The Accident

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Just go read it for yourself if you want to. Mar 20, Sam H Arnold rated it really liked it. This is without a doubt a really good debut novel. The idea is based around a daughter that is in a coma and a mothers drive to solve the secret that caused her daughter to try to take her life. Once the mystery is solved the mother believes her daughter will wake.

The only real adrenaline big bang in this story comes in the final 50 pages of the book. The rest of the book just plods along at a slower gentle pace. Having said this the book is not boring in any way it just gently weaves the story This is without a doubt a really good debut novel. Having said this the book is not boring in any way it just gently weaves the story into a great tale. There were moments at the beginning of the book that I was not sure whether the book was grabbing me.

I got pages through and then realised the book had grabbed me and I needed to finish it all within one sitting. The story is told from two perspectives current day and the past that is linked to Suzy our main character. The different font visually helps with this change of perspective a fact I always enjoy in a book.

The Accident

This is not a wow book but it is a really good read. I wish the author every success with this novel and look forward to her second. Feb 24, Paul rated it really liked it Shelves: The Accident is a brilliant debut thriller. Cally Taylor debuts with a brilliant psychological thriller that breaks away from the standard debuts. Cally must have one brilliantly twisted mind and she says the genesis of this novel happened while she was pregnant so who knows what she will produce when someone upsets her! Charlotte is a fifteen year old who tries to commit suicide by walking in The Accident is a brilliant debut thriller.

Charlotte is a fifteen year old who tries to commit suicide by walking in front of a bus as she cannot cope any longer, she also happens to be the daughter of Brian and Sue Jackson, Brian being the local Member of Parliament for Brighton. All Sue wants to do is find out the reason why Charlotte would attempt to commit suicide what was the dark secret she was hiding?

We also get a full back story for Sue when she was with a very abusive boyfriend who would rape, and beat her repeatedly. How he would control her life, who she saw and who she could be friends with, James wants to control every aspect of her life. It would take her four years to escape this torment but she would always be looking over her shoulder waiting for him to pounce. Sue is a mother who is searching for answers while being scared that her past might be catching up with her.

She is chasing down every lead she can to find out who may know just a titbit of information so she can put together what happened to her daughter. At the same time envelopes appear reminding her of her past life and she is now in a state of paranoia scared and angry.

Nobody seems to be interested in finding out the truth, while thinking Sue is having a mental health episode that she needs to be medicated and humoured. Sue is our narrator throughout the book and at times you feel her irrationality will do more harm than good but it is through her eyes we see the desperate drive to find out why her daughter is in a hospital in a coma. There are so many secrets and lies throughout the narrative it is a reminder that we all carry baggage that we are not proud of and sometimes the answers are not really what we want to hear.

We have this in abundance with Sue and Brian, and then with Charlottes friends the secrets that they are keeping from Sue. It is through her determination that she finds the answers to the secrets whether they are the things she wants to discover you will have to read to find out. This book is a wonderful examination of the secrets and lies we all tell each other sometimes to protect one another, but does it really help when someone is in a coma?

As a reader you will want Sue to succeed in her search and you feel the psychological torment that she is going through every step of the way. Sue shows that she is willing to fight for her daughter all the way to the end even when her husband does not believe her whether she finds the secret well read the book to find out. This was a very good story indeed and I only knocked it off one star because I paid for it and it had more mistakes than I'd expect in a bought book although the author is far from alone.

Bestsellers have plenty in as well!! I had to laugh near the beginning where Sue tells us she believes her hubby as she's rifling through his pockets!! I think she doth protest too much. I was shocked they'd not looked for their daughter's mobile immediately considering that no teenager would ever be parted fro This was a very good story indeed and I only knocked it off one star because I paid for it and it had more mistakes than I'd expect in a bought book although the author is far from alone. I was shocked they'd not looked for their daughter's mobile immediately considering that no teenager would ever be parted from their one.

I also wondered at her mention of her mum maybe not knowing her back in the James days as that was 2 decades prior to the present day. I found it a little hard to believe she'd been ill that long. I also wasn't keen on the dog always being put in the porch. Sounded like the poor animal spent her life in the porch! There was a mention of four years spent with James whereas I only thought she was with him for two and at the end Sue's diary entries from fifteen years' before were referred to but I thought they were written twenty years ago!

