Tag Archives: Car Accident

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for car accidents involving motor vehicles and hit-and-runs with bicycles and pedestrians.

See also Train accidents, Drug abuse & use, and Alcohol consumption & abuse.

You’ve Found Oliver by Dustin Thao

It’s been a year since his best friend, Sam, died. Even though Oliver knows he won’t get a response, he can’t stop texting Sam’s number, especially as the anniversary of his death approaches. Then one day he accidentally hits the call button, and someone picks up. The voice on the other end isn’t Sam—Sam’s number was reassigned and a stranger has been reading Oliver’s private and vulnerable messages for months. But Ben, an astronomy student in Seattle, won’t remain a stranger for long.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse mentioned (secondary character)
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Grief & loss depiction (theme)
  • Death of a friend in a car accident

The Keep by Jennifer Egan

Two cousins, irreversibly damaged by a childhood prank, reunite twenty years later to renovate a medieval castle in Eastern Europe. In an environment of extreme paranoia, cut off from the outside world, the men reenact the signal event of their youth, with even more catastrophic results. And as the full horror of their predicament unfolds, a prisoner, in jail for an unnamed crime, recounts an unforgettable story that seamlessly brings the crimes of the past and present into piercing relation.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Sexual assault & harassment
  • Alcohol consumption & drug use
  • Death of a child
  • Police violence
  • Car accident
  • Bullying

The Vacation by John Marrs

Venice Beach, Los Angeles. A paradise on earth. Tourists flock to the golden coast and the promise of Hollywood. But for eight strangers at a beach-front hostel, there is far more on their minds than an extended vacation. All of them are running from something. And they all have secrets they’d kill to keep…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Child abuse
  • Rape & voyeurism
  • Drug use, overdose & drugging
  • Cancer & terminal stroke
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder by stabbing
  • Stalking
  • Car accident

Single Malt by Layla Reyne

FBI agent Aidan “Irish” Talley had it all until a harrowing car crash left him with a heap of survivor’s guilt and a hole in his heart where his happily ever after used to be. Aiming to fill the void, he returns to work—and to a new partner. Charming, smart, and athletic, Jamie is the last thing Aidan’s bruised heart needs. Cyber agent Jameson “Whiskey” Walker joined the Bureau three years ago and has pined for Aidan ever since. Working with the Irish expat is a fantasy and a challenge, one Jamie intends to win by earning the surly older agent’s trust and respect. Except there’s no time… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Child physical & sexual abuse and stalking by a foster parent mentioned (secondary character)
  • Infidelity mentioned (secondary character)
  • Child trafficking mentioned
  • Early On-Set Alzheimer’s Disease mentioned (secondary character)
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Spouse with terminal cancer mentioned (secondary character)
  • Death of a brother in an Irish Republican Army (IRA) car bombing recounted
  • Death of a father in a factory fire recounted
  • Graphic hit-and-run car accident as attempted murder, resulting in hospitalisation for coma & head injuries and death of the protagonist’s husband & working partner
  • Bioterrorism discussed

The Last Drop by Layla Reyne

Three restaurants, three flops. Chef Gregory Valteau doesn’t want to believe it’s a sign, but his culinary future in New Orleans looks bleak. Until he meets a handsome hipster with all the right moves, behind the bar and in bed. Gone the next morning, the sexy bartender leaves Greg inspired and wanting more—of him and his creative cocktails. Anthony Monaco has spent five years on the go, but a steamy NOLA night with a sexy chef has Tony aching for a return trip to the Big Easy. When Greg offers him the chance to help launch a new gastropub, Tony can’t turn it down. But six weeks… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcoholism
  • Death of a parent
  • Car accident

Meet Me in the Middle by Alex Light

Eden had her best friend Katie—she didn’t need anyone else. But then there was Truman. Katie’s older brother, the artist. The recluse. The boy with the innocent smile and the dangerous eyes. Eden had never really known Truman—not until the night of Katie’s accident. That was the night they’d finally let each other into their orbits—only to have the sky come crashing down on them. With Katie in the hospital and Truman fleeing from his grief without a word, Eden is left alone to grapple with her own pain. But when Truman returns to the city, can Eden let him back into her life knowing that their first kiss is what tore their world apart?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Secondary character in a coma after a hit-and-run, drunk-driving car accident

Sparrow by Sarah Moon

Sparrow has always had a difficult time making friends. She would always rather have stayed home on the weekends with her mother, an affluent IT Executive at a Brooklyn bank, reading, or watching the birds, than playing with other kids. And that’s made school a lonely experience for her. It’s made LIFE a lonely experience. But when the one teacher who really understood her — Mrs. Wexler, the school librarian, a woman who let her eat her lunch in the library office rather than hide in a bathroom stall, a woman who shared her passion for novels and knew just the ones she’d love… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Protagonist with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD)
  • Psychiatric hospitalisation for attempted suicide by fall discussed
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a teacher in a car accident discussed

You’ll Never Know by Caleb Stephens

Grant Wilson has never been happier. He has a wife he loves, a home in the country, and a brand-new baby on the way. But all of that shatters when two masked men abduct his wife, Avery, in broad daylight. The instructions Grant receives are bizarre: If he wants Avery back, he must solve a series of riddles that arrive one after another—and the clock is ticking. With every piece of the puzzle more outrageous and complex than the last, Grant knows he’s playing a dangerous game. But he’s determined to do whatever it takes to save Avery’s life … even if it kills him.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Domestic violence
  • Suicide
  • Abortion mentioned
  • Heart attack mentioned
  • Death of a child & partner
  • Gun violence
  • Fatal car accident
  • Kidnapping of a pregnant wife (theme)

Dead in the Water by John Marrs

When Damon survives a near-drowning, his life flashes before his eyes. Every memory is crystal clear—except one. A dead boy. A face he can’t place. A moment he doesn’t remember living. At first he tells himself it’s a trick of the mind. But everything else he saw was real. So why not this? With his waking life stalked by the disturbing scene, confusion quickly turns to obsession. Desperate for answers, Damon digs into his fractured past, and becomes convinced that the only way to remember…is to die again. And again. And again. When he meets a perfect stranger who’s all too… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse mentioned
  • Suicide & suicidal ideation
  • Depression mentioned
  • Abortion mentioned
  • Death of a child
  • Fatal hit-and-run car accident
  • Near-drowning incident

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker

Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner, washing away the remains of brutal murders and suicides in Chinatown. The bloody messes don’t bother her, not when she’s already witnessed the most horrific thing possible: her sister being pushed in front of a train. Before fleeing the scene, the murderer whispered two words: bat eater. Months pass, the killer is never caught, and Cora can barely keep herself together. She pushes away all feelings, disregards the bite marks that appear on her coffee table, and won’t take her aunt’s advice to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Graphic racist & anti-Asian hate crimes
  • Parental abandonment & nglect
  • Health anxiety & intrusive thoughts
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & gore dpeiction and body horror
  • COVID-19 pandemic
  • Murder
  • Police brutality mentioned
  • Gun violence
  • Car accient
  • Fire
  • Animal cruelty & dead bodies