The Accident

Pavone, C. (2014). The accident. NY: Crown Publishers.
Adult / Suspense / Mystery / Thriller

I gave this book 3.5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads
View the Official Press Release

This is a roller coaster ride of a story. Picture this: you are on a roller coaster, blindfolded, the temperature arctic cold, and the coaster is climbing, climbing; it pauses, and when you are sure you are going to be plunged into a rapid descent, instead, your car abruptly turns right, the air turns hot and humid, and the coaster starts climbing again. Repeat with cold rain subbed for hot air. Repeat with dry wind subbed for cold rain. Get the picture? Then imagine this happens over and over before finally, mercifully, your blindfold is removed, and your coaster crests the highest peak, and you are thrown down, speeding, twisting, turning until the ride slows and comes to a surprising end at a different location from where it started.

That is The Accident.

Though a great plot and behind-the-scenes look into the publishing industry and the power of the media, where the book frustrated me was in the number of characters and points-of-view from chapter to chapter. Most of these characters weren't important to the story -- just illustrations of a point -- and the story got bogged down in extraneous details.  Where a phrase or two would suffice to set a tone, mood, or setting, instead there were paragraphs of phrases, one after another, comma after comma: overkill. I got to a point early on where I could recognize these paragraphs, read the first couple of phrases, and skip the rest.

It was the last third of the book before the story got to real page turning (forward, not backward to refresh my memory about who was narrating)and I was fully absorbed and had to finish -- and for that, the book was worth my time. For maximum enjoyment, I would recommend sticking with it and reading it in a short period of time instead of stringing it out. Had I done that, I think it would be a solid 4 Star rating.

Thank you to Blogging for Books and Crown Publishing for providing me a free print copy in exchange for my honest review -- the only kind I give!

Learn more about author Chris Pavone on his website and check-out this conversation with the author about The Accident and his first book, a New York Times Bestseller, The Expats.