There were some laugh-out-loud sentences along the way and I also liked the mention for Chris and what she wrote right at the very end of the book. Aggravatingly, she went with American spellings almost throughout the book which always annoys me in a story set over here. There were also the usual e-book apostrophe errors, too.

Then mark was used instead of mask and handing and not landing!!

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One line was strange-"You didn't deserve me to swear that" It's bad so many obvious mistakes got through in the finished article. Also a question-"He did wear any jewellery"? Just a bit careless. For a first book it is very good indeed. I looked for more by her and there isn't anything as yet though it must be coming and I''ll certainly read more by her for sure.

Before I Wake is C. And I have to tell you - it's really good. Susan sits by a hospital bed, hoping her comatose daughter will wake up. It was a dreadful accident, Charlotte stepping out in front of the bus like that. Or so Susan thought until she found Charlotte's diary - and the cryptic line - "This secret is killing me. The journal is trou Before I Wake is C. The journal is troubling and worrisome, giving the reader a good idea of where Susan's life might be headed.

We want to shake Susan out of her fantasy world but we can only keep reading as things deteriorate. And just at a pivotal moment, Taylor switches back to the present. Susan needs to know the secret her daughter was keeping. Maybe, just maybe, by discovering the truth, she can help Charlotte wake up. But her attempts to ferret out the truth have her lying to her husband, badgering Charlotte's friends and more. She begins to dig up small tidbits of information, but no one believes her.

In fact, they all think she's having an 'episode'. After all, it wouldn't be the first time would it? Present day Susan is an unreliable narrator We just never really know if she is telling the truth or telling the truth as she imagines it to be. But her earlier diary is quite the opposite.

And is in fact, quite frightening in the scenario that Taylor portrays. Taylor's characters are all quite well drawn and definitely evoke reactions from the reader. Although the main plot idea has been done before, Taylor adds enough spin to make it her own. I quite enjoyed the past and present timeline and the cliffhanging chapter endings. The suspense starts in the first few pages and doesn't let up until the very end.

Although, it did keep me reading long past the time I should have shut off the light. Before I Wake was an excellent psychological suspense read. Taylor herself has a degree in psychology and that knowledge is used very effectively at building her story, in both timelines. A recommended read and I'll be watching for Taylor's second book. Mar 11, Anne rated it it was amazing Shelves: There are so many wonderful psychological thrillers around at the moment - for anyone who doesn't read much in this genre, do try Paula Daly's Just What Kind Of Mother Are You?

And here's another - CL Taylor's The Accident sits more than comfortably with that illustrious company. There are times when reading can just be reading, but this was one of those books that had me reading into There are so many wonderful psychological thrillers around at the moment - for anyone who doesn't read much in this genre, do try Paula Daly's Just What Kind Of Mother Are You? There are times when reading can just be reading, but this was one of those books that had me reading into the early hours, and when I wasn't reading it was constantly in my thoughts.

Very cleverly constructed, the book alternates between Sue's present life - the wife of an MP, mother in a nursing home, now coping with her daughter in a coma having apparently stepped in front of a bus - and her life when she was younger. She investigates her daughter's life to try and find out how and why it happened, and it turns out to be the kind of secret life every mother would dread uncovering. The clever part is that we know Sue has had mental issues - we're never entirely sure, seeing everything through Sue's eyes, whether what we're seeing is entirely real or Sue's interpretation of the truth, coloured by her earlier experiences.

I love an unreliable narrator, and this is so well handled - her younger life, though, is told through diary entries so we know it's a reliable account, and we also know and fear and dread that past and present are bound to collide at some point. There is real evil in these pages, convincingly drawn, and there were parts I found quite terrifying. But there's lightness and some humour too - this book is so well written, totally gripping, and highly recommended.

My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for my advance reading e-copy. At the time of writing, it's available for Kindle on pre-order for 99p via Amazon UK. Feb 24, Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it liked it Shelves: The Accident is a fast paced psychological thriller from debut author, C. Desperate to understand why her comatose 15 year old daughter would deliberately step into the path of a bus, Susan Jackson begins a frenzied hunt for clues amongst the secrets her daughter kept from her.

