Bantam Books (Paperback), ISBN 0-553-557869-3
Every once in a great while, I receive a book to review that just grabs my total and complete attention and refuses to let me go until I reach the final page -- and then it leaves me hungering for more to read from that author. The Next Accident did exactly that with its a thrill-a-minute plot, enough twists and turns to qualify it for a world-class maze, and characters so totally realized that I cheered for and worried about them long after I finished the book.

FBI Special Agent Pierce Quincy's oldest daughter has, perhaps, fallen prey to a sadistic killer, one that seems bent on destroying everyone Quincy loves -- and each death looks accidental. Needing help, Quincy travels to Oregon to hire cop turned P.I. Rainie Connor to discover the truth about the too lengthy string of accidental deaths. The two worked in tandem before -- both professionally and personally. The resulting excitement and trust remain, but the killer's rampage strains both. Pierce's friends in the Bureau consider the "accidents" afflicting all his loved ones nothing more than coincidental. Pierce knows better, but can he prove it before his remaining daughter and Rainie meet with their own fatal accidents?

I raced through this book, reading faster and faster, even as I tried to read slower so that I could make it last just a little bit longer. I followed all the blind alleys, the wrong clues, and I didn't see how Gardner would bring it all to a satisfactory conclusion.

To say any more would qualify as a spoiler, and this book deserves reading, not spoiling. Talk about a red-hot summer read, wow! Grab it and give yourself a treat.

Patricia Lucas White

Patricia Lucas White's latest historical novel, To Last a Lifetime, was an Eppie finalist for 2003. To Last a Lifetime and two of her fantasy romances, the Sapphire Award-winning A Wizard Scorned and The Godmother Sanction, can be ordered through Hard Shell Word Factory. Her recent contemporary, PS, I've Taken a Lover, is available from Lionhearted Books.

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