Kate Parker is living a stressful life, and most of the stress is generated inside her own head. She's obsessed with statistics--two glasses of wine lower your risk of a heart attack, but three increase you chances of cancer, 85% of bicycle casualties involve riders not wearing helmets, etc. She governs her own life by the pursuit of the greatest possible safety, and does the same with her eleven-year-old son, Jack.

There's a reason for her anxiety, and her desperate attempts to keep her son and herself perfectly safe. On her wedding night, her parents died in a bizarre accident, killed when the taxi taking them home, driving on a dark road, hit a dead elk who had been shot by a poacher and then stumbled off to die in the road. Six years later, her beloved husband Hugo is killed by a gang of young toughs out to steal his expensive new sports car. It's all too much, and Kate is fighting fate to keep her son safe. To that end, she moved from London to Oxford, to be near her in-laws, so that they could help with Jack.

But her in-laws are increasingly worried by the effects of her paranoia on Jack. And when she starts finding small things missing, or says she does, and hearing strange noises, everyone knows it's Kate's anxiety kicking into overdrive.

Even Kate knows this.

But even paranoids have real enemies, and something is not right.

The exploration of Kate's anxiety, her struggles to overcome it, and the complex and treacherous emotional relations among Kate and Jack, her parents-in-law Richard and Helen, and sister-in-law Saskia are absorbing and convincing. The riddle of what's really going on, and the roots of the family troubles is also extremely well done, intriguing and not at all obvious. I was mentally on the edge of my seat all the way to the end.

Recommended.

I received a free electronic galley from the publisher via NetGalley. ( )

Entertaining to read, but somewhat predictable. ( )

In Accidents Happen by Louise Millar, Kate Parker is a woman under siege. After her parents were killed in a freak accident on her wedding night and her husband was brutally murdered five years later, Kate, understandably, is concerned about accidents happening. She just wants to keep herself and her 10 year old son safe. As she also battles depression, Kate obsessively has the statistics concerning the frequency and circumstances of various accidents happening running through her head. But not only is Kate suffering from her constant worrying, so is her son, Jack. It appears that her in-laws are concerned enough about her actions that they might soon try to take her son from her.

Then Kate meets Jago Martin, a mathematics professor who has written a book about the odds of everything. Kate is immediately drawn to the handsome statistician, who challenges her to stop thinking about the odds and just enjoy life. He begins to set up a series of challenges aimed at helping her do just that. In the meantime, unknown to Kate, there is some real cause for alarm with the creepy neighbor next door who is watching her every move.

Set in Oxford, England, Accidents Happen is a psychological thriller with an original premise. Kate's obsession with the odds of various accidents happening is believable. As the story unfolds, Millar slowly provides additional information and widens the picture to reveal more and more of what is really happening. The beginning did start out slow for me, but the suspense continued to slowly build with each chapter until the nail-biting end when the plot twist is revealed.

I thoroughly enjoyed Accidents Happen, but it did require accepting some improbabilities and just going with the story. Specifically, I had to accept that Kate's immediate attraction to Jago would be strong enough that she would disregard common sense and go along with his suggestions and schemes. It just didn't seem plausible that a woman filled with such overwhelming anxiety could suddenly dismiss it along with common sense after a few words with a stranger.

Setting Kate's immediate acceptance of Jago aside, though, the ending came as a total surprise and made reading Accidents Happen an exciting, worthwhile summer suspense read.

Highly Recommended


Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Simon and Shuster via Edelweiss for review purposes. ( )

Accidents Happen by Louise Millar, a chilling psychological twisted thriller of obsession and paranoia; where not everything is as it seems.

Set in Oxford, Kate Parker has suffered loss, two tragedies—her parents and her husband, resulting in serious disturbing emotional issues grasping for sanity: severe anxiety, depression, OCD, paranoia, and extremely obsessed with keeping herself and her ten year old son, Jack safe from harm’s way. She feels she is doomed and cursed. Her worries trickle down to her son, and her wealthy in-laws are concerned, as well and worried they may need to remove the son away from this unhealthy environment.

Enter, Jago Martin, charismatic statistician, an author of a book about odds and statistics. With statistics running through Kate’s head 24/7, she is intrigued. Handsome and alluring, she is drawn to him, and he encourages her to quit putting so much emphasis on the odds and enjoy life – chill and take risks. Little does she know, the creep neighbor Magnus is the one to watch, or is he? Kate begins to doubt everything, heightening the intensity for a nail-biting ending when the twist is revealed.

Jago, the professor is like a drink of water for Kate, and offers Kate hope for the first time. However, is he who he seems to be? As you are reading, you never know who to trust. The novel is complex and the author gives you just enough as the novel unfolds and a little shocking at why this woman would even think of listening to a stranger.

Are her fears justified or is it all in her head? With her disorder threatening the custody of her ten-year-old son, Kate throws caution to the wind when she meets the handsome Jago, a professor who offers her a possible cure through an experimental approach. What Kate discovers during the experiment could endanger her family far more than her anxiety disorder ever could.

Cannot offer too much as do not want to give away the good parts; however, the novel offers many twists and turns with a false sense of security. You sympathize with Kate’s issues and character (and at times, frustrating), but the flip flopping of her behavior, seemed unbelievable.

Was not completely invested in some parts of the novel which seemed a little out there and unrealistic, leaving somewhat of a distant feeling about half way through the novel; had the same feeling with her other book, Playdate. Looking forward to reading The Hidden Girl to see how it turns out.


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It did not take long before I was totally INTO this book---it was very hard to put it down and go do what I needed to do. And, I kept thinking that of course I was figuring out what would happen but it is a terrific book to read---the mystery continues right into the last pages. I think Millar built what was happening beautifully---you are questioning and doubting several things along the way. ( )