The Accident

Title: The Accident

Author: Linwood Barclay

Number of pages: 480

Started: 17 October 2012

Finished: 24 October 2012

Opening words:

If I’d known this was our last morning, I’d have rolled over in bed and held her. But of course, if it had been possible to know something like that—if I could have somehow seen into the future—I wouldn’t have let go. And then things would have been different.

Plot summary:

Milford, Connecticut, is a quiet, orderly place to live, a good place to bring up kids.  But people are beginning to feel the bite of financial hard times. Even decent, normally law-abiding folks have started getting a little creative when it comes to making ends meet.

For Glen Barber, the recession has been particularly bad for his construction business, especially after a mysterious fire destroyed one of his buildings.  But Glen’s troubles are about to escalate to a whole new level. His wife Sheila has her own plans for getting them out of their financial jam, plans that seem to involve a secret network of Milford’s wives and are about to pay off big-time.

And that’s when the accident happens…

Suddenly it looks as if the neighbors’ ‘get rich quick’ schemes are more likely to get you dead. Glen – no longer able to trust even the people he loves – must risk everything to find out what’s lurking behind the town’s idyllic façade.

Because some accidents aren’t accidents at all.

What I thought:

I have often had mixed feelings about Linwood Barclay, but I enjoyed this novel much more than a number of his others.  Where a number of his stories tail off a bit toward the end, this one managed to sustain a decent pace right until the end.  It was a good read and a nice easy page turner.