The Accident by CL Taylor is a psychological thriller about an emotionally unstable mother determined to find out why her daughter deliberately stepped in front of a bus.
Charlotte, the teenage daughter, is in a coma and Sue believes that finding the truth behind the accident may help her daughter’s recovery.
Parallel to Sue’s quest for answers runs the story of an abusive relationship in her own past that has left her living in fear of her former lover, James Evans.
While it is clear that past and present are somehow connected, the full picture emerges only at the very end.
While not without flaws, and stronger on plot than on character, The Accident is a quick read with plenty of suspense making for an interesting, if at times implausible, story.
Sue’s past which includes ‘episodes’ of psychological instability make her an interesting unreliable narrator and add to the suspense of the novel. A little less emphasis on her sexual history and a bit more attention to other aspects of her character might have made her a more fully-rounded and sympathetic protagonist which, in my opinion, would have strengthened this novel.
The Accident by C L Taylor is published by HarperCollins UK / Avon. An Advance Readers Copy (ARC) was provided via Netgalley.com for the purpose of this review.
PS. If you like this, you might also be interested in Mother, Mother by Koran Zailckas.