The Accident
Chris Pavone, 2014
Crown Publishing
400 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780385348454
Summary
As dawn approaches in New York, literary agent Isabel Reed is turning the final pages of a mysterious, anonymous manuscript, racing through the explosive revelations about powerful people, as well as long-hidden secrets about her own past.
In Copenhagen, veteran CIA operative Hayden Gray, determined that this sweeping story be buried, is suddenly staring down the barrel of an unexpected gun. And in Zurich, the author himself is hiding in a shadowy expat life, trying to atone for a lifetime’s worth of lies and betrayals with publication of The Accident, while always looking over his shoulder.
Over the course of one long, desperate, increasingly perilous day, these lives collide as the book begins its dangerous march toward publication, toward saving or ruining careers and companies, placing everything at risk—and everyone in mortal peril. The rich cast of characters—in publishing and film, politics and espionage—are all forced to confront the consequences of their ambitions, the schisms between their ideal selves and the people they actually became.
The action rockets around Europe and across America, with an intricate web of duplicities stretching back a quarter-century to a dark winding road in upstate New York, where the shocking truth about the accident itself is buried.
Gripping, sophisticated, layered, and impossible to put down, The Accident proves once again that Chris Pavone is a true master of suspense. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1969
• Where—New York, New York, USA
• Education—B.A., Cornell University
• Awards—Edgar Award; Anthony Award
• Currently—lives in New York City and on the North Fork of Long Island, New York
Chris Pavone’s (Pah-VOH-nee) first novel, The Expats, was a New York Times and international bestseller, with nearly 20 foreign editions and a major film deal. It received both the 2013 Edgar Award and Anthony Award for Best First Novel. Pavone's second novel, The Accident, was published in 2014 and was also an instant New York Times bestseller.
Chris grew up in New York City and attended Midwood High School in Brooklyn and then Cornell University. He worked at a number of publishing houses over nearly two decades, mostly as an editor. He is married and the father of twin schoolboys, and they all live in New York City and on the North Fork of Long Island. (From the author's website.)
Book Reviews
With The Accident, [Pavone] matches The Expats's nail-biting level of excitement…The Accident is a thriller about publishing, and if that sounds like an oxymoron, Mr. Pavone is very good at rendering it wildly dramatic…Call Mr. Pavone a reliable new must-read in the world of thrillers
Janet Maslin - New York Times
Marvelous.... The deft plot globetrots and en route provides glamorous locales as well as twisty turns in suspense.
New York Daily News
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 propulsive A-train of a thrill ride and worthy successor to Pavone’s debut.
Los Angeles Times
The thriller-of-the-year.... Pavone’s characters seem genuine, with some flaws in the good guys and some virtues in the bad guys.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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
Tantalizing.... With terrific surprises and high-quality writing in this engaging thriller.
Associated Press
A sly globetrotting spy thriller that gives new meaning to publish or perish.
Family Circle
A high-wire thriller featuring a Wolfe-ian cast of characters.
Vogue.com
A fast-paced, airport-ready thriller.... Pavone writes well about the politics of modern publishing.
Entertainment Weekly
(Starred review.) The contents of "The Accident," a manuscript submission by an anonymous author, shock New York literary agent Isabel Reed, the heroine of Pavone's high-wire thriller.... [A] cast of distinctive characters.... Despite the far-fetched conceit, Pavone makes the story credible, and the suspense is palpable.
Publishers Weekly
Pavone's second novel (after his Edgar Award-winning thriller The Expats) follows several people in the publishing industry as they handle a manuscript that promises tremendous personal gain but, as some soon learn, at risk of death.... [An] enengaging thriller, driven by compelling portraits of desperate characters, each of whom will come to wonder if the manuscript in hand is worth the cost. —Ron Terpening, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson
Library Journal
(Starred review.) 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. [M]any readers will read this one through the night. —Thomas Gaughan
Booklist
The action here involves a manuscript entitled "The Accident," which threatens to bring down a media empire owned by Charlie Wolfe, who now aspires to a political career..... Almost everyone physically connected with the manuscript starts getting killed in Charlie's desperate attempt to quash this expose of his past. Pavone knows the formula for a best-seller and keeps the reader turning the pages.
Kirkus Reviews
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