by Chris Pavone
First published 2014
Literary agent Isabel Reed sits in her New York office as dawn breaks, reading the final pages of an anonymous manuscript. The document contains explosive information about powerful figures and reveals buried secrets from her own history. Meanwhile, CIA operative Hayden Gray works in Copenhagen to prevent the book's publication. He faces an unexpected threat when someone points a gun at him. In Zurich, the mysterious author lives in exile among other expatriates. He wrote The Accident to make amends for decades of deception and betrayal, but constantly watches for danger. These three lives intersect during one frantic day as the manuscript moves closer to publication. The book threatens to destroy careers and entire companies while putting everyone involved in mortal danger. Characters from publishing, film, politics, and intelligence agencies must face what their ambitions have cost them. The truth they're fighting over traces back twenty-five years to a dark road in upstate New York, where the real accident happened.
Genres: literary-fiction, mystery, crime, contemporary, thriller, action
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Copenhagen, New York, Zurich
Period: 21st-century
381 pages · Hardcover · Crown