An Accidental Light-Elizabeth Diamond

An Accidental Light
Elizabeth Diamond
Other Press,
ISBN: 9781590513019
2 Park Ave, 24th Floor, NY, NY 10016

As it was starting to get dark police officer Jack Philips is driving home when thirteen years old Laura Jenkins runs out of the blue into the road from behind a bus. He has no time to break and kills her. Although the inquest exonerates Jack, he cannot forgive himself as he goes over each second of the tragedy wondering what he could have done different; perhaps turning on his headlights. He remains traumatized as he sees Laura everywhere. He fears for his two daughters and thinks of his mom’s suicide when he was a teen. Unable to work Jack goes on medical leave and unable to talk to his wife Samantha his marriage crumbles.

Laura’s mother Lisa is as depressed as Jack is and ties her daughter’s accidental death to the heart attack that killed her father when she was about Laura’s age. Like Jack she sees Laura everywhere. She turns to psychics as she feels her daughter’s ghost is trying to reach her. Her spouse Derek ignores his wife’s pain. Instead he stalks his daughter’s killer. Jack wonders if the unhinged man is considering an eye for an eye while also pondering whether the teen’s ghost is real and trying to tell him something.

The key to the psychological ghost story is the aftermath on two families sharing an accidental tragedy. Both families deteriorate following the death of Laura although Sam and Derek are never developed beyond the roles of spouse and parent; on the other hand Jack and Lisa are full blooded grieving parents with similar past histories. Fans will wonder if Laura is actually there and if yes, why as Elizabeth Diamond provides a deep family drama that mixes the paranormal with the psychological.

Harriet Klausner