Customer Reviews

A Simple Plan

5 star:		(149)
4 star:		(49)
3 star:		(30)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(23)

 

 

When I began this novel, I already had an inkling of what the trajectory of the plot would be, based upon the information on the book jacket. It's no secret that the story revolves around what unfolds when three men accidentally stumble upon a plane that has crashed with millions of dollars in cash on board. The bulk of the book explores the grim consequences of this discovery. Despite the generally predictable and even formulaic nature of the plot overall, Smith has done an amazingly skillful job of creating a page-turner of a suspense novel that is nearly impossible to put down. The particulars of just how things go awry for the various principals involved are spun out in ingenious fashion over several hundred extremely well-written pages.

This book not only tells a gripping (and sometimes gory) tale of how a seemingly "simple plan" goes awry, it also provides clear insight into the darker side of the human condition, that is, how under particular circumstances even seemingly "nice, normal people" can end up committing and rationalizing the most heinous deeds, always with "good reasons" behind their actions. The way that Smith lays bare the fragility of human ethics and morals sadly rings true, and renders the book as depressing as it is horrifying and suspenseful. Overall, it's a terrific read that should not be missed.

This is, without a doubt, an amazing debut novel. It is a modern day morality tale, which sees people's lives change significantly, when they come upon a veritable treasure trove of money. The change is not necessarily for the better, as the reader will discover.

The plot revolves around two, small town brothers, Hank and Jacob Mitchell, who, along with Jacob's friend, Lou, inadvertently come upon a downed plane that is buried in the snow, deep in the woods of a rural area. In that plane is a dead pilot, along with four million dollars in cold, hard cash. All three of them could sure use the money. The question is, what are they going to do about it?

They come up with what they think is a simple plan. They will take the money and just wait and see, not spending it, until the coast seems clear. From the moment they make this decision, life is never the same for any of them. Hank, taking charge of the money for safekeeping, begins to undergo a change that is seemingly uncharacteristic of one who is outwardly so respectable, rational, and benign of countenance.

As the issue of the money begins to divide the three accomplices, greed and betrayal bubble to the surface, to culminate in a series of chilling, cold blooded murders. Meanwhile, Hank, manipulated by his Ma Barker of a wife, Sarah, begins a personal downward spiral, succumbing to an evil so profound, that it will leave the reader open mouthed.

What happens to them all makes for an amazingly powerful and riveting story of psychological suspense. Written in clean, spare prose, this well crafted novel is a riveting page turner that grips the reader from the inception, holding the reader in its thrall until its climactic conclusion. The ending serves to show the reader that what goes around, does, indeed, come around.

Many people were disappointed by Smith's most recent novel, "The Ruins" (although I wasn't one of them) so I knew I had to read Smith's first novel to see how it compared. The truth is there is no comparison that can be made as "A Simple Plan" is as far removed from "The Ruins" - genre-wise, story-wise, everything-wise- as a novel can be. If there could be a true comprison made for this book, it would be Woody Allen's film, "Crimes and Misdemeanors." That an author can write two such different novels AND succeed with both is an achievement.

Smith is a damn good writer and this tale, a story as simple as Hank Mitchell's plan, is riveting. There wasn't one point in this novel where I wasn't worried that if I turned the page, everything would come out in the open. Between Hank's simple plan, his wife Sarah's murderous lucidity and the growing body count, there is never a dull moment. I do confess that by the end of the book, I was starting to feel like the widening circle of death was getting a bit too extreme (for those who only know the film version of the novel, they diverge in a major way halfway through so the book will be a new experience) but at the same time, if I was Hank Mitchell, what would I have done? That's a question I kept asking myself and still do.

The book starts out with a great intro, and from there there is no stopping to the madness. I like it when an uather takes the human condition to its extreme. How suddenly killing would be so easy compesation to our securities. how our inner dysfunctional conflict are burried deep with and would only arise for the most superficial thing on earth, in this case:MoNY.

A lot of people will be skeptical. But it is a one of a kind thriller looking at people with a chance to change and reach their high castle dreams over night, discovering that it is not about the source of change. It is about who they really are.

The line between good and evil is really thin.

Great book.

This book was a page-turner because there were very exciting parts in it. It was not to hard to concentrate on the story but sometimes I had to look back in the book to check a character or a place. I did not connect to a character in this story because characters in the book kill many people mainly for money and I could not do that. I like the genre because it sounded like the story could really happen. I like the style of writing in this book, and an example is that the author makes the story very believable like it could happen to almost anybody. The book was not boring but very exciting and my mind did not wander when I was reading. I would recommend this book to people who like adventure and mystery books. This book was terrific because it held suspense and you would never know what event would happen next.

