Linwood Barclay asks, “What if…”

The Accident
by Linwood Barclay

Two years ago, a New York woman caused a drunk driving accident that killed eight people, including herself and several children. She was severely impaired, and yet no one in her life seemed to be aware she had a substance abuse problem. All of America watched the tragedy unfold in horrified speculation. And thriller writer Linwood Barclay looked at the news coverage and said, “What if…”

What if there’s more to this story than meets the eye? Because in the opening pages of his new novel, The Accident, protagonist Glen Garber is coping with a similar situation. His wife Sheila, a social drinker at most, has caused a traffic accident that took her life and the lives of innocents in another car. Her blood alcohol level is off the charts. The only blessing is that their eight-year-old daughter, Kelly, was not with her.

As Glen and Kelly try to pull themselves together and move forward with their lives, a series of strange and menacing events occurs. Kelly accidentally overhears something while on a sleep-over at her best-friend’s home. The parental reaction seems entirely out of proportion. The economy is hitting their part of Connecticut hard. Everyone seems to be hurting for cash. The question is: what are these suburbanites willing to get mixed up in to get it? Glen seems to be surrounded by weirdness on all sides, and is now reevaluating people he’s known and trusted for years, as slowly events begin to cast Sheila’s accident in a new light.

This was my introduction to Linwood Barclay’s work, and The Accident was an enjoyable thriller all around. Glen was an appealing everyman in a bad situation. It was easy to empathize with him. Supporting characters may not have been as well-developed, but they fulfilled their function within the plot. As for the plot, it was enjoyably convoluted, and unfolded a measured pace that kept me turning the pages. All in all, it was a quick, enjoyable, not-too-challenging read. Bonus points to Barclay for writing stand-alone novels instead of the all-too-ubiquitous series I see everywhere these days. I’ll look forward to seeing what he produces next, and may have to check out his backlist as well.

Mailbox Monday: Dead tree edition

If you guys even suspected how much time I spend looking at photographs of mailboxes, you'd be rightly appalled.  Still, the photo above is a striking, huh?  It was shot in Santa Fe, NM by a guy named Randy.  Technically, I don't think that tree is dead, but I was being clever.  The Mailbox Monday photos have been pretty stunning lately, but next Monday I'll have a fun theme post.  Come back, you'll like it.

So, remember my tantrum last week about the weather?  It went downhill from there.  Today is cold, damp, foggy, cloudy and in the 50's.  I'm freezing and don't know what to wear.  UGH!  Jimbo and/or Nicole, I'm coming to visit very soon.  What are you doing this weekend?

Also, I forgot something very bookish from last week--after having attended the very first preview of the stage musical of Armisted Maupin's Tales of the City, Jon and I and our friend Mike attended the closing night performance ten weeks later, last Sunday.  What a difference!  Everything had pulled together so terrifically during the course of the run!  And, Armisted and Christopher were there, of course, so I got to say hello to them.  They're always lovely.  I swear, I will blog about the show some day.  Last night, Jon and I caught the Turtle Island String Quartet at Yoshi's.  Not bookish, but very entertaining!

This week I'm looking forward to seeing my friend David Liss come through San Francisco on tour for his new novel, The Twelfth Enchantment, which goes on sale tomorrow.  I haven't read it yet, so no review, I'm afraid.  But once I've purchased a copy, I'll try to get to it fast.  I've been looking forward to this one for a while!  And I had the pleasure of chatting with David about the novel while we were both in New York last month.  I'll be posting that interview tomorrow.  For local readers, David will be at Book Passage on Wednesday, August 10th and M is for Mystery on Thursday, August 11th.  I haven't decided which to attend.  Anyone want to come with? 

Did you see the video I posted of Chris Moore and Ian Corson last week?  Chris posted a link on Facebook and suddenly hundreds and hundreds of people swung by the blog.  Thousands of page views.  Oh, so that's what it's like to have readers, LOL.  David Liss, please send your rabid fan base over here tomorrow.  I'll be waiting.

And, I don't want to get you guys too excited, but I'm posting a review of an AWESOME debut novel on Wednesday.  It's something completely different.  Should I tell you?  Okay I will.  It's Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

On a personal note, so many of you have kindly inquired about my sister.  She finally seems to be recovering from her surgery, and there will be no follow-up operations.  This is excellent news!  Thanks to all for your very kind concern.  And on that note...

The Leftovers
by Tom Perotta
Release date: August 30, 2011
Source: Paper galley, gift from Nicole

Talk about leftovers--this book is a leftover I forgot to include on last week's list.  It's one of the buzzier books of the fall, and I'm quite curious to read it.  I'm just not sure what I'm going to think of it.  We shall see.

Zone One
by Colson Whitehead
Release date: October 18, 2011
Source: Paper galley via Amazon Vine program

For a girl who "doesn't like zombies," this will be the fourth zombie novel I'll have read in the past year.  But I'm quite excited to read this one!  I love the current trend of major literary novelists taking on plot-driven genre literature.  This is another buzzy fall title--and it will be out just in time for Halloween.

The Accident
by Linwood Barclay
Release date: August 9, 2011
Source: Paper galley via Amazon Vine program

I've been wanting to read a Barclay novel for a while now.  This one seems to have had a "ripped from the headlines" inspiration.  From what I've read, the plot seems reminiscent of that tragic accident when a woman killed herself and several children in the car while drunk driving, but her husband and people in her life were unaware of a drinking problem.  Of course, in a thriller writer's hands, I'm sure there's more to the story than a domestic tragedy.

Pigeon English
by Stephen Kelman
Release date: July 19, 2011
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

So, did anyone notice that the Man Booker longlist was announced a couple of weeks ago?  So I thought I'd read a couple books off the longlist, starting with this one.  God, I hate written dialect.  Seriously, if you choose to read a novel called Pigeon English, you just have no room to complain.  Full review soon.

LA Mental
by Neil McMahon
Release date: September 27, 2011
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

James Rollins sez: “As much a mind game as it is thriller, a scientific puzzle buried in a murder mystery, all set against the surreal world of Hollywood filmmaking. . . . I can’t wait for the next book!”  Well, that's enough for me!  (No it isn't.  But I got the straight dope from that well known blurb 'ho Rollins, and he said read it.)

Showstopper
by Abigail Pogrebin
Release date: May 31, 2011
Source:  Kindle purchase

This isn't a book, it's what's called a "Kindle Single."  It's basically a really long magazine article and it generally costs about $2.  This was an example of Amazon doing brilliant targeting on me.  Once I saw the cover, I couldn't resist.  Today, Abigail Pogrebin is a respected journalist, but 30 years ago when she was 16, she was one of the teenagers in the original Broadway cast of the much maligned Sondheim flop Merrily We Roll Along, which closed after 16 performances.  This is not only her recollections of the show, but how the experience effected her, and much more.  Very interesting!


Books finished this past week:

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman
LA Mental by Neil McMahon


Currently Reading:

As yet undecided...


So, what have you guys been reading?  What books have you acquired this week?  I'd love to hear in the comments!