The Accident Man Book

The Accident Man has been on my TBR for the longest time and I am so glad that I have finally read it. Samuel Carver is another great character to add to my list of favourite assassins and I can't wait to read about him again. This book is a thriller in every sense of the word and I have not been able to get enough of it whilst reading it today.

The Accident Man takes one of the world's most memorable events, the death of Princess Diana and looks at the hypothetical question of what if? What if she had actually been assassinated? Who could have authorised it? And why? Those are the questions posed here as Samuel Carver finds himself tasked with killing a supposed terrorist in a Paris underpass only to then find out that he has killed somebody entirely different. I have to say this is the first book of this type I have read that's took something as famous as this and turned it into a story but, having finished it, I felt it was scarily plausible and it was definitely a thought-provoking and intriguing read. Not only that but what's the future going to look like for Samuel Carver? I am already itching to read the next book and find out.

Tom Cain is a brilliant writer and the pace of this book doesn't let up for a second, taking place across just a few days and so events unfold in what feels almost like real time. There's a sense of authenticity when reading about things like guns and having seen some of Tom's tweets on Twitter this is a subject he knows well. Samuel Carver is a well-imagined character, reminiscent at times of Victor the assassin however Carver is less of a closed book and more willing to get involved with members of the public, however after the events of this book I'm not sure whether that will be the case anymore.

Now, what would a thriller be without it's macho lead male having a beautiful female companion who he just so happens to fall into bed with? Well, there wouldn't be a thriller without that would there and here we have a Russian named Alix Petrova who accompanies Carver on his search for answers. You know sometimes I wish we could have a thriller with a gay male character as it's lead or one who is asexual. There's something cliched and predictable about these male/female partnerships and whilst I absolutely adored Alix as a character, it was annoying at times to see Carver being led by his dick rather than his brain. Then again had he not done that then we wouldn't have had much of a story near the end of the book. So I suppose my problem isn't with the author but more the way this genre just has to have this partnership in almost every book. But, every genre has its cliches, for example ever met a macho gay character in a Women's Fiction novel? Nope, me neither.

I was expecting The Accident Man to take me a day or so to read but once I got into it I just couldn't put my Kindle down and had it read in just a few hours. There's a huge cast of characters here and the story plays out in various countries around the world but I had no trouble following what I was reading. Carver faces danger from multiple organisations around the world and I had no idea of what the final outcome would be to his story to find answers into why he was tasked with this assassination. There's plenty of twists along the way to catch you off guard and it all leads to an exhilarating finale. The closing chapters of the story were extremely tense and the ending was a truly satisfying one that will leave every reader desperate for more from this fantastic author and character and I certainly cannot wait to get started on the next book in the series. If Victor is my favourite assassin then Samuel Carver isn't far behind. Highly recommended for those who are yet to discover this series.