The Break In is the first book I’ve read by this author but it won’t be the last.
Alice is at home with her friends having a celebratory glass of champagne to celebrate her new job, the nanny has the children in another room watching a film and her husband Jamie has popped out for some milk. They see a man at the door and as soon as he is seen he is in the house with a knife in his hand, Alice sees he’s going to the room where the children are and grabs a chair and hits him with it. What happens next will implicate Alice’s life forever. Dragged into a police station for questioning opens up some unanswered questions and everything she knows about her husband. Did he know the man that invaded their home? Where has he been when he should have been at work? Getting to the bottom of these questions leaves her life as she knows it firmly in the past.
This was a really good read, the characters came across really normal and everyday people so made it much more believable. The plot line is complicated but reads easily. There is a good pace throughout the book and it’s brimming in twists and turns and red herrings. The ending was unrushed and again felt believable.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing UK for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review

Wonderful author who delivers it again! Never disappoints and always with such relatable and genuine characters! I loved the pace and the thrills thanks for sharing!!

What would you do if a break-in shattered your perfect life—and the truth made even less sense?

This was such a refreshing take on the domestic thriller. Told through three acts (Afterwards, The Day Of, and Autumn), plus a mix of POVs, letters, online comments, and media snippets—it felt layered and immersive without ever becoming confusing.

Alice was a strong lead, but it was the secondary characters that really stood out for me—especially Jade, whose presence gave me a genuine sense of unease. The book steadily unravels the mystery behind a deadly home invasion, and while the pacing really picks up in the second half, I was hooked from the beginning. Clever, original, and surprisingly thoughtful in its commentary on class, media, and public perception.

Katherine’s writing is both accessible and sharply constructed—this was one of those books where every breadcrumb mattered, and the twist completely blindsided me. If you like thrillers that build slow tension with smart reveals and eerie undertones, you’ll love this.

The first Katherine Faulkner book I have read. A bit slow developing but a great finish. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

I've been reading Katherine Faulkner's books since her debut - I've enjoyed them all and The Break-In lived up to expectations. A really enthralling and twisty mystery and a superb premise

A really twisty and gripping thriller that kept me guessing to the end. Suspend belief and just enjoy this well written tale that starts with a break in where the female owner and mother hits the man who broke in and kills him. The plot thickens decidedly as the story progress.

I'm not a big reader of thrillers and so i had no idea what to expect with this one, well.....I am still in shock! I had no idea a thriller could be so gripping and i found myself reading it all in one day because i just had to know how it ended!

Highly recommend, now i have to read more books like this!

A complex tale of how a break-in can lead to an enormous can of worms being opened. At first when Alice has a few friends over to her home with their children, nothing seemed more normal. However, a young man breaks in and seemingly drunk or high makes threatens the ladies and demands to know where she is. Assuming he is confused they try and get him away but when he heads towards the room where the children are, Alice quickly lifts a heavy metal stool and brings it crashing down on the intruder’s head. Subsequently arrested for his murder, the life of Alice and her family is ultimately changed forever. Who was this man? Was he in the wrong house? The answers are a little slow to come by but then the story picks up with many twists and shocking turns. A catastrophic story that has far reaching implications for all concerned and shows that actions always have consequences. A well written story that shows human nature at its worst and makes you question how far you would go for your family.

Alice is a well off yummy mummy who find herself in the unthinkable position of having killed an Intruder in their luxurious home, which is at the expensive end of a less salubrious area. She is traumatised by the event, and the death of the young man Ezra, but was attempting to protect the children in her house at the time - both her own and her friends' kids, who were over for a playdate.

Yet something about the intrusion does not add up, the more that Alice explores what lies beneath the surface, the more terrible the true picture that begins to emerge is...

Featuring a densely packed narrative, which may occasionally require a suspension of disbelief, the story it is brilliantly crafted and Faulkner does a singular job of tying together her threads to reveal a very dark tapestry.

This book is an exponential leap up from her previous one, which was also well received, and showcases a writer at the height of her powers.

This book was a little slow at the start and I found the main character Alice's actions a little unbelievable. Story was good though and I liked the ending.

The Break-In is a gripping and compelling mystery about Alice, a middle aged, middle-class yummy mummy who is under police investigation for killing an intruder, a troubled young man of eighteen, Ezra Jones. Wracked with guilt, traumatised by the public reaction to the crime and seeking to understand Ezra’s motivation for the break-in, Alice makes contact with Linda, Ezra’s mother and enlists the help of her journalist friend Stella, to make further enquiries into the family. In the process, she uncovers disturbing secrets that are much closer to home and that will disrupt her life forever. This story is engaging from the start, and although Alice comes across as naive, reckless and insecure, she is an interesting character. Some of the twists are easier to guess than others, but there are plenty of unexpected plot twists to keep the reader on their toes. Well plotted and executed.