As Susan slowly begins to piece together information from Charlotte's diary, phone and friends, shocking evidence of betrayal and blackmail begins to emerge, along with ugly secrets from Susan's own past. The auth The Accident is a fast paced psychological thriller from debut author, C. The author nurtures an uneasy atmosphere from the first few pages of The Accident, building mistrust and dread as the story unfolds. Surrounded by secrets and lies, Susan doesn't know where to turn or how to make sense of the information she learns but is certain she can find the truth, even if everyone else believes she is simply chasing ghosts.

Taylor quickly establishes Susan an an unreliable narrator, Susan is deeply distressed and confused as you would expect of a mother whose child is lying in a coma but it soon becomes obvious that she is also unusually neurotic, and paranoid. While the present day, first person narrative communicates Susan's growing nervousness and fear, it's Susan's journal excerpts from 22 years earlier that helps to explain why she is so anxious.

A well crafted thriller, The Accident is fast paced and tense, culminating in a dramatic conclusion. Apr 23, Amanda Jane rated it really liked it Shelves: An easy book to read, not overly heavy. I would say this book is more of a "summer read". I guessed a couple of the incidents before they happened but they may just because I read so many of these type of novels.

I found a few of the situations the protagonist Sue is in as highly improbable and whoever did the proofreading did a woeful job when it came to the grammar. Three quarters of the way through the book I was considering 5 stars sadly the last quarter disappointed me because of the improbab An easy book to read, not overly heavy.

Three quarters of the way through the book I was considering 5 stars sadly the last quarter disappointed me because of the improbability and grammar I decided to give it 3. May 30, Rossy rated it it was ok. Fast-paced, easy read, but implausible. Although halfway through the book you already know more or less what's going on, I hated the ending.

The characters were not likeable at all, and I really didn't get why Charlotte jumped in front of the bus. I didn't gave it just 1 star, but 2, because I loved Sue's diary entries. They were hard to read, sad, but real. The abuse she suffered and why she stayed actually made me cry. Feb 03, Julie Cohen added it. Creepy, addictive and terrifying. I read it in two sittings, unable to put it down.

View all 7 comments. Auch wenn es am Anfang etwas braucht um den richtigen Thrill aufzubauen, ist es so geschrieben, dass man dranbleiben muss. Wer schon "Saving Grace" verschlungen hat, ist hier genau richtig. This book had a guaranteed five star rating until the end. I loved the book and wanted to spend every minute reading to find out what secret Charlotte was hiding, and what Susan's diary entries would reveal. But the ending fell apart. And as I sat there reading, and continuously shaking my head and rolling my eyes, that 5th star slipped away.

Somehow James shows up, attacks Susan who manages to scream and no one hears them? He screams when she stabs him with the scissors, but no one hears them? He pulls her hair out of her head, she screams, no one hears them. Charlotte's heart rate is changing, her oxygen level has dropped, but the nurses aren't alerted by the monitors they have outside at the nurse's station? James is clever when he reaches over to turn off the heart monitor because he doesn't want anyone alerted when she flat-lines.

But there's no explanation as to why they weren't already alerted by the other changes in her breathing and heart rhythm. One hour later, Brad arrives at the hospital and leaves for their house without Page.

Later, Page confronts him as to why he is home early from his "trip" and he confesses that he has been cheating on her. Soon afterwards Brad disappears several times. Eventually Page's mother, Maribelle, and sister Alexis arrive in San Francisco and laze about the house while Allison remains in the hospital. One night after dinner, Page rages at her mother, demanding why she pretends that she did not know that her father molested her and her sister when they were children.

Soon she forces Brad to move out and sends her mother and sister back to New York. By then she and Trygve had confessed their feelings toward each other. For four months, Allyson remains in a coma and Andrew, who has attempted to run away, is taken to see his sister. Soon Trygve and his children Nick, Bjorn and Chloe go to a lake for the weekend, and Allyson awakens from her coma. When Page goes to join them at the lake, she confesses to Trygve that she is pregnant with his child, and they begin to plan their wedding. Glen Garber certainly thought he did. That is, until the faux-walls came tumbling down, exposing insecurities behind the facades.

