Published: 19 August 2025
ISBN: 9781761349058
Imprint: Penguin Random House Australia Audio
Format: Audio Download
Length: 8 hr 44 min
Narrators: Yael Stone, Remy Hii, Elisa Colla, Anna Downes, Aimee Horne, Lyanna Kea, Airlie Dodds, Taylor Owynns, Jeremy Waters, Angela Tran
RRP: $34.99

Categories:

Crime & mystery

Break Me Down

An audio exclusive starring Yael Stone, Remy Hii and a full cast

Anna Downes

Pre-order from…

Audible

How far would you go to achieve greatness?

A Penguin Audio Exclusive, narrated by a full cast: Yael Stone, Elisa Colla, Anna Downes, Remy Hii, Aimee Horne, Lyanna Kea, Airlie Dodds, Taylor Owynns, Jeremy Waters, Alan Zhu and Angela Tran.

'A master storyteller' - HAYLEY SCRIVENOR

'Absolutely addictive' - SALLY HEPWORTH

'Emotionally charged' - CHRISTIAN WHITE

'Immersive and chilling' - CANDICE FOX

After years of seclusion, the once-celebrated Australian child star Georgia Lane moves to Los Angeles, determined to make a comeback. But as auditions elude her and bills pile up, she quickly realises that beneath the glitzy facade, LA is a ruthless and unforgiving city.

That is until she meets Henry, an aspiring actor, who sweeps her off her feet, connects her with his agent and brings her to audit a class at the elite acting studio he attends. It’s here that Marianna, The Studio’s head teacher, takes a special interest in Georgia. As she steps into the intense, ego-driven world of The Studio, Georgia finds herself challenged and invigorated by its unconventional methods, which promise to unlock her full potential, but demand much more in return.

The more she commits to its ways, the more The Studio transforms into a battleground of ambition, jealousy and psychological warfare. With each step forward, she feels the grip of her past tightening, Henry’s love turning on her and Marianna’s mentorship becoming all-consuming. And as the lines between the pursuit of art and the survival of the self begin to blur, everything Georgia holds dear starts slipping away, revealing the true price of a dream.
Break Me Down is a testament to the power of art to heal, destroy and, ultimately, transform.

Published: 19 August 2025
ISBN: 9781761349058
Imprint: Penguin Random House Australia Audio
Format: Audio Download
Length: 8 hr 44 min
Narrators: Yael Stone, Remy Hii, Elisa Colla, Anna Downes, Aimee Horne, Lyanna Kea, Airlie Dodds, Taylor Owynns, Jeremy Waters, Angela Tran
RRP: $34.99

Categories:

Crime & mystery

About the author

Anna Downes

Anna Downes grew up in Sheffield, UK. She studied drama at the University of Manchester before winning a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and moving to London to pursue an acting career that included credits in EastEnders, Casualty and Dalziel and Pascoe, as well as a long-running stage production of The Dresser in London’s West End. She moved to Australia in 2011 and started writing a few years later just after her second child was born.

Anna’s internationally bestselling debut novel, The Safe Place, was published simultaneously in Australia, the US and the UK in 2020 and was shortlisted for the 2021 Sisters in Crime Davitt Awards. Her second book, The Shadow House, was published in 2021 in Australia and New Zealand followed by publication in the UK and the USA in 2022. Both have been translated into more than ten languages. Her third novel, Red River Road, was published in 2024.

Anna has written for the Sydney Morning Herald, Sunday Life magazine and CrimeReads, and has performed as a narrator on three audiobooks. She lives on the NSW Central Coast with her husband and two children.

Praise for Break Me Down

Impressively produced with a full cast enhanced with a complementary, convincing soundtrack and soundscapes.
TERRY HONG, BOOKLIST

Break Me Down isn’t your average audiobook - it’s dark, dazzling, and absolutely addictive. Anna Downes drags you backstage into a world of ambition, manipulation and theatrical mind games . . . I binged it in a day and loved every twisted minute.
SALLY HEPWORTH

Downes has crafted something truly special. Break Me Down is a dark, gripping, and emotionally charged thriller about ambition, obsession, and the perilous pursuit of greatness. It’s fierce, confident storytelling, brought to life by a brilliant full-cast performance. I couldn’t stop listening.
CHRISTIAN WHITE

Immersive and chilling, Break Me Down blends the novel with the radio play to delicious effect – an absolute must for audio addicts everywhere.
CANDICE FOX

Anna Downes’s personal experience as an actor shines through in this sharply observed, claustrophobic and highly original thriller that could only have been written by someone who has trodden those boards.
PIP DRYSDALE

In this rollercoaster ride into the dark heart of what we’ll do to reach our potential, Anna Downes explores our own eerie fascination with those who ‘make it’, while taking us where we all secretly really want to go: behind the scenes. This is the work of a master storyteller.
HAYLEY SCRIVENOR

Impressively produced with a full cast enhanced with a complementary, convincing soundtrack and soundscapes.
TERRY HONG, BOOKLIST

Break Me Down isn’t your average audiobook—it’s dark, dazzling, and absolutely addictive. Anna Downes drags you backstage into a world of ambition, manipulation and theatrical mind games . . . I binged it in a day and loved every twisted minute.
SALLY HEPWORTH