This book sat in my bookcase for months until I finally decided to read it. What an excellent decision! The story was absolutely mesmerizing with a fantastic plot and very well written. It was tightly constructed with no obvious loose ends.This first novel held my interest as the narrator Hank, an accountant, reveals how he, his older brother Jacob and Jacob's friend Lou accidently discover a crashed plane and over $4 million hidden within its fuselage. From the decision to take the money, Hank reveals the thoughts and emotions, the fear, anxiety and the development of sociopathy with rationalization and self-preservation justifying increasingly violent and irrational behavior. The story has the ability of allowing the reader to think along with Hank and his wife Sarah and compare their decisions to what the reader may have done in similar circumstances that makes this a great exercise in values clarification.

I can't imagine a more powerful warning regarding the destructive power of greed. Many of us have probably dreamed of finding a large amount of money that leaves no clue of who it might have belonged to. We fantasize about suddenly becoming financially independent and what we could do with all that money. Well, be careful what you wish for. Given the innate greed and grabbiness of the human heart, sudden riches often has a less than satisfactory result in human lives. You will become increasingly tense as you read this book and try not to get your heart set on a happily ever after ending. You will find it hard to set the book down so try to read it over a weekend when you have lots of spare time.

A Simple Plan begins promisingly. The writing is crisp and inviting: the author has a tendency to mix major plot events seamlessly with small details that evoke a sense of setting of life while at the same time integrating the setting back into the plot. I enjoyed most in this book the little descriptions, be they of the town of Ashenville, the woods, the actions of various small town characters - I mean to say that the author creates a milieu that is really suited to (and perhaps provides deeper insight into) what is happening.

Also laudatory is the development of the narrator's situation and the author's grasp of his place in the narrative. This story is not simply told in the past tense because such is the manner in which novels are written - it actually involves a narrator who is narrating the plot retrospectively. Some of the most chilling and interesting moments in the novel occur when the narrator actually speaks from the present of his own view of his actions in the past. It creates a sort of drama to the entire novel in the rare moments when we get the glimpse not of a character being blindly led forward, but a character in turmoil with himself, analytical of the very actions he is narrating.

Having said that, this book suffers from a certain moral didactism which is shallow and unwieldy - the plot spans some hundred and fifty pages, the novel spans about three hundred. The author is simple not up to the task of integrating character with a flowing story with a moral take. One can imagine the author beginning the book in the grips of an intellectual question and trying to examine it and work it out as he progresses. This book is situational in the sense that its plot is driven by a situation, but it is certainly not situational in the idea that it narrates a situation. The main problem with this book is that the plot drags, and certain sections seem words dabbed on the page while the author thinks of the next plot twist to throw in the works. In other words, the book has no momentum - it sputters awkwardly between background information, description of setting, characterization, and the actual plot - instead of integrating all of these factors in a seamless web, as they should be integrated.

The clear result of this is that the novel, unlike Macbeth - which I'm sure the author takes at least some inspiration from, as the situations are, at times, almost too similar (a man driven and motivated by his wife to murder, the guilt and remorse, the ambition, etc...) does not have the dramatic density required to carry the author's premise. The novel is not one swiftly moving plot, it is a series of irritating bounces and jaunts from one rising action to one climax to one denouement and back to the entire problem of plot in the first place. By the end of the novel, the feeling is that the plot has been entirely contrived and dismissed to reach the final dramatic ending that it does.

Having said that, the ending is very well suited to the book. The author makes a fascinating and seamless switch from past tense narration to present tense narration, and the last two pages are condensed, compelling, and pathetic. The story achieves what the author finally hoped it would from the beginning, and the individual sections are wonderfully written. This books is a good book, don't get me wrong, but what keeps it from becoming a great books is that the parts never lend themselves seamlessly into the whole.

The book starts off like any other book and thats with minor details about each character. Two brothers and a friend go out one new years day to vist their parents graves like they do every other year. On there way they accidently discovered a broken down plane with a dead pilot. Towards the back of the plane they also discovered a duffle bag full of 4 billion dollars. All three of them made a pack to not say anything about the money or do anything with the money until they knew that they were safe. Hank and Jacob were brothers while Lou was Jacob's friend. Hank was the most responsible one so he held onto the money. There was a lot on Hanks hands because his wife Sarah was pregnant and was due any time so he had to be careful in what he did. Over the weeks no one heard anything about money being missing or a broken down plane so they thought that they were fine up until questions started to stirr up around town. All three of the men found themselves in a situation that they did not want to be in. Hank found out the hard way of how hard it was to save your self from getting caught from committing the biggest crimes. This book keeps you at the edge of your seat and you just want to keep reading more and more as you go on through each chapter. I recommend it to anyone who likes thrilling books.

Scott Smith has written a twisted novel that serves as a warning to readers about the slippery slope of crime. What starts as "A Simple Plan" to retain found money turns into a very suspenseful psychodrama. The author aptly describes the seductive pull of big money, and the ever increasing repercussions of greed. His characters ring true until near the ending, as do their relationships. One reader caveat would be to be prepared for lots of people to die, as do in this first book from Scott Smith, and in his newest (see my review for The Ruins). By the end, I'd had enough death, and questioned if the author took it too far. But overall, this is a very interesting first novel and a gripping tale of a seemingly simple family man who, as Dr. Phil would say, digs himself a hole, then can't put down the shovel.