Kindle Price: $6.99

Save $9.00 (56%)

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs

Follow the author

Nick Arvin
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Reconstructionist: A Novel Kindle Edition

by Nick Arvin (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.2 3.2 out of 5 stars 35 ratings
Editors' pick Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
See all formats and editions

In a gripping novel of secrets and survival from an acclaimed, emerging literary voice, the collision between a budding forensic investigator, his tormented mentor, and the haunted woman who emerges from the wreckage of his past will have fateful results for all. 

At loose ends after college, Ellis Barstow drifts back to his hometown and a strange profession: reconstructing fatal traffic accidents. After meeting up with his half-brother’s high school girlfriend, Heather, he takes a job with her husband, John Boggs, a forensic reconstructionist specializing in fatal traffic accidents whose causes are unknown.

Ellis takes to the work naturally, becoming absorbed in the fascinating challenges of reclaiming the hidden truths behind seemingly random accidents. But Ellis is harboring secrets of his own—haunted by the fatal crash that killed his half-brother, Christopher. Boggs, in his exacting way, would argue that “accident” is the wrong word, that if two cars meeting at an intersection can be called an accident then anything can—where we live, what we do, even who we fall in love with. And for Ellis these things are certainly no accident.

And Ellis also harbors a second, more dangerous secret—one that threatens to blow apart the men’s lives and which leads to a frenzied race towards confrontation, reconciliation, and the unresolved mystery surrounding the accident that killed his brother.

Like an episode of CSI: The Midwest rewritten by Samuel Beckett, The Reconstructionist is a gripping novel of love, betrayal, and existential desperation.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    338 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Harper Perennial
  5. Publication date
    March 13, 2012
  6. File size
    832 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
Next page
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, March 2012: You wouldn't think that earning a pair of mechanical engineering degrees would lend itself to fine literature, but Nick Arvin is an exception: His thoughtful, offbeat, original sophomore novel, The Reconstructionist, has a caliber as unexpected as its author's. Antihero Ellis Barstow, whose half brother Christopher died young in a car crash, makes his living by conducting auto accident postmortems. He also loves his boss's wife, who--not coincidentally--was Christopher's high school girlfriend. It sounds complicated, but in the end all these likably flawed people are just trying to answer the same two questions: What happened? And whose fault was it? --Mia Lipman

Review

“The Reconstructionist becomes a contemplation of the broadest questions of life: How do we love one another? How do we survive the accidents of our lives? … Nick Arvin is an immensely gifted writer, and he has given us a thrilling, soulful book.” (David Wroblewski, author of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle )

“With precision prose, The Reconstructionist hurtles the reader at breakneck pace through a story of love and the collision physics of auto crashes....A materpiece of modern fiction.” (Cortright McMeel, author of Short )

“Suffused with sharp turns and minute, telling details that add up to a riveting consideration of risk and responsibility.” (Publishers Weekly )

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B005O08IO6
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Perennial (March 13, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 13, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 832 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 338 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.2 3.2 out of 5 stars 35 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Nick Arvin

Nick Arvin

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

3.2 out of 5 stars
3.2 out of 5
35 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Larry Hoffer
4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, compelling, and a little off-kilter...
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2012
Verified Purchase
As a child, Ellis Barstow and his older half-brother, Christopher, were obsessed with car accidents, which happened frequently near their house. Christopher's death in a car accident while he is in high school puts Ellis on an aimless course; although he gets a college degree in engineering, he drifts from one meaningless and unsatisfactory job to another. After a chance encounter with Heather, Christopher's old girlfriend, who tried to rescue him from the crash, Ellis goes to work for Heather's husband, John Boggs, as a forensic reconstructionist, investigating, analyzing, and recreating the details of fatal car accidents.

Ellis loves his job, because it allows him to try and make sense of seemingly nonsensical things, and understand how one single action can have a ripple effect on so many. But Ellis is also increasingly drawn to Heather, and when they begin an affair, Boggs disappears. As Ellis tries to find him, he revisits the scenes of accidents they reconstructed, trying to make sense of his own life, as he is driven to uncover the truth about the accident that killed his brother, knowing it may affect his relationship with Heather.

This book was fascinating, compelling, and a little off-kilter at times. I loved the story at the heart of the book, and found the work that Ellis and Boggs did to be tremendously interesting, even though there was a little more scientific detail than I needed. And as Ellis analyzed his relationships and his past, the book took a poignant turn. However, I felt that Ellis' search for Boggs dragged on far longer than it needed to. While I felt I understood Ellis' motivation to keep trying to find him, Boggs didn't really seem to be the person you thought he was, so the whole section of the book threw me off a bit. But I still found the book moving and thought-provoking, and that is a testament to Nick Arvin's exceptional story-telling ability.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Music!!!
3.0 out of 5 stars Good novel
Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2017
Verified Purchase
Overall, I liked the book. It's a little meandering, especially when Ellis is chasing Biggs. I skimmed some of those parts, but the theme of the book resonated with me.
Helpful
 Report
Chris Nicholls
4.0 out of 5 stars Austeresque
Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2012
Verified Purchase
It meanders a bit, and, like many novels, features characters who think and behave in ways that people never do in real life, but this is a nicely-turned story that explores its metaphor in careful and thoughtful depth.