Insecurities so needy and vain, they'r Labyrinth plot - Suave action - Distinct characters - Heart-racing suspense, and crime s that could easily have made the evening news. Insecurities so needy and vain, they're deadly. Bonus points for violence decorum; though bodies start falling like trees toward the end, there's nothing horrendously graphic. And though expletives are tossed about more than I care for usage isn't overkill. Apr 24, Tom Swift rated it really liked it.

This was really,really good. This is the first book that I have read from Barclay, and I was very impressed. This is a thriller that grabs you right away and sprints to the end. The truth starts to unfold, what a great story. Apr 15, Sandy rated it it was amazing Shelves: Sheila has been in a terrible accident.

That accident killed three other people. She was drunk and asleep at the wheel driving up the exit ramp of a thruway. But none of that made any sense. She didn't drink and drive. Dealing with the aftermath of her death, with a construction project that burned to the ground, and a slump in the economy, it is all Garber can do to keep things together. Then other people start to die and he cannot ignore the coincidences any more.

What is going on in his town Sheila has been in a terrible accident. What is going on in his town and what does it have to do with his business and his family? I found this a wonderfully suspenseful book with a fine number of twists and turns. This one had me on the edge of my seat throughout. I thought the ending could have been a bit less contrived but it was just the other side of making sense.

I still really enjoyed the book. Aug 17, Carolyn rated it it was amazing Shelves: A thriller that actually thrills. A quick roller coaster of a read. I found this tight, fast moving book almost impossible to put down. When I needed to do something such as eat or sleep I would open the book moments after closing it, and skip other activities; hasn't happened during a mystery for a long time. Barclay's books belong in the same category as H. I found the adults Wow! I found the adults, reactions and dialogue true to life. The only flaw for me was the 8 year old daughter, who I felt acted and talked more like a young teenager.

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I book is set in a Connecticut town The main character is a man named Glen, who lives with his wife Shelia and his 8 year old daughter Kelly. The economy is in a mess. Glen owns a construction company, and has lost business, and some of his friends and workers are in debt and in danger of losing their homes. His wife has been going to business class at night in order to help in his company. One night Sheila doesn't come home and Glen is informed that she was driving drunk and is dead along with a father and son in another car.

Glen is full of grief but also anger. Sheila would take a social drink with her girlfriends, but always a taxi and he has never known to drive when drinking. Sheila's wealthy mother is angry at Glen for driving her to drink and not noticing any signs. His young daughter is being called Boozer at school and getting in fights.

Her grandmother wants to take Kelly to live with her and her second husband and put her in an expensive boarding school. To make matters worse, Glen is being sued by widow of man killed in the accident for millions for allowing his drunken wife to drive resulting in death of husband and son. Didn't mention that a house his company was building recently burned down. Recently Sheila hosted a party for friends and neighbour women. The party was conducted by her friend Ann who was selling counterfeit designer pursers made in China and sold out of NYC.

Very few of the women realized this was illegal. A detective comes to the town employed by the actual purse designers to investigate the trade.

Glen learns that these copycat purses are supplied by a very ruthless man in NYC, who will shoot anyone who might get in his way, and that he was also dealing with dangerous copycat prescription drugs and other things. Shortly after Sheila's death, Kelly is asked to go to a sleepover at Ann's home.

Ann has a daughter Kelly's age who is the only friend the girl has left after the death of her mother. The girls are playing hide and seek and Kelly hides in Ann's closet. Ann enters the bedroom and takes two phone calls which Kelly only partly hears and they make little sense. She manages to video record the scene on her cell phone which she had ready to record her friend if she found her, as part of the object of their hide and seek game. Shortly after she calls her father to come and get her.

Turns out Ann was very angry at her. Ann's husband is a policeman who soon tries to discover what Kelly overheard. Next morning Ann has been found dead. It looks like another accident where she stopped on the wharf to change a flat tire and fell into the water, but local police find signs that it may have been murder.

Why was she there and whom was she meeting? Two deaths in such a short time makes Glen think maybe Shelia was also murdered. Soon he discovers that Sheila was to deliver a huge sum of money to the wife of a couple they knew on the night of " the accident" and never went to her business class. Sheila's purse was found in the car but not the money. The woman believes Glen has taken it. A very menacing stranger is also demanding the money and a shot has been fired through Kelly's bedroom window.

