Wednesday, 16 January 2013

LINWOOD BARCLAY - THE ACCIDENT (2011)



Blurb..........

Glen Garber's life has just spiralled out of control. His wife's car is found at the scene of a drunk-driving accident that took three lives. Not only is she dead, but it appears she was the cause of the accident.
Suddenly Glen has to deal with a potent mixture of emotions: grief at the loss of his wife, along with anger at her reckless behaviour that leaves their young daughter motherless. If only he could convince himself that Sheila wasn't responsible for the tragedy.
But as more and more secrets begin to surface, Glen may have to face something much, much worse...



I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I was going to.
With Barclay, he has a habit of arranging his narrative so that the reader never fully understands what’s the raison d’etre is, until the big reveal close to the finish. Whilst this was an interesting tactic/practice – I can’t find the right word here - at first, I’ve grown a bit tired of the format over time. However, this book seemed slightly more straight-forward. Admittedly there was a grand finale and the protagonist(s) got their comeuppance at the end – no real surprises or spoilers there, but I wasn’t left scratching my head throughout wondering – “What the f***!”
Believable enough plot, sympathetic main character, with a reasonable ensemble of supporting cast including the annoying mother-in-law and interesting police-woman.  

He manages to portray the effects of the banking crisis and economic downturn of the last few years and the effect it has had on jobs, housing and everyday folk and their finances.
Enjoyable enough, better than average, but I’m not charging down the bookstore doors to get hold of the next. My wife enjoys them, maybe a bit more than me, so I’ll no doubt be reading Trust Your Eyes at some point in the second half of this year.  
4 from 5 at a push - insofar as it was better than a 3.

Bought new last year for my better half.

   

2 comments:

  1. Interesting. It's not a book that I would have picked up but you make it sound interesting. I might give it a go.Thanks.

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  2. Sarah, I'ts probably less literary than your typical read, but I wouldn't put you off reading at least one of his books, Col

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