Throwback Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Renee at It’s Book Talk. Throwback Thursday was designed as an opportunity to share old favorites as well as older books in our TBR. As I started reviewing on Goodreads long before I started my blog, it seemed a great way of sharing my earlier reviews (which I hope have improved since the early days).

So this week I’m revisiting The Accident by C.L. Taylor reviewed in April 2014.

KEEPING THIS SECRET WAS KILLING HER…

A gripping psychological thriller about the deadly secrets your children can keep …

Sue Jackson has the perfect family but when her teenage daughter Charlotte deliberately steps in front of a bus and ends up in a coma she is forced to face a very dark reality.

Retracing her daughter’s steps she finds a horrifying entry in Charlotte’s diary and is forced to head deep into Charlotte’s private world. In her hunt for evidence, Sue begins to mistrust everyone close to her daughter and she’s forced to look further, into the depths of her own past.

Sue will do anything to protect her daughter. But what if she is the reason that Charlotte is in danger?

My Review

I had read the pre-publication publicity for this book and was keen to read it as it sounded like a good psychological thriller. When I got the chance to review it I was therefore delighted. My delight was not misplaced as this really is a page turner.

Sue Jackson’s life is thrown into turmoil when her daughter Charlotte deliberately steps in front of a bus and ends up in a coma. While retracing her daughter’s steps she finds a horrifying entry in Charlotte’s diary and is forced to head deep into Charlotte’s private world.

The situation for Sue is complicated by the fact that demons from her own past cause her to question everything and her paranoia alienates those she needs the most. The story is told in two strands – one looking back 20 years to Sues’ relationship with James a former partner and particularly nasty creation; and the second, that moves the story forward with her search for the answer to why Charlotte did what she did.

It is difficult to describe the plot without reference to events and happenings that might spoil it so I don’t intend to say much about the plot. All I will say is that as the story moves forward it becomes clear that the past clearly has links with how events unfold and as it develops the sense of unease and suspense definitely mounts until it reaches a crescendo that really packs a punch.

“The Accident” definitely deserves its description of psychological thriller and as a debut novel bodes well for future titles which I’m already looking forward to.