Lisa Gardner takes a swing at the “revenge” theme and hits it out of the park!
FBI profiler Pierce Quincy’s daughter was an alcoholic. Two years ago, she left an AA meeting, fell hard off the wagon, and killed herself and a passing pedestrian when she drove her car off the road. At least, that was how the final police report read at the time but Quincy’s investigative instincts were not convinced. To put the matter finally (and objectively) to rest, one way or the other, he asked his friend (and possible lover? … but I digress!), ex-cop and now PI Rainie Conner, to re-open the case. Just as she starts to unearth some details and solid evidence that the death was something other than a simple DUI accident, Quincy’s ex-wife is brutally murdered. It would appear that there is a psychopath on the revenge warpath with Quincy and all of his loved ones on his target list.
Revenge, blood lust, and brutal serial murder are hardly innovative, original ideas for a suspense thriller plot but, omigod, Lisa Gardner has done this one up right, from first page to last. The culprit is brilliant. The character development is completely engaging – Quincy, his ex-wife, his second daughter (currently enrolled in a university psychology program with sights on a career in the FBI following in Dad’s footsteps), Conner, his FBI colleagues – all of them are fleshed out in absolutely convincing fashion and lifted off the page into a stark reality. Dialogue is realistic. The romantic byplay between Conner and Quincy is heartwarming, never salubrious or saccharine, and certainly not intrusive to the main plot-line. The final reveal is a complete and totally shocking surprise!
Just be warned, fellow readers, THE NEXT ACCIDENT should NOT be read out of order. For maximum enjoyment, take the time to build up the back story in the previous two installments in the series, THE PERFECT HUSBAND and THE THIRD VICTIM. And don’t be discouraged, I enjoyed both but THE NEXT ACCIDENT is far and away the best of the three. It’s worth your time.
It’s been a long, long time since I was so totally thrilled by a thriller.
Paul Weiss