I’ve made no secret of how much of a fan I am of this author. And while I still feel like After the Accident is his best novel, this one is another solid entry.
It is safe to say that Jennifer has a very bad day to kick off the plot…and things just get steadily worse from there. As always, the blurb gives away part of the story, so I don’t need to recap it. But I thought it was mostly plausible.
The author did a great job of portraying Jennifer’s desperation as one thing after another just rains down on her. It seemed relentless at times. Anyone might crumble with one or two of the things, but with all of it, there is no wonder that she often seemed at loose ends, barely hanging on.
One thing that struck me about this book is that it clipped along on the surface, which was good for the pace. It added to the frantic nature of Jennifer’s life over the few days this covered. But we never really got a lot of depth about motivations or other characters, which I think could have added to the tension.
For example, we know from the opening scenes that Josh is volatile. And that plays a big part in the rest of the story. However, we just keep hearing that he’s a bully and not a nice guy…but (unless I missed it) I never really saw why he was so bad and what made him do the things he did.
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In that manner, I thought that Jennifer’s daughter Katie wasn’t very deep either. She seemed like a typical teen for most of the story, so when there were revelations near the end, they didn’t exactly seem realistic. I think also because some of the attempts at twists and to throw shade on her character fell short.
And that’s another thing about this book. From the title, I would have thought that there would be a lot more about Katie herself. And while she figures in it, the story is really about Jennifer. It’s almost as if the author meant to go one way with it all, then switched, but didn’t change the title.
There were a few other parts that didn’t seem to do much except to illustrate how badly Jennifer’s life had changed. For example, the scenes with her (separated) husband didn’t add much (except to her frustration). And the ones establishing her job just were kind of…there.
One of the things that surprised me the most, however, was how abrupt the ending was. The tension was building, and Jennifer was asked to do something completely outrageous…her choice started a new avenue for the plot but then it all just ended. I get where the author was going with her musings and thinking about what had happened.
I just wish there had been a little bit more to the resolution because the tension and frantic pace that Jennifer carried through the plot deserved it.
Regardless, as I mentioned at the outset, this was still a solid entry. I didn’t guess who the culprit was, and some of the things I thought would happen, didn’t. So the author kept me guessing and interested right to the very end.
Twitter: @kerrywk
Author Bio:
Kerry Wilkinson is from the English county of Somerset but has spent far too long living in the north. It’s there that he’s picked up possibly made-up regional words like ‘barm’ and ‘ginnel’. He pretends to know what they mean.
He’s also been busy since turning thirty: his Jessica Daniel crime series has sold more than a million copies in the UK; he has written a fantasy-adventure trilogy for young adults; a second crime series featuring private investigator Andrew Hunter and the standalone thriller, Down Among The Dead Men.
