Suspense Magazine's Reviews > Blind Luck

If you were lucky, really lucky, would you know it? Not the kind of luck we all feel we find every now and then, such as catching all green lights on the way to work. Rather the type of luck when you just can’t lose, at anything, day after day. Would you notice it, or would it be like everything else good in life, we just start to take it all for granted? This is the basic underlying premise of Scott Carter’s outstanding debut novel, “Blind Luck”.
Dave Bolden is an unassuming type of guy. He’s your typical cube rat in your typical dead end job. One morning, suffering a hangover after a night of drinking, his entire world changes. He is left the lone survivor of his tiny company after a truck crashes through the building front. He is left with the questions one would expect, such as “why was I spared?” He comes to view his survival as a curse, instead of the good luck it was.
Somebody else, however, doesn’t see it that way. In walks Grayson, assistant to a wealthy man, Mr. Thorrin, who views Dave as lucky in everything in life. From that point on Thorrin hires Dave to test his luck in one twisted game after another. All the while, he is falling in love with Grayson’s sister, who is the polar opposite of Dave.
Scott Carter has delivered a wonderful debut novel, one that is fresh and original. The book weaves between what is happening and flashbacks in Dave’s life that shows how lucky he is. The flashbacks are done in such a way that we can see why Dave doesn’t view himself as lucky. These segments add a depth to the tale and a nice backing to make his non-belief in his luck that much more understandable. The book moves quick, is incredibly well written and exciting in a subtle way. I highly recommend this one.
Reviewed by Carl Isonhart for Suspense Magazine