Interesting premise but other than that, this really felt like an attempt to capitalize on that famous accident, especially as the release of the book’s English translation coincided with the 14th anniversary of the accident. Originally written in 2003, the focus of the story is on one of the remaining mysteries from the investigation into the crash – that a slow-moving car, described as being a white Fiat Uno, might have caused the accident. Told from the point of view of the Fiat Uno car driver, Cosse tries to present Lou as a character readers may be able to identify with and feel empathy for. Unfortunately the story came across as contrived. Lou’s overactive imagination, coupled with a lack of a friends/family support group produces escalating levels of guilt, paranoia and evasion of crime activities - all good elements for a page-turning thriller read - but Lou comes across as a weak character focused only on making her own escape, even to the detriment of her own relationship with her boyfriend and her work. It is that singular focus that I found so frustrating and alienating as a reader to accept. As for the ending, I found it to be a lame one that, sadly, is not outside of the realm of possibilities.

Overall, a rather disappointing read for what I had hoped would be an interesting suspense read. ( )

After the accident that killed Princess Diana, there were reports that a slow-moving white car might have been grazed by the car Diana was riding in, causing it to swerve and crash. This book creates a fictional driver for that car. Louise (Lou) is driving home from work that night when her white Fiat is side-swiped by Diana's car. For some reason, although she sees the crash in her rearview mirror, Lou keeps driving. Not until the next day does she see on the news the identity of the victims of that car crash. Not wanting to be known as "the girl who caused Diana's death", she decides not to come forward (there is no mention at first of the possible involvement of another car), and quickly arranges for repairs to her car. Unfortunately, Lou makes a series of increasingly more stupid decisions, and as a reader, I kept wanting to tell her to shape up and do the right thing. I felt some of Lou's decisions resulted in the book becoming rather unrealistic, although I thought its premise was initially a good one. ( )

Louise Origan, an ordinary French cafe worker with a live-in boyfriend, has a normal life until one evening when a fast-moving car collides with hers and crashes. She panics and flees the scene, at every moment wondering whether she should call the police and reveal her involvement. She’s still trying to work up the courage to turn herself in when she turns on the news the next day and learns that the occupants of the car that hit her were Princess Diana, her driver Henri Paul, and Dodi al Fayad, now deceased. Lou is determined to avoid the publicity and shame that would come with a confession so she attempts to act normal and cover her tracks.

Cosse’s book has a nice tension, flows well and pulls off a satisfying ending (at several points I was wondering if she’d be able to do that) as well as some surprises. I did feel a little disconnected from Lou’s predicament, perhaps because there’s not much about her character - usually just her reacting to situations. She’s not a horrible selfish person, just someone caught up in extraordinary circumstances. That’s clearly the point of the book but it ends up being mostly about Lou repressing her emotions, obsessing about the news, alienating her boyfriend Yvon and then mostly managing the logistics of her situation as it grows increasingly complicated. Lou’s fear of exposure comes across but it’s not so overwhelming that you don’t wonder about some of her actions - one in particular about ⅔ of the way through. A quick read though and I’d consider another of the author’s books. ( )