From Booklist*Starred * New York literary agent Isabel Reed plows through an anonymous manuscript in one night and immediately knows two things: The manuscript, a biography of a media mogul, will be a blockbuster, and people will die if word of its existence leaks. Shes also fairly sure she knows who the author is, but hes dead. Word does leak, in New York and Hollywood, and ambitious young women in publishing quickly die violently. Isabel and her chosen editor, Jeffrey Fielder, are on the run from resourceful, relentless killers. Pavones plot twists tirelessly, shifting focus among a large cast of well-drawn characters and using flashbacks and changes of locale (Copenhagen, Zurich, Manhattan, Hollywood, the Hamptons) to build suspense. The Accident is a somewhat more conventional thriller than Pavones fine debut (The Expats, 2012), but he excels at developing characters backstories. Isabel and Jeffrey, for example, are successful but frightened that changes in their business and the onset of middle age might make them has-beens, and theyre both recalling the mutual attraction they once had but didnt act on. Like Isabel, many readers will read this one through the night. --Thomas Gaughan St. Louis Post-DispatchBest Books of 2014[Pavone is] a reliable new must-read in the world of thrillers. . . . You will want to finish The Accident at a nice, rapid clip to see how [the] pieces come together. . . . Unputdownable. The New York Times A taut, bookish thriller. People If you like real nail-biters, this is the best one so far this year. . . . Couldnt put the damn thing down. Stephen King, on Twitter Savvy. . . . [With] plenty of swift action and sudden twists. Wall Street Journal Smart and stylish. . . . Thrill-a-minute. . . . The Accident never stumbles as it confidently and most entertainingly barrels forward toward shocking revelations and a bombshell of a finish. Chicago Tribune A must-readgripping.USA Today Chris Pavone is the new best thing. The Accident proves the promise of The Expats. It is as intelligent and timely as it is relentless and gripping. Pavone is going to be around for a long time and now is the time to jump on the train. Michael Connelly A fast-paced, airport-ready thriller. . . . Pavone writes well about the politics of modern publishing. Entertainment Weekly The thriller-of-the-year. . . . Pavones characters seem genuine, with some flaws in the good guys and some virtues in the bad guys. St. Louis Post-Dispatch Maximum enjoyment at maximum speed.Dallas Morning News A sly globetrotting spy thriller that gives new meaning to publish or perish. Family Circle A propulsive A-train of a thrill ride and worthy successor to Pavones debut. Los Angeles Times A fast-paced, dangerous ride. . . . That intricate plot [propels you] forward, twisting and turning right up to its final, ultimately satisfying conclusion. Fort Worth Star-Telegram Aclever, sophisticated mystery.Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel [Pavone] has outdone himself with this amazing thriller. . . . Full of constant surprises [The Accident] is jam-packed with everything from media moguls to conspiracies. This is a truly great read! Suspense Magazine Tantalizing. . . . With terrific surprises and high-quality writing in this engaging thriller. Associated Press Marvelous. . . . The deft plot globetrots and en route provides glamorous locales as well as twisty turns in suspense. New York Daily News A high-wire thriller featuring a Wolfe-ian cast of characters. Vogue.com [A] high-wire thriller. . . . The suspense is palpable. Publishers Weekly (starred review) Pavones plot twists tirelessly, shifting focus among a large cast of well-drawn characters. . . . many readers will read this one through the night. Booklist (starred review) [An] engaging thriller, driven by compelling portraits of desperate characters. Library Journal Pavone knows the formula for a best-seller and keeps the reader turning the pages. Kirkus Chris Pavone's many fans will not be disappointed with The Accident, his fast-paced, twisting, smart follow-up to The Expats. Cleverly plotted, filled with surprises, a terrific read. William Landay, New York Times bestselling author of Defending Jacob The world of book publishing has never been more perilous or mesmerizing than in Chris Pavones dizzyingly good follow-up to The Expats. The dark eruption of long-buried secrets, complex betrayals further snagged by sex and greed, and eleventh-hour desperate gambits for reinvention all propel a whirlwind story that will keep you up way past your bedtime. Crafty, stylish, satisfying. Paula McLain, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Wife Clever, sophisticated, and propulsive. I am constantly awed by Chris Pavone's writing. He's already one of the best in the thriller business. Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of Paranoia and Suspicion Praise forThe Expats"Sly. . . . Pavone strengthens this book with a string of head-spinning revelations in its last pages. . . . The tireless scheming of all four principals truly exceeds all sane expectations. The New York TimesBombshell-a-minute. . . . Pavone creates a fascinating, complicated hero. Entertainment Weekly A gripping spy drama and an artful study of the sometimes cat-and-mouse game of marriage. Family CircleSmartly executed. . . . Pavone is full of sharp insights into the parallels between political espionage and marital duplicity. . . . Thoroughly captivating. The New York Times Book Superb. . . . [Pavone] expertly draws readers along with well-timed clues and surprises. . . . An engineering marvel. Richmond Times-Dispatch Expertly and intricately plotted, with a story spiraling into disaster and a satisfyingly huge amount of double-crossing, The Expats certainly doesnt feel like a first novel. This is an impressively assured entry to the thriller scene. The Guardian (London)Refreshingly original. . . . Part Ludlum in the pacing, part Le Carr in the complexity of story and character, but mostly Chris Pavone. . . . A thriller so good that you wonder what other ideas [Pavone] has up his cloak, right alongside the obligatory dagger. The Star-LedgerAmazing. . . . Impossible to put down. . . . Pavone invokes memories of the great writers of spy fiction of the past, and he has the chops to be mentioned with the best of them. Associated Press A blast. . . . Pavone is spinning a fantastic tale with action that spans the globe. Dallas Morning News Highly entertaining. Mystery Scene Thoroughly enjoyable. Suspense Magazine Hard to put down. San Francisco Bay Guardian Stunningly assured. . . . An intricate, suspenseful plot that is only resolved in the final pages. Booklist (starred review) Brilliant, insanely clever, and delectably readable. Library Journal (starred review)Meticulously plotted, psychologically complex. . . . The sheer amount of bombshell plot twists are nothing short of extraordinary, but its Pavones portrayal of Kate and her quest to find meaning in her charade of an existence that makes this book such a powerful read. Publishers Weekly (starred review) Impressive. . . . With almost more double-crosses than a body can stand. Kirkus (starred review)Bristling with suspense and elegantly crafted, The Expats introduces a compelling and powerful female protagonist you won't soon forget. Well done! Patricia Cornwell I often thought I was again reading the early works of Ken Follett, Frederick Forsyth, and Robert Ludlum. Smart, clever suspense, skillfully plotted, and a lot of fun to read. John Grisham One of the best-written spy thrillers I've ever read. . . . A riveting story of great-game deceptions wrapped inside the smaller deceptions of marriage. At moments horrifying, hilarious, and very wise, The Expats has given Chris Pavone a permanent place on my short list of must-read authors. Olen Steinhauer A gem. Clever, suspenseful with a jet fueled story that rockets from one corner of the globe to another, it is never less than a thrill a minute. . . . An absolute winner! Christopher Reich Spy stories need to budge over to make space for Kate Mooremother, wife, expat and far more than she appears. I loved her. Rosamund Lupton Riveting. One of the most accomplished debuts of recent years: not just a worthy addition to the literature of espionage and betrayal, but a fine portrait of a marriage disintegrating under the pressure of secrets and lies. John ConnollyAbout the AuthorChris Pavone'snovel The Expats was a New York Times, USA Today, and international bestseller, and winner of Edgar and Anthony awards for best first novel. Chris grew up in Brooklyn, graduated from Cornell, and was a book editor for nearly two decades, as well as an expat in Luxembourg, but now lives again in New York City with his wife and children. The Accident is his second novel. what do you talk about in a book club The Accident
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. in a way that has you routing for them to survive--even the bad guys.By Victoria AllmanChris Pavone knows how to keep readers turning the page...or swiping their tablets until the wee hours of the morning. However you read these days, it is well worth your time and dollars to purchase The Accident and Pavone's other spy thrillers. He is at the top of the genre at the moment. Not only is there action from page one, he also has crafted really well thoughtout sentences that you will want to reread for their spot-on observations of some of the little things in life. The Accident is not only action-packed, but it also develops relationships between the characters, sometimes in surprising twists, in a way that has you routing for them to survive--even the bad guys...or who you think might be the bad guy.I have really loved all Pavone's books and enjoy the fact that some of my favorite characters cross over from one story to the next.I can't wait until his next one is released. He has created a new fan of spy novels in me.Victoria AllmanAuthor of: SEAsoned: A Chef's Journey with Her Captain0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A little more substance with those thrillsBy Kindle CustomerAuthor Chris Pavone describes a main character in The Accident as being more like a fast-food hamburger than a four-star meal.Seems to me thats a pretty good way to talk about Pavones latest thriller, a somewhat tasty morsel, but without a whole lot