Crazy Dangerous

by Andrew Klavan Narrated by Andrew Kanies

Overview

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.

• Thrilling young adult read
• Stand-alone novel
• Book length: approximately 75K words
• Includes discussion questions for book reports

Editorial Reviews

FictionAddict.com Jake Chism

I’m buying everything Klavan is selling, from the excellent first person narrative, to the gut-punching action; to the perfect doses of humor and wit . . . it’s all working for me.

4 1/2 stars RT Book Reviews

'The original plot is full of twists and turns and unexpected treasures. Klavan’s writing is quick, tight, exciting and intense. The adrenaline-charged action will keep you totally immersed.

From the Publisher

'The original plot is full of twists and turns and unexpected treasures. Klavan's writing is quick, tight, exciting and intense. The adrenaline-charged action will keep you totally immersed."--RT Book Reviews, 4 1/2 stars

"I'm buying everything Klavan is selling, from the excellent first person narrative, to the gut-punching action; to the perfect doses of humor and wit . . . it's all working for me."--Jake Chism, FictionAddict.com

School Library Journal - Audio

Gr 7–10—Sixteen-year-old Sam Hopkins is a PK—preacher's kid—and has always had a goody-goody reputation. Then he starts hanging out with a trio of teen car thieves who show him everything they know. When Sam intervenes as the gang bullies Jennifer, the "weird" girl at school, he gets beaten up and earns Jennifer's adulation. She tells Sam about her visions, complete with demons, the devil, murders, and lots of blood. Sam believes that she's foretelling the future, and sets off to stop the violence. Edgar winner Andrew Klavan's book (Thomas Nelson, 2012) has a Christian slant. It could have used tighter editing; we learn Sam's thoughts and actions in minute, sometimes excruciating detail. Believability is strained as Sam, a driver with limited experience and a learner's permit, steals a Mustang and weaves in and out of traffic at high speeds without a scratch. Nick Podehl does a wonderful job narrating, expressively voicing Sam's emotions and confusion and clearly delineating all the other characters; Jennifer's voice is suitably creepy. A supplemental purchase for those who like their thrillers a little far-fetched and tinged with horror.—Julie Paladino, East Chapel Hill High School, NC

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up—Klavan is famously conservative and Christian in outlook. While there is nothing wrong with either of these, in a novel, message can sometimes outweigh plot. That being said, the first 17 pages of Crazy Dangerous are great, especially the Holden Caufield-esque part when the hero gets beaten up but gives as good as he gets against the neighborhood bad boys. Then, the structure of the novel starts to wobble. Sam Hopkins joins the bad-boy club and then abruptly decides to leave it. While he does so for a good reason, his change of heart happens too quickly and his relationship with the head bad boy, Jeff Winger, is insufficiently developed to create the dramatic tension between good and evil so central to the story. Some readers, especially those who don't require plot pacing and character development, will find this an enjoyable read, but those who need to see characters grow and situations change will be disappointed.—Nina Sachs, Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook, ME

MAY 2014 - AudioFile

Sam Hopkins is a preacher’s kid with a heavy burden: His schizophrenic friend, Jennifer, knows something terrible is going to happen in their town, soon, and she believes he can stop it. With wry humor and encouraging pathos, Nick Podehl lends credence to Jennifer’s horrifying premonitions and keeps audiences firmly on Sam’s side as he faces increasingly perilous circumstances. Podehl’s subtly nuanced characterizations hint at the personal struggles lurking under the surface of this story. As Sam’s life spirals from boredom into chaos, Podehl’s pacing and tone evoke tension and intrigue while maintaining high adrenaline levels. Listeners will follow Podehl’s narration with rapt attention as he unravels the twists and turns in this mysterious thriller. K.S.B. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

In this fast-paced but predictable thriller, a good kid who has fallen in with a bad crowd comes to the aid of a bullied schizophrenic girl. Weary of the pressures of being a preacher's kid, Sam falls in with a group of thuggish delinquents. When Sam witnesses Jennifer, a loner known for acting and speaking strangely, being bullied by some of his new circle, he intervenes and consequently invites their wrath. Jennifer has terrifying hallucinations involving demons, the devil and death. Sam suspects that these visions may be the key to solving a mystery and prophecies of more terrible things to come, but it eventually becomes clear that Jennifer's visions are of the organic variety. For a novel that is billed as religious teen fiction, religion is surprisingly peripheral to the story. There is a scene with Sam attending Sunday church service and another in which he seeks spiritual advice from his pastor father. Jennifer questions why God allows her to be tormented with her terrible visions. In the end, this is a garden-variety, formulaic mystery thriller with religious window dressing. (Thriller. 12 & up)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940177111025
Publisher:	Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
Publication date:	01/05/2021
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos