Close cookie details

This site uses cookies. Learn more about cookies.

OverDrive would like to use cookies to store information on your computer to improve your user experience at our Website. One of the cookies we use is critical for certain aspects of the site to operate and has already been set. You may delete and block all cookies from this site, but this could affect certain features or services of the site. To find out more about the cookies we use and how to delete them, click here to see our Privacy Policy.

If you do not wish to continue, please click here to exit this site.

Hide notification

  Main Nav
The Accident
Cover of The Accident
The Accident
A Thriller
Borrow Borrow
“If you like Harlan Coben, you’ll love Linwood Barclay.” —Peter Robinson, author of Bad Boy

Glen Garber, a contractor, has seen his business shaken by the housing crisis, and now his wife, Sheila, is taking a business course at night to increase her chances of landing a good-paying job. But she should have been home by now. With their eight-yearold daughter sleeping soundly, Glen soon finds his worst fears confirmed: Sheila and two others have been killed in a car accident. Grieving and in denial, Glen resolves to investigate the accident himself—and begins to uncover layers of lawlessness beneath the placid surface of their Connecticut suburb, secret after dangerous secret behind the closed doors. Propelled into a vortex of corruption and illegal activity, pursued by mysterious killers, and confronted by threats from neighbors he thought he knew, Glen must take his own desperate measures and go to terrifying new places in himself to avenge his wife and protect his child.

“The writing is crisp; the twists are jolting and completely unexpected.”—Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly
“Fast-paced and with an irresistible blend of suspense and tension.”—Tucson Citizen
“If you like Harlan Coben, you’ll love Linwood Barclay.” —Peter Robinson, author of Bad Boy

Glen Garber, a contractor, has seen his business shaken by the housing crisis, and now his wife, Sheila, is taking a business course at night to increase her chances of landing a good-paying job. But she should have been home by now. With their eight-yearold daughter sleeping soundly, Glen soon finds his worst fears confirmed: Sheila and two others have been killed in a car accident. Grieving and in denial, Glen resolves to investigate the accident himself—and begins to uncover layers of lawlessness beneath the placid surface of their Connecticut suburb, secret after dangerous secret behind the closed doors. Propelled into a vortex of corruption and illegal activity, pursued by mysterious killers, and confronted by threats from neighbors he thought he knew, Glen must take his own desperate measures and go to terrifying new places in himself to avenge his wife and protect his child.

“The writing is crisp; the twists are jolting and completely unexpected.”—Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly
“Fast-paced and with an irresistible blend of suspense and tension.”—Tucson Citizen
Available formats-
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB eBook
Languages:-
Copies-
  • Available:
    1
  • Library copies:
    1
Levels-
  • ATOS:
  • Lexile:
  • Interest Level:
  • Text Difficulty:


Excerpts-
  • Chapter One ONE

    If I'd known this was our last morning, I'd have rolled over in bed and held her. But of course, if it had been possible to know something like that—if I could have somehow seen into the future—I wouldn't have let go. And then things would have been different.



    I'd been staring at the ceiling for a while when I finally threw back the covers and planted my feet on the hardwood floor.

    "How'd you sleep?" Sheila asked as I rubbed my eyes. She reached out and touched my back.

    "Not so good. You?"

    "Off and on."

    "I sensed you were awake, but I didn't want to bug you, on the off chance you were sleeping," I said, glancing over my shoulder. The sun's first rays of the day filtered through the drapes and played across my wife's face as she lay in bed, looking at me. This wasn't a time of day when people looked their best, but there was something about Sheila. She was always beautiful. Even when she looked worried, which was how she looked now.

    I turned back around, looked down at my bare feet. "I couldn't get to sleep for the longest time, then I think I finally nodded off around two, but then I looked at the clock and it was five. Been awake since then."

    "Glen, it's going to be okay," Sheila said. She moved her hand across my back, soothing me.

    "Yeah, well, I'm glad you think so."

    "Things'll pick up. Everything goes in cycles. Recessions don't last forever."

    I sighed. "This one sure seems to. After these jobs I'm doing now, we got nothin' lined up. Some nibbles, did a couple of estimates last week—one for a kitchen, one to finish off a basement—but they haven't called back."

    I stood up, turned and said, "What's your excuse for staring at the ceiling all night?"

    "Worried about you. And . . . I've got things on my mind, too."

    "What?"

    "Nothing," she said quickly. "I mean, just the usual. This course I'm taking, Kelly, your work."

    "What's wrong with Kelly?"

    "Nothing's wrong with her. I'm a mother. She's eight. I worry. It's what I do. When I've done the course, I can help you more. That'll make a difference."

    "When you made the decision to take it, we had the business to justify it. Now, I don't know if I'll even have any work for you to do," I said. "I just hope I have enough to keep Sally busy."

