I really enjoyed this book, it was set at a great pace from the beginning and as the book moved in to the second half of the story the pace gathered speed as the twists and turns developed and drew you in further.  I thought that overall the pace was excellent for the plot and the writing style was spot on for the storyline, the tale is woven in great detail throughout and that alone is a reason that you can continue reading the book as if I'm honest, none of the characters really did anything for me and they didn't grow on me as I got further in to the book.  I was hooked in after the first few chapters as the accident happens at the very beginning and I was immediately intrigued then to see where the story would go and as it says in the tag line - how far would they go to save everything?  Really enjoyed this book and wouldn't hesitate to give it a solid 4 stars - looking forward to more of the same!!

Sometimes when I'm about to get stuck into a brand new author I have a little nosey at some of the reviews which have been left by readers already (basically I skim read the ones without spoilers just so I can get more of an insight). I must say, I was quite taken aback by some of the things people had written and, because of the multiple 'on the fence and then some' reviews, I was incredibly curious to begin reading S.D.Monaghan's novelA. So I did. Forty minutes later I had read 47% of the book. In conclusion, I whole heartedly disagree with a lot of people on Goodreads, and you want to know why? Because I was completely and utterly gripped!

As far as David is concerned, in less than twenty-four hours both him and his wife, Tara, would be embarking on the move to their forever home. How exciting! Well, it would have been exciting if Tara hadn't been caught doing something she shouldn't have, with a man who wasn't her husband! Whoopsy! David and Tara's house move was meant to symbolise a new chapter in their lives. Instead, the couple find themselves in a 'love' triangle where everything could be lost in the blink of an eye.

As I've already said, I was completely hooked by the storyline. David and Tara's relationship (without giving anything away) had me thinking the worst nion straight away. Why? For me, something wasn't sitting quite right and I couldn't put my finger on it. I had the most horrendous sinking feeling in my stomach whilst reading the first half of the book, I just knew something wasn't right and I unnerved me. Part of me was wanting to find out whether my gut instinct was right, yet part of me was frozen with nerves as I had no idea what would be before my eyes on the next page. Luckily my severe nosiness won and I flew through the pages like a woman on a mission. I just had to find out what the hell was going on!

Again, without giving too much away, Shay (David and Tara's new neighbour) was such an eejit! Seriously! He was like an itch in the middle of your back that you can't seem reach, regardless of how hard you try; aka severely annoying! 

Whilst I do disagree with several of the not so glowing reviews on Goodreads, I have to say that personally, I felt that the storyline seemed to contain a lot of background information and setting the scene, and less of the actual nitty gritty, dun dun dun parts of the storyline. Don't get me wrong, I was glad to get to know the characters and their lives (past and present) in such an in-depth manner. I just would have preferred more of the action and less of the background information.

All in all, 'The Accident' kept my heart racing, my hands shaking, and my heart on route to my mouth; I just couldn't put the book down! Yes, some parts of the storyline made me raise my eyebrow in disbelief, however, seeing as I managed to finish the book in a couple of hours, it's safe to say that 'The Accident' managed to keep my attention with its suspenseful storyline alone. Very, very cleverly written.

Thanks Bookouture.

Tara has everything she ever wanted: she is married to the love of her life, she's two months pregnant and she is about to move into her dream home. But why is she hooking up with her ex the night before the big move?
David has found the one in Tara and would do anything for her. So when he finds her with another man, his world starts to crumble around him.
Ryan didn't see David's punch coming. He also didn't see him stumbling out of the third floor and onto the patio below.
In one split second, the lives of three people are changed forever.
How far would you go to save everything you have?

Whenever I read a blurb of a book, I get this idea or picture in my head of what will happen and how the story will play out, and some parts of this picture usually match with the story in one way or another. However, the picture I had painted of The Accident, especially the beginning, didn't match with the actual story at all. This is no criticism whatsoever, I was just genuinely surprised about the direction the plot took because nothing is worse than predicting every single scene in a book.

The setting of the book was in Dublin, Ireland, which I really enjoyed, since I haven't read any stories set in Dublin or Ireland for that matter.
The story was told in a third person narrative that alternated between Tara's and David's POV. I am not really a fan of third person narratives, unfortunately, but this is just a personal preference. Still, I had preferred a first person narrative which would have given me an even deeper insight of the characters' fears and thoughts.

For the longest time I didn't really know what to think of the story and the book in general. The plot, although cliché (the husband kills the lover of his wife) yet brilliant, was missing something. I enjoyed the general storyline and Monaghan has given small cliffhangers at the end of almost every chapter, still, it was not enough for me.
The huge plot twist toward the end of the story, however, did shock me and made me give the book a solid three stars.

Be sure to check out S. D. Monaghan's debut novel The Accident on August 1st.

