An Accident Waiting To Happen

by Adrian White

Manchester-based story of a young man trying to muddle through and make sense of his life when his partner runs off, leaves him with her son, a custody fight on his hands and two puzzles to solve just what the heck has happened to her and how the heck is he going to cope.

Genres: Fiction

304 pages, Paperback

Published August 3, 2004

About the author

Adrian White is an English writer who has lived in Ireland for over twenty-five years. His first novel, An Accident Waiting to Happen, was published in print by Penguin Books - as was his second novel, Where the Rain Gets In. Both are now available in print and digital.

Dancing to the End of Love is published by Black & White Publishing of Edinburgh.

Reviews

[Heinz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zwar habe ich das Buch recht gerne gelesen und es hat mich streckenweise sehr gut unterhalten. Trotzdem erhält es nur eine mittelmässige Bewertung, denn den Zweck habe ich nicht wirklich erkennen können. Im Untertitel heisst es so schön «You're never too old to grow up»! Leider ist diese Thematik nicht adäquat umgesetzt worden. Wer soll grösser bzw. erwachsen werden? Tomas (der kleine Junge)? Gregory (der grosse kleine Junge)? Caitlin (die junge, verzweifelte Mutter)? Gestört hat mich auch der Stil von Adrian White im zweiten Teil des Romans. Er schwenkt hin und her zwischen Vergangenheit und Gegenwart und geht nirgends wirklich in die Tiefe. Die Personen bleiben merkwürdig unklar und unscharf gezeichnet. Völlig konfus und überflüssig finde ich die Schluss-Szene auf dem Bahnhof Leeds. Schade fand ich auch, dass das Thema «Schreiben eines Romans» bzw. «Wie werde ich ein (guter) Schriftsteller», das White zu Beginn des Buches anspricht, bald total verloren geht und nie mehr angesprochen wird! Abgerundete 3.

[M O'Brien · Rating 2 out of 5]

Glad it is finished

I found this book a bit dreary although I found the style of writing easy to read. I didn’t understand the relevance of the ending - it just seemed to be an add on that came from nowhere, although it was the only part that made sense of the title.

[Tanja Joubert Author · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book a bit boring. Most of the narrative is what Gregory, the main character, thinks. His thoughts are interspersed with dialogue and things happening, but reading about his thoughts most of the time became a bit much.

The book is well-written with no spelling and grammar errors.

[Alexis Collinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good enough summer read, but not much more.

[Tea Leaves and Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was really tough to get into this one and it took a few tries and persistence to want to be able to read it. The blurb and general reviews were enticing which is why I battled on, and after the first few pages it became easier to get where the story was going and to get engrossed in it. (Left for work 5 minutes late today because I wanted to finish it).

The general theme is good, not all that common, touches on a few difficult topics with ease and introduces them gently throughout. The one complaint I do have is that the book description actually over-dramatises the book and it's essentially not really like that at all. Gregory is not quite racing to save his son from social services as such, the sense of panic isn't introduced as well as it could be and the whole issue of him having supposedly done Caitlin harm is not elaborated all that well. If the description hadn't been misleading, the book in itself would be great, but it doesn't live up to what it says on the tin.

I like adventurous narrative - but this one jumped around too much and especially with Caitlin, it was hard to decipher what was what within the paragraphs. Maybe that was the authors intention, but it didn't read as smoothly as it could have done.

Ultimately it's a nice summer read, the mystery and suspense are not built upon enough to make it work well as anything along those lines. I feel more could have been dug into such as why the Irish population is seen as a minority, why the riot and the torching of the house - that was all quite vague and sometimes the facts didn't add up. The ending was abrupt and seemed an excuse to just get it over with and finish writing...

[Books 'n' All Promotions · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had several attempts at trying to get 'into' this book but I have now given up and allocated it to my 'abandoned' shelf. The synopsis sounds good but all the jumping about all over the place I didn't know where I was or where I was going he tells about a crash with no link to the characters or info on what happened I worked out further on that at some point the main character had a relationship with one of the victims after the crash and there is mention of a house fire etc it just seems to be a lot of random unlinked events I assume they will link in at some point but afraid it was just too much hard work trying to sort out where it was going

[Margaret Grant · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst book I've read it a long time. Had it been any worse I wouldn't have finished it. In it's favour were the large print and short length.

The first person narrator was an insipid, tedious twat. A writer, supposedly, though he knew only one tense, had a limited vocabulary and didn't string his words together very well.

There was a story here, but it was lost in dreadful prose.

[Donna Irwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought as a kindle deal, this book was quite intriguing. The narrative style was a bit irritating, with jumping backwards, and the ending all a bit sudden and convenient, but it was well written, and the mystery surrounding the main characters was well dealt with.

[Eleri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like the way this book was written to begin with, but once I got used to the style of writing I found I was drawn in, and in the end I I was interested what would happen. I enjoyed it and found the ending good but not my usual type of book really.

[Paula Fairlamb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had some mild panic in places if I'm honest, and a little tear at one point, but it could have been a real heart-thumping thriller. To be fair, I don't think that is what was intended in the story at all. Worth a read if you're looking for something quick and easy.

[Linda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poor guy

Main character was portrayed as weak and ineffective he allowed his misfortunes to plague him. The relationship with his son was the parts of the book I liked, that was when I felt he actually was a hero. His interactions with women bored me.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story about the relationship between a man and a woman, influenced by previous relationships and events

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The kind of book you can rattle through in a day. Very readable, engaging and full of vivid characters. But a real cop-out ending.