    Sheila'd started her business accounting course mid-August, and two months in was enjoying it more than she'd expected. The plan was for Sheila to do the day-to-day accounts for Garber Contracting, the company that was once my father's, and which I now ran. She could even do it from home, which would allow Sally Diehl, our "office girl," to focus more on general office management, returning phone calls, hounding suppliers, fielding customer inquiries. There usually wasn't time for Sally to do the accounting, which meant I was bringing it home at night, sitting at my desk until midnight. But with work drying up, I didn't know how this was all going to shake down.

    "And now, with the fire—"

    "Enough," Sheila said.

    "Sheila, one of my goddamn houses burned down. Please don't tell me everything's going to be fine."

    She sat up in bed and crossed her arms across her breasts. "I'm not going to let you get all negative on me. This is what you do."

    "I'm just telling you how it is."

    "And I'm going to tell you how it will be," she said. "We will be okay. Because this is what we do. You and I. We get through things. We find a way." She looked away for a moment, like there was something she wanted to say but wasn't sure how to say it. Finally, she said, "I have ideas."

    "What ideas?"

    "Ideas to help us. To get us...
About the Author-
  • Linwood Barclay is a former columnist for the Toronto Star. He is the #1 internationally bestselling author of many critically acclaimed novels, including The Accident, Never Look Away, Fear the Worst, Too Close to Home, and No Time for Goodbye. Multiple titles have been optioned for film.
Reviews-
  • Publisher's Weekly

    July 4, 2011
    Barclay (Never Look Away) examines the consequences of ordinary citizens making criminal decisions in the wake of the recession in this believable thriller that skillfully alternates between high-octane action and a slower sense of unease. Milford, Conn., contractor Glen Garber has a lot to deal with in the wake of his wife Sheila's death in a car accident that claimed two other lives: potential lawsuits over the accident, a fire in one of his houses, his eight-year-old daughter Kelly's difficulties at school, his mother-in-law's disapproval, and abiding anger and confusion over the accident's circumstances. In addition, some of Sheila's friends make inappropriate queries into the whereabouts of her purse during the accident, and while playing a hide-and-seek game at a friend's home, Kelly overhears a disturbing conversation that triggers a series of deadly confrontations. The sorry events in Milford are a great argument for people feeling the pinch in their pocketbooks to avoid illicit trafficking in knock-off drugs, purses, and construction materials.

  • Kirkus

    August 1, 2011

    Barclay's latest novel follows his staple formula of taking an ordinary guy and catching him up in something that turns out to be much bigger than it first appears.

    In this case the ordinary guy is Glen Garber, whose wife, Sheila, is involved in a terrible car accident that kick-starts a series of bizarre events. The accident happened on a night when Sheila was supposed to be taking notes in a college class in a nearby town; instead she ended up dead, along with two others. The police tell Glen that Sheila was drunk and parked on a freeway access ramp when the other car hit her vehicle. Glen and his 8-year-old daughter, Kelly, take the news of her death predictably hard, but even harder for Glen is the idea that his wife, who was a social drinker at best, could have been so drunk. He also has other problems to compound his grief: His contracting business, already struggling in the economic downturn, is barely making its payroll, and Glen's worried about a house fire in a place he had under construction. As he puzzles through his emotions and confusion, a frantic Kelly calls him, asking him to pick her up from a sleepover at her best friend's house. While playing a game with her friend, Kelly has taped the girl's mom having a private conversation on her cell phone. Although the conversation means nothing to Glen at the time, the call becomes more significant when the woman turns up dead. Soon, bodies and crimes begin piling up like recently harvested timber, and Glen realizes not all is right in his world. The Canadian-based journalist twists and turns the plot with believability and spices it with plenty of suspects and suspense. In some places, his homework does seem a bit lacking, but the book remains consistently interesting and ready to please thriller fans with both its action and pacing.

     Barclay has turned in a home run with plenty of edge-of-the-seat moments.

     

     

    (COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

  • Booklist

    August 1, 2011
    Building contractor Glen Barber is shattered to learn that his wife, Sheila, has died in an automobile accident that she caused, apparently the result of drinking and driving. Desperately searching for answers (his wife, he knows, would never have driven if she had been drinking, and she was not a habitual drinker), he soon discovers that the mother of his young daughter was not the woman he believed she was. Thematically, the novel is similar to Barclay's Never Look Away (in which a man also discovers that his wife has a hidden past), but this one is not a retread but rather an exploration of the theme from a different angle. Fans of the author's previous novels will find The Accident just as tightly plotted and economically written as its predecessors. Barclay definitely belongs in the company of Harlan Coben, Lisa Gardner, and Gregg Hurwitz.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

  • Publisher's Weekly

    October 31, 2011
    In Barclay’s latest thriller, things are not going well for independent contractor Glen Garber. Just as his business is on the verge of tanking, his beloved and sensible wife dies in a car crash, apparently because she was driving while intoxicated. But the real nightmare begins when Garber begins investigating the crash, thus placing his life and that of his young daughter in jeopardy. This audio version is a furious, suspenseful ride with narrator Peter Berkrot effectively maintaining the book’s pedal-to-the-metal pace and shifting smoothly from first-person to third-person narration. Berkrot also lends appropriate voices to Barclay’s characters—including a ruggedly decisive tone for Garber and an otherworldly wooziness for his secretary. A Bantam hardcover.

