The Accident by S.D. Monaghan

The Accident by S.D. Monaghan had the perfect setup to be a fast-paced thriller. Unfortunately, it was not thrilling until about 75% into the story line. We meet the main characters moments before “The Accident” occurs. After catching his wife Tara having an affair with their contractor in their newly built home, David engages Ryan in a fight. It is a brief fight before Ryan falls out of the window. Dave doesn’t exactly regret hitting Ryan, but he didn’t want to kill him. What follows is Dave’s struggle between doing what is morally right versus what instincts tell him to do, protect his family from the damage of murder.

The book shifts between the perspectives of Dave and Tara and I found that helpful. I needed to understand the motivations inside of Tara’s head. Considering that in the first chapter we learn she’s ten years younger than Dave and is cheating on him in their brand new custom home, I can’t say I thought much of her. Ya, I judged her. Sorry, not sorry. Getting inside her head allowed me to understand her reasoning even if it was thin and flimsy. Dave is not such a bad character, but Tara had no redeeming qualities for me. She cheated on her husband, and later under serious stress makes some poor choices, while pregnant. I realize it’s a fictional story but that really ground my gears.

Don’t underestimate the power of dialogue.

The story didn’t have enough dialogue between characters to keep me entertained. The story didn’t get exciting until about the 45% mark, and part of what helped at that point was a slight increase in the amount of character interaction. The beginning of the story shifts between what happened, and the history of how Dave and Tara got together. This method usually works well in books but in this case it irritated me. I felt that it fell flat because the characters were musing on inside their own heads for much too long. It carried on and on and it made me put the book down for a few days.

This story missed the mark just a little bit. A little more interaction between characters would have helped keep things interesting. The intense character interactions didn’t really occur until about 70% and it was just a little too late by then.