Crazy Dangerous [Hardcover]

Andrew Klavan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2012

Do Right, Fear Nothing.

Sam Hopkins is a good kid who has fallen in with the wrong crowd. Hanging around with car thieves and thugs, Sam knows it’s only a matter of time before he makes one bad decision too many and gets into real trouble.

But one day, Sam sees these friends harassing an eccentric schoolmate named Jennifer. Finding the courage to face the bullies down, Sam loses a bad set of friends and acquires a very strange new one.

Jennifer is not just eccentric. To Sam, she seems downright crazy. She has terrifying hallucinations involving demons, the devil, and death. And here’s the really crazy part: Sam is beginning to suspect that these visions may actually be prophecies—prophecies of something terrible that’s going to happen very soon. Unless he can stop it.

With no one to believe him, with no one to help him, Sam is all alone in a race against time. Finding the truth before disaster strikes is going to be both crazy and very, very dangerous.

“The adrenaline-charged action will keep you totally immersed.” —RT Book Reviews

 

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Andrew Klavan was hailed by Stephen King as "the most original novelist of crime and suspense since Cornell Woolrich." He is the recipient of two Edgar Awards and the author of such bestsellers as True Crime and Don't Say a Word.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (May 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595547932
• ISBN-13: 978-1595547934
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 1.3 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (109 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #471,779 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Andrew Klavan has been nominated for the Mystery Writer of America's Edgar award five times and won twice. He is the author of several bestselling novels, including Don't Say A Word, filmed starring Michael Douglas, True Crime, filmed by Clint Eastwood, and Empire of Lies. He is currently writing a series of thrillers for young adults called The Homelanders. The first two novels in the series are The Last Thing I Remember and The Long Way Home. Klavan is a contributing editor to City Journal and his essays have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, among other places. His satiric video commentaries can be seen on PJTV.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Crazy Dangerous: Dangerously Good April 23, 2012

By Libbi

Format:Hardcover

Jennifer is trapped. Her days are filled with people making fun of her, and her nights with tormenting voices taunting her. It seems that she is the only one who hears them.
Sam Hopkins is an average Pastor's kid, but he has fallen in with the wrong crowd, and now he is about to pay for it.
In an interesting twist of fate, Sam befriends Jennifer, and oddly, starts to believe her. He thinks that she may be the only one who knows what is going to happen to their small town. It might just be a horrible deed worse than anything they have yet seen.
I loved:
* Sam's wit. I laughed out loud when he responded to the bullies. It was hysterical.
* The first person writing style. It suited this book perfectly, and made reading it really enjoyable.
* The character description. Although not done in the typical way, you could see how the characters looked, as well as their tone of voice. Although it may seem odd, I loved how Andrew described the characters.
* The mystery. It is not often that you can find a book that is hilarious, easy-to-read, and suspenseful.
* The twist at the end. I won't let out any secrets, but it is pretty awesome.
I didn't love:
* A little bit of theology. Barely any, but you know how it goes; "Eat the meat, spit out the bones."
* It was a tad gruesome. I would not recommend it to anyone who is under 15. It wasn't necessarily bloody and gory, but there is still a lot of death.
Overall, I think it was a very intriguing book. Very different from anything I have read before. This book is, although 324 pages, a very quick read. I sat down and just kept reading. I would definitely buy this book as a gift for anyone who likes a good, funny read.
This book was given to me for free from Thomas Nelson Publishers for this review.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Crazy Dangerous.....or just crazy? May 4, 2012

By Wrenn

Format:Hardcover

Sam Hopkins is a pretty good kid. A preacher's kid, aka a PK. However, he has found himself mixed up with the wrong crowd. Hanging around with car thieves and delinquents, Sam knows it is only a matter of time before he makes one bad decision too many and gets into real trouble.

But one day, Sam sees these thugs harassing a troubled schoolmate named Jennifer. Finding the courage to face the bullies down, Sam loses a bad set of friends and acquires a very strange new one.

Jennifer is not just weird. To Sam, she seems downright crazy. She has terrifying hallucinations involving demons, the devil, and death. And here's the Really crazy part: Sam is beginning to suspect that these visions may actually be prophecies -prophecies of something terrible that is going to happen very soon. Unless he can stop it.

With no one to believe him, with no one to help him other than one crazy girl, Sam is now all alone in a race against time. Finding the truth before disaster strikes is going to be both crazy and very, very dangerous.

Crazy Dangerous by Andrew Klavan was an extremely quick yet enjoyable read. The book is clearly directed toward young teens, and it only took me a couple of hours to read. Despite that, I enjoyed the book a lot. The plot moved rather quickly, and I was actually surprised when I reached the end of the book. I felt like the book was weighted too heavily in background information and once it reached its climax it ended too quickly. Overall though the plot was interesting and kept me glued to the novel. The tone and language of the book were very well done and fit the age and character of the narrator, Sam Hopkins. The supposed supernatural element of the novel was fascinating and added to the spooky tone of some portions of the book.... Even once the true cause came out, there were still frightening elements that were made even scarier by their validity.

The characters of this novel were well developed and had both their strengths and their quirks. The true enemy in this book turned out to be quite the shock and clearly shows how well some people can hide their true nature. I really liked both Sam and Jennifer, and I enjoyed their interactions, as weird as they turned out to be.

Overall, the plot was pretty good, the characters were well developed, and the tone and language were well written. Crazy Dangerous is certainly a novel directed to teenagers, and I would not recommend it for really young children because of the violence. However, despite the age group that this novel was directed towards, I still enjoyed it as a quick and distracting read.

I received this book for free from Thomas Nelson Publishers through Booksneeze.com in exchange for an honest review. Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling Young Adult Novel May 23, 2012

By Coffee Ramblings TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

Sam Hopkins is not a popular kid and being the son of a preacher does not help him out any. He spends his afternoons trying to get home without being beat up by a group of juvenile delinquents - Jeff Winger, Ed Polanski, and Harry Mac. Then one afternoon Sam had had enough and fought back. To his surprise, they liked the violent side of him and welcomed Sam into their group, where they taught him how to hotwire a car, steal, and other non-church like things. Sam knew what he was doing was wrong, but he now had friends.

There is an eccentric young girl named Jennifer, who is shy, talks to herself at times, and sometimes mentions about the bugs in her mind. Being outsider she is targeted by Jeff, Ed, and Harry Mac, which results in Sam defending the girl and dishonoring his friends at the same time. After recovering from a violent assault from them, Sam is visited Jennifer. She tells him of the devilish demons that she hears in her mind that they are going to bring death.

Crazy Dangerous is an intriguing young adult novel that use themes of bulling and peer pressure with a little supernatural thrown in. Going to school is getting harder and harder for kids with all the bulling that goes on and Andrew Klavan brilliantly touches on the subject while giving us readers a mystery to unravel. I instantly felt for the character of Sam as he faced his bullies. An interesting twist is the character Jennifer, who is an odd young girl. You start to wonder if she is crazy, or if she really is hearing demons and receiving prophecies. Crazy Dangerous is a fast-paced thrill ride that you will not want to put down.