, what a fabulous slice of domestic suspense it is! Gosh. Dark and unexpected. Complex and utterly riveting.

Alice Rathbone lives a comfortable life in her stylish Hackney-based house with her husband, Jamie and their young daughter, Martha. One afternoon, during a playdate, a man bursts into the kitchen. He grabs a knife from the kitchen counter and heads towards the room where the nanny is entertaining the children. Alice grabs the nearest thing to her, a bulky stool, and smashes the intruder, Ezra, around the head with it. She only meant to stun him, stop him from hurting the children. She never meant to kill him. Now haunted by that fateful day, under police investigation and with the entire community giving her side-eye wherever she goes, Alice cannot escape the guilt of what she has done. She becomes obsessed with Ezra's mother and sister, trying to find out why Ezra did what he did that day. But the more she learns, the more she begins to doubt what she initially thought. With those closest to Alice acting differently, Alice's doubt begins to spiral. Who really is Ezra, and what was he actually doing at the house that day...?

I loved The Break-In. It was my book of the month for May. I've always been a fan of thrillers where exceptional things happen to ordinary people, and that's very much the case here. At the start of the book, I found Alice a little annoying. She's got a great new job as an art restorer, a loving husband who works in the charity sector, a darling daughter and a gorgeous, stylish house. Granted, it's not in the best of areas, but there's a lot of regeneration going on locally and the future is certainly looking bright. But then Ezra arrives on the scene and the Rathbone's perfect life is shattered into a million tiny pieces. Things begin to spiral. Alice cannot get beyond what she has done and inserts herself into the lives of Ezra's family. She's desperate for answers, to the point of obsession. It made for uncomfortable reading, and I loved it.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. The Break-In is stuffed to the gills with suspense, with bucketloads of intrigue spooned over the top. Gosh, things really take a turn for Alice. A turn I certainly didn't see coming! This is a beautifully written domestic thriller that fans of the genre should definitely make a point of picking up. The plot moves at a great pace, leading the reader down the path of Alice's demise. The characters are mainly unlikeable, but that's never a problem for me. In my limited experience, Faulkner tends to make her lead female characters rather well-to-do, fairly naïve and a touch on the annoying side. Alice is most definitely all three. Saying that, I did find it interesting how easily Alice's thoughts and feelings were dismissed by those around her. Those who were supposed to care for her. I mean, she killed a man and, rightly so, was struggling to deal with it. Suggesting she 'get over it' probably wasn't the most sensitive of approaches! However, this is suspense fiction and not real life, so... All in all, I loved spending time in Alice's slightly obsessive, out-of-control world. This book took me places I never expected from the opening few chapters. There's a lot going on here with a large cast of characters, but the story was very easy to follow and immerse myself in. I cannot wait to read more by this author. Gorgeously tense, utterly compelling, highly unexpected, full of twists and turns, and completely engaging throughout. Recommended.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of The Break-In. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

[Review will be published on 15th July 2025]

Alice has killed someone. She was protecting her home and family from an intruder. She can't get over the guilt of killing an eighteen year old boy. Leaving a mother without her son. Alice tries to repent, in doing so more questions need to be answered, as things are not quite as they seem...Read it!

A strong domestic thriller about a break-in that ends in tragic circumstances and a lot of unanswered questions. I enjoyed this book, although I felt the ending was a bit drawn out. A solid three stars from me.

I loved this book from page 1 and I can only say that the twists kept me enthralled. Alice trying to protect her child and the other children did what any parent would do by disabling the threatening intruder. Sympathy all the way until she does the stupid things during her bail of visiting Ezra,s family and bahiving in a stupid manner . This was a gripping read and throughout the theme was how well do we really know anyone. A superb read and I will look now to follow Katherine Faulkner,s other books. A great author.

Katherine Faulkner’s The Break In is a well written psychological thriller that starts strongly and keeps on going. I decided to read this book after enjoying ‘Greenwich Park’ by the same author and I was looking for more of the same. Well I wasn’t let down and this novel deals with the fine line between safety and paranoia, truth and appearances, and just how well we really know the people closest to us.

Alice seems to have it all, a successful career, a stylish home in an upscale part of London, and a content family life. But everything unravels during what should be a routine playdate when a disturbed man breaks into her home. In a desperate moment with her child nearby, Alice kills the intruder, a horrifying act deemed self-defence by the police. Case closed, or is it.

But Alice can’t let it go. As chilling anonymous messages and cryptic phone calls begin to surface, and those around her, her husband, nanny, even her closest friends start acting strangely, Alice’s certainty begins to crack. Who was the man she killed? Why did he target her house? And what is everyone hiding?

A tense, spiralling mystery follows that places Alice at the centre of a web of secrets, where each answer only leads to more questions and more danger.

I enjoyed this novel and intend to read more of Katherine Faulkner’s books in the near future.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.