Kelly goes to stay with the grandmother for safety sake. While Kelly was hiding in Ann's closet she accidentaly took an object home which may point to other secrets. This is only the set up for this fast moving thriller. Much of the time I felt I was a step ahead of Glen in trying to discover what caused his wife's death or if it was truly an accident. However many more things happen and more town secrets are revealed. There were several twists near the end which completely shocked and dumbfounded me and don't know how anyone could have seen them coming.

But nothing was too farfetched and was completely believable to me. Barclay is a Canadian writer and would wish he would set a future novel somewhere in this country. Best mystery story I read in a recent memory. Aug 06, Paul Pessolano rated it really liked it.

The Accident by C.L. Taylor

Two young ladies from Butler, Pennsylvania are celebrating a birthday by going shopping in New York. In the town of Milford, Connecticut Glen and Sheila Garber and their young daughter Kelly are about to undergo a complete change in their lives. Glen, who owns a construction company, has hit on hard times but Sheila thinks she has a way to earn some extra money. Although Sheila has never driven while intoxicated, the autopsy shows that she was legally drunk.

There are few really top notch mysteries where just about everyone in the novel is considered and very well could be part and partial to the crimes committed. This will truly keep you turning the pages because the plot keeps getting deeper and deeper the more you read. Jun 25, Tony rated it liked it. As Garber digs into the mess he discovers that all may not be as it seems in his peaceful neighbourhood. Friends may not be who they claim to be and this information may just put his family into further danger.

The Accident starts off a little slow for my liking, and takes way too long to get intriguing. I felt that it was just interesting enough for me to keep reading, but when it did pick up it got pretty intense. The plot was decent, with many great twists and turns and an ending you will never see coming. That being said, I felt that there was one too many twists and the plausibility was not always there. Too many characters were backstabbing fiends, which kind of hurt what otherwise would have been great characterization. Overall it was an okay one time read; I would not pick it up and read it again.

For more of my reviews check out my website, www. Tony Peters Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping http: I borrowed this book from my Grandma as she had plenty of good things to say about it. Judging from the blurb, it was right up my street. The prologue made me yawn until I got to the end of the scene. I wasn't hooked but I thought I would at least give the book a chance.

The voice and style of the writing was rather limp and I was already considering on giving up within the first three chapters. I pushed myself forward despite having a massive gripe with the book. This is written in first person a I borrowed this book from my Grandma as she had plenty of good things to say about it. This is written in first person and third person which, quite frankly, I couldn't stand.

I don't mind if there is a change in narrator or if the third person was a one off but constantly flicking between the two made it very hard for me to adjust. I wasn't impressed with the characterisation, either. Glen and Kelly annoyed me to no end. Kelly didn't seem like an eight year old at all, more like a five year old. Long story short, pages in and it was trying my patience. I skipped to the last 40 pages and I'm so glad I did it.

I never skip a book unless it's necessary but I'm so glad I cut through all the rubbish that was happening. To sum it up, the actual idea of the plot was fantastic but the writing style and the way the story was delivered wasn't my cup of tea. Aug 12, Nicola Mansfield rated it liked it.

I'm a little behind with Barclay and glad to have gone back and caught up with this title. Barclay never disappoints me. I can always count on him presenting an unusual crime and a thriller with many twists and turns. The Accident, once again, delivers. I'll just start by saying this wasn't my favourite of the author's as I didn't find it as intense as others I've read. Oh, the twists and thrills were there but I just felt as if I knew they were coming just before they happened. There are severa I'm a little behind with Barclay and glad to have gone back and caught up with this title.

There are several related crimes going on here and I figured some of it out but the ultimate reveal I hadn't guessed, though I didn't find it too surprising by that point. The whole playing out of what went down was quite the story though! One thing I really enjoyed about this book was the main character's dealing with his wife's death. He goes through the various stages of grief and he was a likable character. Mind, he was explosive and had a temper, but his reactions to the astonishing unfolding of events while dealing with grief were very real and I enjoyed reading him.

So putting my ramblings together: Aug 20, Neil Mudde rated it it was amazing. What a roller-coaster read! Linwood has created a story about clandestine buying and selling of counterfeit goods being brought into the country. S The story setting is in a small town, if you think you know your friends and neighbours, ha! Some of the violence I could live without however we are talking about a cut throat What a roller-coaster read!

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