The Accident by Chris Pavone

Sometimes the publishing business can be murder. In The Accident it is. Isabel Reed, a literary agent has received an anonymous submission for a book. This is the book that every agent hopes for. It is a page-turning blockbuster, and it is real. It purports to be the unauthorized biography of a powerful media mogul. It has some very damning material in it. Not only does it implicate the mogul in shady business dealings, but also implicated him in government espionage and worse. Isabel contact her friend Jeff Fielder, a one-time up and coming editor whose life has started to fall apart. She knows that this book is right up Jeff’s alley. Jeff takes one look and realizes that he has the editor’s dream of a lifetime.

Unfortunately for Isabel and Jeff things are about to get really bad. It seems that veteran CIA operative Hayden Gray has decided that this manuscript will be too damaging to himself and the Agency. So he has taken on the task of tracking down the author. He is willing to do whatever he has to do in order to make certain that this manuscript never sees the light of day. He is not interested in violence, but he is more than willing to use it. As the copies of the manuscript proliferate, so does the body count. Now Isabel has to stay ahead of those chasing her in order to stay alive.

From New York to Zurich to Denmark to Los Angeles, the action is international and never stops.  Isabel has to stay alive and ahead of the men on her trail while keeping the manuscript safe. For her this is more than just business. For her this manuscript contains secrets about her own past and the revelations have shaken her to her core.

The Accident is a fast paced, well-written novel. All of the action takes place over a one day period, though the characters do flash back in their memories at times. There are some amazing plot twists and turns, some that I saw coming and some that I didn’t see. The characters are not the cardboard cutouts you encounter in so many action-thriller novels, but are well crafted and interesting.

In the end nothing was as it seemed. Chris Pavone has crafted an excellent book that you just don’t want to put down. If you enjoy edge of your seat thrillers then you should definitely check this book out. I look forward to many more books from this author.