Reviews

The Accident by C.L. Taylor

Only show reviews with written explanations

Susan Jackson is desperate to find out what could have made her daughter, Charlotte, deliberately step in front of a bus. Charlotte is now in a coma, and doesn't appear to be showing any signs of waking up. Susan's search for answers is intercut with flashes back to the past, in which we see Susan enter into a relationship with James, who is clearly controlling and abusive. This clearly reflects on the neurotic, paranoid person Susan is today. She has had "incidents" in the past, has spent 20 years thinking James is going to come after her again, and so nobody, including her husband, really believes her when she says that Charlotte's actions were driven by something ominous.

Susan annoyed me a lot of the time, but this book actually did a good job of showing me why she was the way she was. Her behaviour made sense in light of her abusive previous marriage. It also made sense that she would be frazzled over the fact her daughter had attempted suicide, and hadn't confided in her about what was going on in her life. So many post-Gone Girl thrillers have an unreliable narrator just for the hell of it, because it's popular. You could argue that Susan isn't even really an unreliable narrator, but in any case, at least genuine effort was made here to bring Susan to life and have her come across as a real person.

This wasn't a thrill-a-minute or twist-laden story or anything like that, but it was consistently paced. The story, unlike so many I've read in the last couple of weeks, was always moving forward, and the flashbacks into the past were effective both in showing how Susan became the person she is, and creating tension over knowing how her toxic relationship with James is going to turn out. It was such a relief to finally read a book that wasn't just simply plugging along with useless information and details until it could reveal a couple of twists at the end. This felt like an actual thriller. Cheers for that.

The inclusion of Susan's mother with Alzheimer's/dementia didn't really work for me. I had trouble believing she would still be alive after having it for 20 years! It wasn't much more than a plot device so that

Spoiler

Susan would be forced to leave Keisha's house before getting Keisha to tell her the truth.

Indeed, it is another thriller that only exists really because people who know the truth just choose not to say anything. It's a frustrating device you come across too often in thrillers, but at least there was other good stuff here to help me move past that.

Also, I must say, I'm more than a little tired of adult thrillers featuring petulant, snotty, stroppy teenagers. Could they be seen and not heard a little more? Lol.

Complaints aside, The Accident was a touch above average for the genre. It wasn't just dutifully trotting out the usual tropes and twists without understanding what makes the genre works. It felt like a proper thriller. And the sick, shocking climax that made me wince and gasp certainly helped finish things off on a high note.

Spoiler

I won't be forgetting the, "Look at my wibbly, wobbly finger!" moment anytime soon.