of substance, nuance or lasting flavor. Not something youre going to savor long in your memory.Day breaks and over the course of what to me is one stupendously contrived 24-hour period, an author-in-hiding in Zurich frets over the manuscript of his tell-all book. His is a book that if truth wins out represents a grave threat to world order as well as to some powerful individuals, corporations and governments.The author-in-hiding was both an insider and participant in a mess of serious double-dealing that he has now chronicled in his manuscript, The Accident. But now hes the apologist, motivated by remorse, but more so by the soul-cleansing redemption that coming clean promises.In Copenhagen, New York, and other global locales, CIA spooks along with power-brokers working in the media, literary and publishing world are also thinking obsessing over the manuscript. These government and publishing predators either hope to cash in on the books publication, or are threatened with ruin if The Accident makes it to print.Two camps exist: those who hope to gain if the book is published and those who will kill to prevent its publication. For me, each camp is populated with characters as one-dimensional as cardboard cutouts. All of them are wily, witty and wise but all in the same manner, acting and speaking as if cut from the same cloth; as a result its difficult to keep straight whos talking. Theres a long list of characters. Nearly all the characters are expendable and too often for my taste someone seems to be introduced so he or she can be summarily erased, violently. I lost tab but theres an extremely high body count. (A fun exercise might be to tally the actual number of corpses. My guess is youll be surprised at how many there are.)The one person we are led to care for most is Isabel Reed, a literary agent who is reading the final pages of The Accident as the book begins. Youll need to stick with the book until the final pages to learn if Isabel is among the survivors and if the manuscript that has already buried so many makes its way into print.Pavone sets out to take you on a thrill ride. And, okay, the pages did seem to flip rather quickly. But, depending on your tolerance for the implausible, he delivers a book thats hard to put down or one youll be tempted to throw across the room.In a word: Far-fetched0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. More Twists Than an Alpine HighwayBy DrwoPavone may have written the thriller of the year. At the center of this book is the dangerous intersection of entertainment/gossip news with politics. Reputations and billions of dollars are at stake and the ethical lines become hazy and are then crossed, escalating the lengths to which individuals, corporations and government agencies will go to keep truth from becoming public.A manuscript, "The Accident," is delivered to the New York office of a literary agent, Isabel Reed. Isabel is one of the few agents who still prefers hard copies of manuscripts rather than reading them on an electronic device. When the manuscript is dropped off with Isabel's assistant, the assistant makes a copy and reads it, tweeting about it and gossiping with friends. When Isabel reads the manuscript over a weekend, she knows it to be "the real thing." Although she recognizes the book's potential to be a best seller, she also knows that grave danger is posed to anyone in possession of the material and believes rushing the manuscript to publication is the best chance to ensure her own safety and that of the anonymous author. Isabel enlists the help of an editor who cannot resist conspiracy theories and who, of course, swears to keep the existence of the manuscript a secret.Within hours, copies of the manuscript are being leaked and those in possession of the copies are competing to make their own deals. One ambitious aspiring editor spirits a copy to Los Angeles in an attempt to get a movie deal without any real answer as to how she came to have the manuscript in the first place. Rather than the anticipated bidding war, the editor finds quickly that the manuscript is so dangerous that those she hopes to sell it to do not want to admit they have ever seen it, much less buy it.The author of this manuscript has gone to extreme lengths to remove himself from the action and to keep his location secret, but he also knows he has placed Isabel in a potentially life threatening situation. Isabel is followed, people are murdered, and, of course, we readers do not know what it is about the manuscript that is so damaging (nor to whom) that individuals and organizations would and do kill to keep it from publication.Pavone builds interest by keeping the reader guessing, first about the manuscript, then about the author, then about those who are desperate to destroy every copy of the manuscript and perhaps even anyone who has seen it. Isabel knows more about the truth in the manuscript than anyone other than the author and it is late in the day before the reader learns exactly why this would be. All in all, it was intricately plotted and, if it seems far fetched that governments, officials and the media conspire, it is not THAT far fetched. A truly great read!