There is no doubt that this thriller starts with a bang and has a lot of action involved during a short span of time. The Accident is stuffed to its limit with plot twists and new angles which basically can be compared to a crazy rollercoaster ride that will drag you along with it. Because there is one thing you won't feel while you are reading The Accident, and that is boredom. From the moment David finds Tara in a compromised position and things start to escalate, the story just won't let you go. There is no doubt The Accident is a thrilling read, but I almost wonder if there aren't just too much action scenes and crazy twists involved... Because as things escalate further and further, I also started to wonder about the credibility of it all. The writing reads like a train and I managed to finish this story in record speed, but in the end I wasn't completely convinced by it. For me, there were too many different elements involved and the plot twists started to spin out of control... While they did keep you guessing about how things would end, they also made the story less real and relatable in general. I also had problems with the characters, which I found quite unlikeable and I wasn't sure about their actions and how they reacted to the plot twists either. All in all you can say I had mixed thoughts about this thriller of a story, but there is no doubt this will give a double expresso dose of action and suspense to anyone who decides to read it. And I'm having a feeling especially (male) action thriller fans will love The Accident.

This was a bit of an unexpected pleasure for me! I started reading this in bed after I went for an early night, but 4 hours later that early night had turned into a rather late one instead! So be warned that this is one of those unputdownable, one session reads so keep that in mind before you pick it up! Although I think one of the main reasons for this is that it’s kind of a book of two halves. The first half was quite a slow burner, building up the suspense and developing the main characters after the accident has taken place. David and Tara seemed rather an unlikely couple and I think this also added to the uncertainty surrounding the circumstances of the accident. But is their marriage strong enough to survive David’s reaction to Tara’s fling and the resulting fallout?

By the second half of the book there are twists and turns galore and the action speeds up considerably. But to begin with I felt neither David not Tara were particularly very likeable characters so redeeming themselves in my eyes was going to be a particularly tough job for the author to undertake! But the final few chapters were full of surprises and a series of flashbacks peeled back the layers of their relationship making me question all the preconceptions I had held before.

But what really made me this book for the gorgeous writing style of S.D. Monaghan. His words had an almost hypnotic affect on me and words flowed into sentences which became such well crafted chapters it was impossible to tear your eyes away. He made a compact storyline expand its presence on the page with his intricately detailed narrative and made it exceed my expectations. Just stunning so I can’t wait to read more from this natural storyteller.

I loved the blurb of this. An accident. A few minutes that changed the lives of one couple. We hear the story through David and Tara, the married couple at the core of this story. Happily married, building a dream home with a baby on the way. All should be perfect but a wrong choice by both leads to a series of catastrophic events and decisions. I found this more of an action type story than a thriller and think it would make a great TV drama. However, I did not really warm to the characters. A few cliched types. A good, easy read though.

Was just too slow for me. I'm sure there's a great twist at the end but I gave to half way through I'm afraid

So sorry but I could not get into this book at all. It started off well when David finds out that Tara is having an affair with Ryan who helped build their dream home. He confronts him and one punch sends him plummeting to his death. His body miraculously disappears and nobody sees him. It just felt completely unbelievable and I gave up at that point.

This was an excellent mystery that takes you through the thoughts and emotions of a seemingly happy couple facing the consequences of their hastily made mistakes. This book focused not only on the accident and its consequences, but on the way the couple's minds race as they debate how to fix their lives. It was the story of the secrets we bury and the dirt we get on our hands in doing so.

I liked reading about this couple's rise to success, and their rise to becoming a couple. The husband comes from impoverished beginnings, but he turned their life into something to be envied (or resented). But as with every success story, the couple has far more to lose than ever before, and they face losing it all with one accident.

The way the couple was haunted by their accident, by both nosy neighbors, curious family members, and jealous acquaintances, was brilliant. I took the guilt ride right along with them, and I felt nauseous at times as I wondered how WE would get out of this mess.

I also liked the flashbacks, which served to educate the reader more on the couple's history together and apart. I would have liked even more of them.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a thrilling read and who appreciates a book that takes you on the guilt ride along with the characters.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
David and Tara have just finished building their dream mansion home. David is a History teacher and the local university and Tara is an artist, who made it big, that’s where the money came from to build their home. When, one evening, David comes home to find his wife kissing the builder and ex-boyfriend of Tara’s, Ryan.
The next day, after a spell of heavy drinking, David confronts Ryan and punches him, only for him to fall off the unfinished balcony. David then blacks out unconscious. The starts a series of events. Has anyone witnessed what went on?
I liked the premise of this story. It was well written and you can feel the intensity of story. The characters were well developed. I thought it was a good Psychological thriller. It is worth reading but, for me it didn’t blow me away. I thought towards the end of the story, it got a bit too farfetched. 3 stars for me.

