Page turner, thriller that you can't put down

Two years ago I read "The Expats" by Chris Pavone, his first novel. I may have written about it on this blog. It was good: some seemingly everyday people who were actually operatives in a CIA-like organization that took time away from their ordinary lives raising kids, buying groceries, etc, to kill people when the need arose.  The premise was incredibly far-fetched but Pavone made it work and the result was a fast-paced thriller that tossed surprises at the reader like lighted matches at a pile of paper.

Now Pavone's second novel has arrived: "The Accident."  It's even more of an off-beat, page-turning thriller with a cast of characters that grows until you can't remember who is important but it doesn't matter because a lot of them get killed off along the way.  (Don't worry, no spoiler alert there.)  A manuscript that will ruin a prominent media mogul (think Ted Turner times 100) falls into the hands of a book publisher/agent and the fun begins.  Someone wants the book published, many people want it to vanish.  Powerful people will do anything to keep it quiet, including murdering anyone who has seen or read even a part of it. 
Give up remembering who is who; there are maybe four characters that stay the course and are the backbone of the book. Seriously, it's like popcorn, you can't stop reading it. You'll get through it in two days if there is nothing good on TV to watch.  Don't buy it, once you read it you'll never read it again, so borrow it from the library (or from some fool who did actually purchase it) and enjoy it like you would enjoy a pint of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia, late at night, with one spoon.  It's that delicious and that wrong.  All calories, no substance but so enjoyable while it lasts.  It's how I spent my Friday evening and Saturday afternoon and it was much, much better than a date, blind or otherwise. 

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