Thank you so much, NetGalley, Inkubator Books and Daniel Hurst for letting me read “The Accident” in exchange for an honest review.

I have heard a lot about Daniel Hurst but only recently read one book by him. I was really excited for this one.

I really like the cover. We speak too less about covers. It’s on the dark site, looming, gloomy and brooding, like the accident we are waiting for to happen. Then there is the red balloon (shouldn’t it have been yellow?!). How does that relate to the story, I wondered? Now I know.

Possible trigger warnings: cheating, death of child

We mainly get three points of view, Anni, who looses her young son Tobi in an accident, Carl, the drunken driver who caused the accident, and Jo, Carl’s mistress. That’s what we are supposed to believe. Three stories fuse smoothly together. Later we will also get some chapters from the POV of a reporter. I am not sure if I needed that, but ok.

Anni is grieving and realises, she has to move on at some point. So she makes a new friend,Jo, of all people, who stated teaching at the same school. She has no idea that she is connected to Carl, who is serving in prison.

The story is really easy to get into. Daniel Hurst’s style is fluent and easy to follow. The story itself is really interesting, so I got to read this in one sitting. This is a well written domestic thriller. I did like all of the characters - most of the time-, even when I am probably not supposed to. The thing is, you get invested in them.

The book being in the shorter side, we got thrown away right into the “action”. Though it’s very subtle. This is not your action packed thriller, that you might suspect from the title. It takes us (deeper) into the minds of all three main characters. You start caring for them, the next second you dislike them. There are no mind blowing twists and turns. It’s a pretty sad story actually. While I liked the characters, I could not make my mind up, what to feel for them. One second I was feeling bad for Carl, then I was not. I had such mixed feelings for all of them. None of them were really innocent. The end did not surprise me. I am torn about it as well. While it was fitting, I’d have hoped for something more.

I expected something different but I am happy with what I got. I did like the book. I will definitely read more by Daniel Hurst.

Daniel Hurst has established himself as a reliable author in the thriller genre, known for his three-dimensional characters and realistic plots. THE ACCIDENT is every mother's worst nightmare. Told in alternating points of view, single mom Anni is having a heated phone conversation with her ex over a rearranged visitation schedule of their young son Tobi. In a split second, Anni's attention on Tobi is lost, and he chases his errant balloon into the street, directly into the path of Carl's car. Carl is speeding and has had too much to drink, so he's quickly arrested and pleads guilty, relieving Anni the horror of having to sit through testimony,

As Anni returns to work as a teacher after a bereavement period, she befriends Jo, a substitute teacher she finds crying in the bathroom on the first day of classes. As Anni extends her friendship, she can't help but feel that Jo is keeping something from her...and she's right. Jo knows exactly who Anni is, and she knows more about the worst day of Anni's life than she will ever divulge.

As Anni becomes more and more suspicious, Jo becomes desperate to hide her secret. Will she dupe this grieving woman, or will a mother's grief turn to vengeance if she ever learns the terrible truth?

You won't have to wait long for THE ACCIDENT, as it publishes July 3, 2022. Thank you to Inkubator Books and NetGalley for this suspenseful early read.