If you enjoyed Toni Collette's short-lived TV show "Hostages", you'll enjoy S.D. Monaghan's The Accident. When David catches his wife, Tara, fooling around with Ryan, their houses's builder, on the night before they're set to move in, everything changes for David. He confronts Ryan and punches him -- then he falls out an upstairs window where David rightly presumes he's dead. That takes up about the first twenty or thirty pages. Once the community figures out Ryan is missing, David, and eventually Tara, are backed into a corner. Do they go to the police and tell them Ryan fell out the window by mistake or enter into a shady blackmail agreement that will deplete their bank account and change their life forever? Monaghan does a convincing job of displaying what all of the characters are going through emotionally and mentally as a result of this incident, but if you're looking for a book full of action, you may want to look elsewhere.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book as an arc.
I really enjoyed the first half of the book which introduces us to Tara and David, a Dublin couple who are about to move into their dream home. However, Tara decides to have a final fling with old boyfriend Ryan and has sex with him in the new house on the night before the move. A fight ensues when David discovers what has happened and the repercussions come thick and fast. I enjoyed learning about the past lives of the three main characters and how they all came to know each other.
I also felt very sorry for the neighbours when the damage to the drainage on the new house caused their house to flood with all sorts of nastiness! There was a thread of dark humour apparent at times which I enjoyed. However, I felt the second half of the book lost its way a wee bit. It started to resemble a gangster scenario with blackmail, drug running and psycho killers being introduced. I think the story just became a bit too convoluted which spoiled the book for me.

The Accident by S.D. Monaghan had the perfect setup to be a fast-paced thriller. Unfortunately, it was not thrilling until about 75% into the story line. We meet the main characters moments before “The Accident” occurs. After catching his wife Tara having an affair with their contractor in their newly built home, David engages Ryan in a fight. It is a brief fight before Ryan falls out of the window. Dave doesn’t exactly regret hitting Ryan, but he didn’t want to kill him. What follows is Dave’s struggle between doing what is morally right versus what instincts tell him to do, protect his family from the damage of murder.

The book shifts between the perspectives of Dave and Tara and I found that helpful. I needed to understand the motivations inside of Tara’s head. Considering that in the first chapter we learn she’s ten years younger than Dave and is cheating on him in their brand new custom home, I can’t say I thought much of her. Ya, I judged her. Sorry, not sorry. Getting inside her head allowed me to understand her reasoning even if it was thin and flimsy. Dave is not such a bad character, but Tara had no redeeming qualities for me. She cheated on her husband, and later under serious stress makes some poor choices, while pregnant. I realize it’s a fictional story but that really ground my gears.

Don’t underestimate the power of dialogue.

The story didn’t have enough dialogue between characters to keep me entertained. The story didn’t get exciting until about the 45% mark, and part of what helped at that point was a slight increase in the amount of character interaction. The beginning of the story shifts between what happened, and the history of how Dave and Tara got together. This method usually works well in books but in this case it irritated me. I felt that it fell flat because the characters were musing on inside their own heads for much too long. It carried on and on and it made me put the book down for a few days.

This story missed the mark just a little bit. A little more interaction between characters would have helped keep things interesting. The intense character interactions didn’t really occur until about 70% and it was just a little too late by then.

Wow, this is a brilliant debut novel from S D Monaghan. Tense and claustrophobic, once you start reading this you won’t be able to stop.

David and Tara have it all. Tara has made a fortune from her paintings and they have just completed building work on a luxury new home in a prestigious part of town. David is riding high, a man who originated from the local estate; he sometimes can’t believe his luck that he managed to escape. But in the opening pages of the book he discovers that his pregnant wife, Tara has slept with her former boyfriend, Ryan, the man who has helped to build their home. David’s world is torn apart and one wrong move on his part leads to devastating consequences for them all. Is everything David and Tara worked for about to come to a crushing end?

Once I started reading this book I couldn’t stop. The opening pages had me gripped and I was desperate to know how David was going to get himself out of the situation he now found him in. What follows is a twisty ride as David and Tara’s world begins to spiral out of control. There were some really tense scenes in this book, the tension was heightened by the fact that Tara was pregnant as well and there was that fear that she could lose the baby.

S D Monaghan character’s kept me gripped throughout the novel. There were times when I struggled to like both David and Tara but they were both really intriguing characters. I was interested to learn about their background, particularly as Tara was once David’s student and it made for gripping reading to learn how they met and how this subsequently blossomed into a relationship. I also found David’s background interesting, particularly as he had come from a deprived area and had managed to escape.

A really good debut from S D Monaghan, he’s a writer that I will be keeping an eye on. Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the advance reading copy and to Noelle Holton for the place on the blog tour.

