What would you do if your future were dependent on the outcome of one bad decision, made in an emotional moment, that couldn't be undone? 

That is the question facing David, a college professor who is about to move into his custom home fashioned by himself and his artist wife Tara. The beautiful Tara is also pregnant, so the couple are living the dream. 

Only the dream has become a nightmare. 

On the night before they move into their dream house, David stops by to check in one last time, to see the blank canvas of his future before him. But what he sees is a pair of black panties on the floor, and he knows that they belong to his wife. They clearly weren't removed for him, so David is infuriated to find out that it was for his builder, Ryan. 

After Tara leaves, too occupied to notice him or his car in the dark, David confronts Ryan, pushing him backwards to convey his anger with the builder. Only, Ryan didn't finish the job. The railing that David had repeatedly asked him to put up on the balcony hadn't been done yet. And when Ryan tumbles down to the ground, David feels his perfect life slipping away. 

And the everything goes black. 

When David wakes up the next morning, no one seems the wiser. Ryan's body is gone, so David thinks that Ryan got up and took himself to the hospital. But when David learns the truth of what happened after that terrible accident, he realizes that his nightmare is only beginning.

S.D. Monaghan's twisty psychological thriller grabs you from the beginning and takes you on a crazy ride. Like any great roller coaster, it takes you way up high to start, drops you down fast, mellows out in the middle to let you catch your breath, and then saves the biggest surprises for the end. And The Accident is worth the price of the ticket. 

Galleys for The Accident were provided by Bookouture through NetGalley.com, with many thanks.