The Day of the Accident

The past is gone. But the truth won't stay buried.

Lucy wakes each morning with no memory of the day before. Her life is a blank slate—except for what her husband, Mark, tells her. But something doesn’t add up. Slivers of memory begin to return, revealing contradictions, questions, and an unsettling feeling that she’s not being told the whole story.

As Lucy pieces together fragments of her past, the facade begins to crumble. Who can she trust when she can’t even trust her own mind? And what really happened on the day of the accident?

A tense and haunting psychological thriller, The Day of the Accident by Daniel Alan explores the fine line between memory and manipulation.

Start reading The Day of the Accident today and uncover the truth for yourself.

Excerpt from the book

Day 1

Mark sat behind the wheel of his black Volvo and stared intently out of the window. The sky was grey, and dull, leaving behind a murky haze across the landscape. Condensation frequently rose over the windscreen, causing Mark to blast hot air around the car. It was days like this that left you feeling miserable and melancholy, except today. Mark felt excited, and eager. What he was about to do sounded crazy. No rational person would sit in a car, waiting to carry out such a heinous task. Yet, he was neither crazy nor irrational. He had thought long and hard about what he needed to do and concluded that there was no other way. Under normal circumstances, he would never consider himself to be a jealous man, or even a violent one, but something about Lucy drove him wild.

Ever since he was a teenager, seeing Lucy at school every day, then at college, clouded his judgement. He could not stop thinking about her, and her face, her lips, along with her smile, filled his thoughts. Mark had asked her to go out with him on several occasions, and each time Lucy had rejected his advances. He recalled that first rejection, which had left him heartbroken. Who did Lucy think she was?

‘Mark, you’re just not my type,’ she would say, flashing her long eyelashes at him. Lucy was a popular girl all through her education; everyone loved her, and he was just the good friend who helped her with homework. Mark resented that, and worse, he resented Lucy’s rejections.

After leaving college a few years ago, Mark rarely saw Lucy, but he never forgot her. She was the love of his life, and one day they would be together. She may not have realised it in school, but now she was an adult, she would see him as the perfect man. He had worked on his appearance, joined a gym, and now wore contacts to give him intense blue eyes. All Lucy saw was the spotty kid from school, and when Mark bumped into her, he cringed at the sight of David. David was also someone he had known from school, and he was full of himself. Why was Lucy with David? When Mark saw them together his blood boiled, and his rage grew. If he could not have Lucy, then no one could.

Mark had watched Lucy and David leave the coffee shop on several occasions, David’s arm wrapped tightly around Lucy’s waist, and Mark gritted his teeth, knowing he should be the one squeezing her tightly. He should be the one spending time with her, not that arrogant David.

Throughout the weeks, Mark had grown more and more frustrated, each time he saw Lucy and David together, he felt his rage building. Something had to be done, and finally he had decided, ready to execute his plan.

Rain started to gently touch the windscreen, the wipers squeaking against the glass, and Mark smiled to himself. Today was a perfect day to commit murder, and he felt a buzz of excitement as he watched the blue car that Lucy drove pull out into the road. Gently merging with the traffic, Mark followed, keeping his distance. He was fuming, trying not to think about Lucy and David, laughing, and giggling, Lucy reaching out and gently touching David’s hand. No! It should be his hand she was touching. Why can’t Lucy see that? Mark had one purpose. If he could not have her, then no one else could, not after today.