The Accident S.D. Monaghan


That knee-jerk reaction that changes your life.

How many people have got up in the morning with a completely innocent life behind them, and then walked into a situation which has made them lash out.

One fight, one punch, one totally unexpected outcome, and everything changes.

University Lecturer Dave, and his pretty wife Tara, are about to move into their dream home, a million pound plus refurb on an exclusive street.

The day before they move in Dave goes for one last look at the house and sees his wife sneaking out and kissing Ryan, the head builder.

When Dave sneaks into the house and finds a pair of his wife’s panties, a used condom, a wet tissue and a guilty looking Ryan in an upstairs room he snaps.

During a short fight and Ryan falls through an open French window and falls three floors into the pit dug for foundations of an ornament in the back garden.

As Dave runs to see if Ryan is dead he gets hit on the head and loses consciousness. When he comes around the next morning, the pit is filled and the patio and ornament are laid. There is no sign of Ryan.

Has he woken up and run off? Dave thinks he may have misjudged the injuries and that Ryan has disappeared.

Then the blackmail starts. Somebody saw what happened and wants to ruin Dave.

Is everything as it seems? Why are the Police interested in Ryan for other reasons than his wife has reported him missing? what else is he involved in?

All of this in the first 40 or so pages and what follows is a good story with some interesting twists along the way.

But as good as this story is, it is a bit slow and ponderous. This is not a fast-paced thriller, along the lines of most modern crime fiction, more of a Mid Summers Murder paced plod.

This book started out fantastic and I had high hopes for it. The premise is really interesting and the characters get themselves into a mess right away making the reader want to know more. I enjoyed this book until about two thirds of the way through it and then I mostly lost interest in the things that were happening because it kept repeating the same thoughts and ideas.

I stuck with it and finished it, but by the end, I wasn't excited enough to care much about what happened to the characters. The plot was twisty in places, and the writing wasn't bad, but it just wasn't what I was hoping it would turn out to be. I still enjoyed the beginning a lot.

Overall this was an okay read, but there were some things I didn't love.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

This was a pretty good story. David and Tara seemed like a mismatched couple who both harbored insecurites within themselves and their relationship. All of the characters were all pretty unlikeable, so I didn't feel any empathy for any of them. I did like the plot twist at the end but it seemed a little rushed. All in all, a good story for fans of psychologial thrillers.

The story starts out with a bang! David is in front of their newly completed home when he sees his wife Tara kissing another man! He is hiding in his BMW so he is not seen by them. The scenario gets very interesting when he confronts the man after his wife drives away! David loses his temper and does something that could cause him to lose everything!

I liked how the story evolved around the accident that occurred and the events that evolved. The story became a bit frantic and rushed for me. The second half seemed to take a wild direction and I didn't think what happened to their pet was necessary (for me). I wanted a less sensational conclusion because it was just not believable to me. I did enjoy the fast pace and suspense and I'm sure many will enjoy the twists and the darker moments that evolved! I was not expecting the twist that occurred. Having a faster pace, this one may be able to hold your interest!

This book wasn't interesting to me at all. I actually stopped reading after a few chapters, and skipped to the end to see how it ended. It seemed like it you were interested in the book, the ending would be pretty good, but it just wasn't my cup of tea, I guess. I got turned off when there started to be blackmailing and didn't like either main characters by that point, either. So, overall, not for me, but I'm sure some people will like it!

What an introduction to keep you enthralled. I was thrown straight into a seductive story of a husband being at the wrong place at the wrong time. If only he had gone about his usual routine instead…

Tara and David have just built their “forever” home to raise their unborn baby in. Tara is an artist who has funded this extravagant house build and also allows David to follow his passion of being a lowly paid historian. Tara, being ten years younger than David, decides to have one last blow-out before she 100% settles down with the rest of her life. She ends up sleeping with one of the builders on the job who also happens to be her ex-boyfriend. Unbeknownst to Tara, David actually catches them out with their dirty little secret. So what should have just been a one-night stand ends up going horribly wrong.

The Accident is a tale full of secrets which I read swiftly. This story is a classic case of “I did not see that coming”. I was mesmerised with the baddies and really felt for Tara and David as they desperately try to find their way out of what can only be described as a big black hole.

The dialogue is lifelike and the relationships involved in the novel are realistic, although I would have preferred a different ending. Can’t quite put my finger on what though, but just something a little bit more believable. When I have figured it out then perhaps I will update this review! This story for me is a 3.5 star read upgraded to 4 as it was entertaining, and I think many people would enjoy the dark events that take place.

I have a feeling that we will be seeing more from S. D. Monaghan in the future.

Thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for supplying me with an advanced copy to read in return for a review.

Copies of the book are available to download on Amazon for 99p from the 1st September.

My final word: Gutsy.