I found the book hard going, I was not invested in any of the characters.
Slow moving and reflective. No one is without motive which become clearer as the story unfolds.
Not for me but well written

Alice, along with her daughter Martha and husband Jamie, seem to have the perfect life. A loving marriage, a beautiful home in a safe and privileged neighbourhood in London. And the dream careers.

Until it’s not. A home break in, in which Alice kills Ezra, the teenage intruder, turns Alice’s life upside down. Her husband, friends and even the police say it was an unfortunate event but Alice can’t stop asking herself; Why was Ezra Jones in my home?

The novel follows Alice, as she begins to unravel the truths behind the break in. But as Alice gets closer to finding out the truth, someone is trying to make sure she stops. Going after her perfect life first, but how long before Alice will be next?

I loved Katherine’s writing style; not only was it captivating and easy to read but the multiple POVS and use of different forms of writing i.e, newspapers, online comments and first person letters, made for a unique and interesting read. The use of social media comments was also a great social commentary on the real-life effects of online news websites, and how social class can negatively influence public opinion. I also felt that the order of story-telling (through 3 acts: Afterwards, The day of, and Autumn), rather than the typical chronological order, allowed for a more interesting read that left me wanting more. Alongside each new pov which cleverly left small breadcrumbs that made me unable to put the book down. It was so interesting to slowly see each new puzzle piece being put in place for that final reveal.

Both Alice, and the secondary characters, were all written well and none of them felt like surface-level filler characters, which can be typical in a character-heavy story. Especially Jade, who was a stand out for me, she was written in such a unique and eerie way that felt me feeling uneasy when reading; I love when thriller books make you nervous.

Addictive and fast paced (in the last 50%) made this an enjoyable read, with a well thought out plot twist that I did not see coming. This book gave off such British TV thriller/drama vibes which I absolutely loved, the concept had me hooked from the start and was a very easy read! I can’t wait to read more from Katherine Faulkner.

Loved it! Such an easy read with twists and turns and I never guessed who it would be at the end.
Well written from different points of views, which I don’t usually like but it felt easy and natural when I was reading this book.

Why did Ezra break into Alice and Jamie’s home? What led him there, who is calling Alice and why are some of her possessions going missing? So many questions and so many pages, I really felt it could have been much shorter… we took a while to get there!.. That being said I was invested if not irritated along the way. I just could not warm to Alice at all, I mean why can’t she see what’s right in front of her face, she was very draining! I guessed a few of the twists early on, I really felt another was coming in the last chapter but that didn’t transpire how I thought!

A slow burner, not a page turner but definitely a good ride to go on and I would recommend this book.

Too familiar. It had high potential but felt boring. I expected more from the author and will hope that future books bring this.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for sending me an ARC of The Break In.

I have read everything by Katherine Faulkner and love her story telling and writing style. This one did not disappoint!

I was concerned that it would be too long for the story to be based around a simple burglary. Boy was I wrong! This is anything BUT a simple burglary!

We are plunged straight into the action from page one, with the break in already over, and we have to wait until the mid section of the book to get a clear overview of what happened. This for me built the tension up.

Overall, a great thriller, cannot wait for the next one Katherine!

A seemingly idyllic playdate turns into a waking nightmare for Alice when an intruder invades her home and ends up dead. As she struggles to piece her life back together, a heavy guilt draws her to the deceased man's family.

There, she unearths unsettling clues pointing to a conspiracy far grander than a botched burglary, forcing her to confront a terrifying question: who can she truly trust?

This was a fast paced read. The twists are sharp and, although far fetched in parts, make for a fun and entertaining thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This begins with Alice killing an intruder in her home, defending herself, her children, and her home. Alice really struggles with this, as she obviously didnt want to kill him, she was just doing her best to defend her life. For a long time after this, Alice struggles with normal life, and is certain that this was no normal burglary, but she and her home were targeted for a reason. But no one believes her. She is determined to find out what she can, and get to the bottom of this so she can move on with her life.

This was another brilliant domestic thriller from this author. This author always writes books that make you question what you would do in that situation, and how you would cope after. The characters were nicely written, but majority of them were highly unlikable, which in turn made the story as good as it was. The story itself was very explosive, where we read from multiple perspectives, and each page contained the perfect amount of tension and twists. Highly recommended.

So far fetched that it was dreary to me, a little stretched imagination is fine & this is just fiction… but the birth partner took it way too far for me.
It got hectic and frantic - and I was glad to finish.