Editorial Content for Accidents Happen and Other Stories
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
The author of this wonderful collection of short stories may not be familiar to most U.S. readers, but that very well could change. F.H. Batacan is a Filipino journalist, musician and crime fiction writer currently based in Singapore. She won the prestigious Philippine National Book Award for her debut novel, SMALLER AND SMALLER CIRCLES.
ACCIDENTS HAPPEN does not have a single forgettable moment, and Batacan proves that she has complete mastery of the written word. Here are four stories that especially resonated with me. Read More
Teaser
In ACCIDENTS HAPPEN, F.H. Batacan explores the darkest corners of human experience, depicting with pitch-black humor the systems of class and politics that her characters are trapped in and the moments of violence that can shatter their lives. In particular, Batacan shines an unsparing light on the epidemic of violence against women in the Philippines. When a wealthy politician’s 12-year-old son disappears, the family’s driver witnesses the aftermath. A field investigator for the World Health Organization travels the globe giving presentations about a biomedical enzyme that will lead to the extinction of the human race. And Father Augusto Saenz, the Jesuit priest and forensic anthropologist from SMALLER AND SMALLER CIRCLES, returns to investigate the murder of a woman whose secretive life holds the key to her death.
Promo
In ACCIDENTS HAPPEN, F.H. Batacan explores the darkest corners of human experience, depicting with pitch-black humor the systems of class and politics that her characters are trapped in and the moments of violence that can shatter their lives. In particular, Batacan shines an unsparing light on the epidemic of violence against women in the Philippines. When a wealthy politician’s 12-year-old son disappears, the family’s driver witnesses the aftermath. A field investigator for the World Health Organization travels the globe giving presentations about a biomedical enzyme that will lead to the extinction of the human race. And Father Augusto Saenz, the Jesuit priest and forensic anthropologist from SMALLER AND SMALLER CIRCLES, returns to investigate the murder of a woman whose secretive life holds the key to her death.
About the Book
From the master of Filipino crime fiction, a genre-bending collection that documents murders, disappearances, and acts of violence in stories that range from procedural crime to horror to near-future noir.
F.H. Batacan’s first novel, SMALLER AND SMALLER CIRCLES, was an instant classic when it was published in 1999, a masterpiece of Filipino crime fiction that won the Philippine National Book Award. In this extraordinary and far-ranging story collection, she explores the darkest corners of human experience, depicting with pitch-black humor the systems of class and politics that her characters are trapped in and the moments of violence --- accidental or otherwise --- that can, at any moment, shatter their lives. In particular, Batacan shines an unsparing light on the epidemic of violence against women in the Philippines.
When a wealthy politician’s 12-year-old son disappears, the family’s driver witnesses the aftermath. A field investigator for the World Health Organization travels the globe giving presentations about a biomedical enzyme that will lead to the extinction of the human race. And Father Augusto Saenz, the Jesuit priest and forensic anthropologist from SMALLER AND SMALL CIRCLES, returns to investigate the murder of a woman whose secretive life holds the key to her death.
Sure to confirm Batacan’s status as a crime writer of global status, ACCIDENTS HAPPEN is a relentless exploration of worlds where the smallest moments are infused with life and vibrating with menace, and death is always close at hand.
Audiobook available, read by Diana Bustelo
March 21, 2025
Now that spring is here, I am waiting for the buds to appear on the trees. There will be a day soon when the palette outside turns from brown and gray to green. Note: I am not sure why they are talking about the possibility of SNOW on Sunday. I thought we were beyond thinking white.
I also am perusing MARTHA STEWART'S GARDENING HANDBOOK, which came out this week, for ideas for planting. We are moving two big hydrangea bushes, and I am contemplating what goes into those slots.
March 18, 2025
In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of March 17th and March 24th that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers, along with Bonus News, where we call out a contest, feature or review that we want to let you know about so you have it on your radar.
This week, we are calling attention to our current Word of Mouth contest. Let us know by Friday, March 28th at noon ET what books you’ve read, and you’ll have a chance to win BROKEN COUNTRY by Clare Leslie Hall (the Reese's Book Club pick and Barnes & Noble Book Club selection for March, as well as an upcoming Bookreporter.com Bets On title) and THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND by Patti Callahan Henry.
March 18, 2025
This Bookreporter.com Special Newsletter spotlights a book that we know people will be talking about this spring. Read more about it, and enter our Spring Reading Contest by Wednesday, March 19th at noon ET for a chance to win one of five copies of DAUGHTER OF MINE by Megan Miranda, a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick that is now available in paperback. Please note that each contest is only open for 24 hours, so you will need to act quickly!