  • Peter Robinson, author of Bad Boy PRAISE FOR LINWOOD BARCLAY

    "If you like Harlan Coben, you'll love Linwood Barclay."
  • Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly "The writing is crisp; the twists are jolting and completely unexpected."
  • Tucson Citizen "Fast-paced and with an irresistible blend of suspense and tension."
  • The Wall Street Journal "Gripping . . . unfolds with mounting tension and suspense."
  • Steve Berry, author of The Jefferson Key "Fear the Worst holds the reader in a tight grip, as good and evil match wits and wiles. Barclay pushes the envelope of suspense to the edge and beyond."
  • The Washington Post Too Close to Home

    "A terrifically fast-paced suspense story."
  • The Wall Street Journal "Affecting and effective."
  • Michael Connelly No Time for Goodbye

    "You won't get up until you've turned the last page."
  • USA Today "[An] anxiety-inducing thriller."
Title Information+
  • Publisher
    Random House Publishing Group
  • OverDrive Read
    Release date:
  • EPUB eBook
    Release date:
Digital Rights Information+
  • Copyright Protection (DRM) required by the Publisher may be applied to this title to limit or prohibit printing or copying. File sharing or redistribution is prohibited. Your rights to access this material expire at the end of the lending period. Please see Important Notice about Copyrighted Materials for terms applicable to this content.

Status bar:

You've reached your checkout limit.

Visit your Checkouts page to manage your titles.

Close

You already have this title checked out.

Want to go to your Checkouts?

Close

Recommendation Limit Reached.

You've reached the maximum number of titles you can recommend at this time. You can recommend up to 99 titles every 1 day(s).

Close

Sign in to recommend this title.

Recommend your library consider adding this title to the Digital Collection.

Close

Enhanced Details

Close
Close

Limited availability

Availability can change throughout the month based on the library's budget.

is available for days.

Once playback starts, you have hours to view the title.

Close

Permissions

Close

The OverDrive Read format of this eBook has professional narration that plays while you read in your browser. Learn more here.

Close

Holds

Total holds:


Close

Restricted

Some format options have been disabled. You may see additional download options outside of this network.

Close

MP3 audiobooks are only supported on macOS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) through 10.14 (Mojave). Learn more about MP3 audiobook support on Macs.

Close

Please update to the latest version of the OverDrive app to stream videos.

Close

Device Compatibility Notice

The OverDrive app is required for this format on your current device.

Close

Bahrain, Egypt, Hong Kong, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen

Close

You've reached your library's checkout limit for digital titles.

To make room for more checkouts, you may be able to return titles from your Checkouts page.

Close

Excessive Checkout Limit Reached.

There have been too many titles checked out and returned by your account within a short period of time.

Try again in several days. If you are still not able to check out titles after 7 days, please contact Support.

Close

You have already checked out this title. To access it, return to your Checkouts page.

Close

This title is not available for your card type. If you think this is an error contact support.

Close

An unexpected error has occurred.

If this problem persists, please contact support.

Close

Close

NOTE: Barnes and Noble® may change this list of devices at any time.

Close
Buy it now
and help our library WIN!
The Accident
The Accident
A Thriller
Linwood Barclay
Choose a retail partner below to buy this title for yourself.
A portion of this purchase goes to support your library.
Close
Close

There are no copies of this issue left to borrow. Please try to borrow this title again when a new issue is released.

Close
Barnes & Noble Sign In |   Sign In

You will be prompted to sign into your library account on the next page.

If this is your first time selecting “Send to NOOK,” you will then be taken to a Barnes & Noble page to sign into (or create) your NOOK account. You should only have to sign into your NOOK account once to link it to your library account. After this one-time step, periodicals will be automatically sent to your NOOK account when you select "Send to NOOK."

The first time you select “Send to NOOK,” you will be taken to a Barnes & Noble page to sign into (or create) your NOOK account. You should only have to sign into your NOOK account once to link it to your library account. After this one-time step, periodicals will be automatically sent to your NOOK account when you select "Send to NOOK."

You can read periodicals on any NOOK tablet or in the free NOOK reading app for iOS, Android or Windows 8.

Accept to ContinueCancel