The Accident

By: Linwood Barclay

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's Summary

Glen Barber isn't the only person in the small town of Milford with things on his mind. The recession has been bad for his construction business, especially after a mysterious fire destroys one of his buildings. But everyone else in Milford seems to have problems too, as the financial pressures begin to pinch.

Glen's troubles, however, are about to escalate to a whole new level. His wife Sheila has her own plans for getting them out of their financial jam, but these come to an abrupt halt when her 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 he looks deeper into the circumstances and begins to realise just how many secrets lurk behind Milford's idyllic facade, he may have to face something much, much worse...

©2011 Linwood Barklay (P)2011 Orion Publishing Group Limited

so many bad people?

What made the experience of listening to The Accident the most enjoyable?

Linwood Barclay's excellent writing skills being decently performed by Peter Berkrot.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Oh, yes, it certainly did; very hard to pull the earplugs out to sleep. The story moved from one exciting moment to the next in this who dunnit.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I suppose it was but it was almost too exciting and had my adrenaline coursing late into the night while the plot changed from one suspect to the next.

Any additional comments?

A really good mystery suspense thriller with so many bad characters, from Mr & Mrs next door to major crime figures all living in this small town. It moves along at a decent pace until the denouement which is a real surprise. Great book, highly recommend; can't go wrong with this writer.

Suspend belief and enjoy the story

Linwood Barclay is a master creator of nightmare scenarios for his characters and taking his readers on a roller-coaster of shocks and red herrings before the final resolution. In this book Glen Barber's wife dies in the accident of the title, but the circumstances are very strange. Other unexpected accidents and deaths occur and the listener is drawn into a web of deceit and intrigue that certainly kept me listening. There are many threads to the story and numerous characters, the names of which take some concentration to keep track of, but the reader is very good and his use of different voices helps to identify who is speaking.
Like many thrillers the body count defies credibility, but all in all it's a great story, however unbelievable.

Bit rubbish really.

Not particularly well written or gripping or interesting. Read by an annoying American guy. Boring, lazy writing.

Most enjoyable book

I really enjoyed this book, brilliant storyline that kept me guessing till the end. Thoroughly recommended.

Gripping

This book was gripping from start to end. Need I say more? No, not really.

Another Classic

I have to say, I am a Linwood Barclay fan and have read/listened to everything he has written, and this one for me is one of his best. As usual the pace of the plot is very fast with the usual twists and turns and sub stories which keep you guessing until the end. As is the case with most Linwood Barclay thrillers, once I got into it I could not stop listening until the end.

I thought the narrator was very good as well.

Gripping thriller

Another fantastic thriller from Linwood Barclay! Completely gripping with convincing narration. The only thing hat stopped me giving this five stars is the frustration I sometimes felt with the main character Glen who seems a little slow at realising what's going on!

5 STAR Barclay, twists a plenty

What did you like most about The Accident?

Everything. The story just kept on accelerating. Every character played their part, all in some way connected as greed and desperation took it's toll. At the centre Glenn. As one man ever met so many emotional and physical challenges in a few weeks, I really felt for the guy.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Accident?

Difficult to narrow down, but the last few chapters really had you on the edge. Just when you thought the story had run it's last, another twist brought you back in for more.

Have you listened to any of Peter Berkrot’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I don't believe so, but I'll certainly keep an eye out for more. He was fantastic.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

When the probable truth is hard to believe, it probably isn't

Any additional comments?

Buy it

Accident or a set up!

Where does The Accident rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Again Lynwood Barclay is in top form. This is a very unusal and emtional story. How would you feel if a family member died in an accident but caused the death of other inocent people? You can't think of anything worse, unless it was a set up, a murder made to look like an accident, but why would somebody go to such lengths to do this?

The town has been hit with the credit crunch, so much unemployment and there are loads of illegal actives to cover up. Who can you trust?

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the way it keeps you guessing and its an amazingly clever modern day plot.

What does Peter Berkrot bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

The voices are amazing he brings it all too life.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I found this book very emotional as described above.

Any additional comments?

You wont be dissapointed with this audiobook I'm sure.

Twists and turns a-plenty

When Glen Garber's wife dies in a car accident that causes the deaths of a father and son as well, his life begins to unravel. His building business is suffering and the people he thinks of as his friends become entangled in a web of deceit and fraudulence. We follow this story from different perspectives which keeps the listener involved with Glenn and his small daughter Kelly. The twists and turns of this dark and at times mysterious story keep you guessing right to the end. I found myself listening to this in my car parked outside my house, not wanting to switch it off! A real page-turner.

Had some flaws

In this book, we follow the protagonist Glen, as he comes to terms with the loss of his wife in unusual circumstances and as he starts to come to terms with it he realises that there is more to her death than he could have ever imagined.

This book has such a great concept, and some great twists in it but the thing that really put me off is the way Barclay describes women in such great detail even their breasts, but the description of men is just 'he is tall' 'taller than me' or 'shorter than me'. It just seems like such an over description of women. To me, it's like, if you are going to describe someone to the T then describe everyone to a T.

Also, Glen's daughter Kelly who is 8, the author doesn't seem to know how children talk. For example, Kelly describes someone as a 'slag' that just seems like a word an 8-year-old wouldn't know. Or should be told off for knowing. But I'm not a parent so I don't know. But to me, it just seemed weird.