Life is like a car crash. Or, rather, life wouldn't be like a car crash except that love makes it so.

The characters wander around consistently doing the opposite of what they ought and, ultimately, there is a climax and a resolution. It's a bit like an earlier Paul Auster novel, but perhaps without the innocent romanticism of, say, Moon Palace. We're nicely cushioned throughout by a suave prose style and a set of characters that we suspect we are about to start liking, if only they'd just ease off a little. There's also some decent car crash reconstruction background detail.

Definitely worth a read. Nice job.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Elliott Edelson
1.0 out of 5 stars Phht
Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2014
Verified Purchase
Poor plot idea. Did not like the main character. The ending was abrupt which left me hanging. I think it is a poor way to culminate a story.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Raphie C.
2.0 out of 5 stars A big disappointment
Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2013
Verified Purchase
When I read the synopsis of this book I thought I was in for an interesting story but I ended up being greatly disappointed. It started out well but went downhill after a few chapters. The characters are not that interesting and the storyline is not believable enough. I pushed through to finish it but I had lost interest and the ending was a big letdown.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Sarah Joyce Bryant
3.0 out of 5 stars Too Much Detail Slows the Pace
Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2012
The Reconstructionist follows the main character, Ellis, who is a bit lost after graduating college as an engineer. His half-brother died when he was younger in a car accident close to their home and Ellis heard the accident. Hearing accidents was commonplace where they lived; however, when Ellis went to the accident scene, as he often did after hearing one, he realized it involved his brother and his brother's girlfriend who he had a secret crush on. Many years later, Ellis runs into his brother's girlfriend, Heather, and she gets him a job as an accident reconstructionist with her husband, Boggs. Boggs and Heather have a troubled relationship and Ellis and Heather, shortly after meeting, begin an affair. When Boggs learns of the affair, he disappears and, in response, Ellis begins a journey to find him leaving his job and Heather behind.

I like how Nick Arvin uses dialogue as a teaching tool for the reader on the difficult subject of accident reconstruction. Arvin is able to help the reader understand the intricacies that go along with trying to find out exactly what happened in an accident. For example, Ellis explains the process of crush energy to a lawyer he is working for on a particular accident. Through explaining to another character how the different processes work, the reader is better able to understand as well.

I also like how the character, Ellis, notices minute details everywhere he goes such as skid marks on the road even when it doesn't pertain to his work. His work has become a part of him even in his off time. However, the novel overall has too many details. They are often list-like, unnecessary to the story, and become a major distraction. The use of so much detail also slows the pace of the novel and takes away from the impact it could have on the reader. I found myself skipping over paragraphs that were laden with unnecessary details.

Something else that was problematic for me with the novel was the character development. None of the characters felt real to me. The dialogue seemed forced and unrealistic. The emotions seemed muted in places where emotions should be running high and running high in situations that would not call for an emotional response. Instead of feeling like I was part of the story as it unfolded, I felt like I was being told the story. I did not feel empathetic towards the characters and was not invested enough in them. I believe the overabundance of details contributed to this. Instead of getting pertinent details on the characters interiority, the reader is given details on what a town looks like, what stores are in the town, what a character bought at a store. For example, on page 187, Ellis walks into a hotel room and we get this description:

He stepped into the room and frigid air gripped him; mounted into the opposite wall was a roaring air-conditioner unit. Next to it stood a sliding glass door onto the balcony. A watery green-and-blue wallpaper flowed from the ceiling to a plum-colored carpet bearing a history of spills and heels. A bed covered by a polyester blanket, two wooden side tables, a dresser, a desk, and two hardback desk chairs crowded against one another. On the dresser stood a TV, and over the bed hung a little framed picture of a jumping swordfish - it looked as if it had been cut from a magazine.

This would be fine if it happened intermittently throughout the novel, but this kind of detail occurs again and again. It would be better if the details were given through some sort of character action rather than given in list-like fashion as above.

Another issue that contributed to the lack of connection with the characters was the behaviors of the characters that were not consistent with what we knew of them. For example, Ellis is involved in an accident that severely disables him emotionally and psychologically. He replays this accident when he drives and it causes a lot of anxiety for him. However, right after he starts driving again, he goes to a bar, drinks, even mentions the effect of the alcohol because he hasn't eaten all day, and then proceeds to get into his van and drive! It seems unbelievable to me that someone as anxiety-ridden about accidents (including the one he was just in) as Ellis, who also works as an accident reconstructionist, would get drunk and drive. There are other inconsistencies with the characters that I don't want to mention so I don't give too much information about the content of the novel to those who have not read it yet, but they are problematic to the suspension of disbelief necessary in a novel.

I liked the subject matter of the novel. Accident reconstruction is a topic that is fascinating, but that little of us know about. There were great details given at different accident scenes and I would have liked to see more of those details included. I liked how the search for Boggs included Ellis revisiting different accidents scenes they had worked on together and how they tried to make logical sense out of something that seems so random. I think these scenes could have been developed even further and, as such, they would have had a bigger impact on the reader and brought forth the larger question of what accidents mean to us. Why do they occur? Are they just random occurrences or is someone always at fault? Are we truly just at the wrong place at the wrong time or is there a larger force at play in our lives? These are the questions that many of us struggle with, especially those of us who have had our lives completely transformed in an instant by an accident whether for the better or for the worse.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report