Crime, Mysteries & Thrillers discussion

Welcome to the discussion thread for A Simple Plan, by Scott Smith.

Hi everyone! Who's in for A Simple Plan?

Anyone else reading this one? I’m enjoying it. It’s a compelling story, and hard to put down. It’s also a bit different than I expected, in the sense that (view spoiler)[ I don’t find any of these characters likeable, and I’m sort of rooting for them to get caught. They don’t feel like good people who got caught up in something, they feel like bad people who just needed the right push to make them go off the tracks. Jacob is, to the initial observer, the most shady person of them all, but I’ve felt most sympathetic towards him. (hide spoiler)]

I’m half way through chapter four. I agree with you Lisa (view spoiler)[ there are no likable characters (so far) and I am also hoping they get caught....but they probably will end up killing each other for the money. I am more interested in where the money came from and who the pilot is. (hide spoiler)]

Nancy wrote: "I’m half way through chapter four. I agree with you Lisa [spoilers removed]"

Me too! I wonder if we’ll ever actually find out. Further adding to my dislike of Hank is the way (view spoiler)[ he seems to be sort of grossed out by his baby and particularly the act of breastfeeding. (hide spoiler)] He is a weird cat.

Holy crap. I just finished. I’m stuck between 4 and 5 stars; need to mull. This was a great read, a real page-turner, and very well-written. (view spoiler)[ It was truly upsetting, even horrifying. I’ve read a few reviews where the reader said they kept rooting for Hank and Sarah even as they committed more and more atrocities. I was not in that camp. There was a different kind of tension here for me, as I kept waiting and hoping for them to be caught. The only two innocent and wholesome main characters here, baby Amanda, and Jacob’s dog, Mary Beth, served as barometers for the horrors that these people were committing; Amanda cried all the time, rarely responded to Hank, and was soothed only by Sarah, who was possibly the worst person involved, but maintained a calming and directive influence to her husband, and her daughter, too, even as she spurred him on to more crime. Mary Beth also saw Hank for what he was, and reacted to him accordingly, only to suffer for it. Ugh, that was a horrible part of the book. And, in an outcome that was cruelly poetic, in perfect keeping with the book, Amanda suffers. Suffers but does not die, limping along impotently, never coming to fruition, an innocent person in the wrong place at the wrong time, sort of a human embodiment of their whole plan. (hide spoiler)] I can’t wait to hear what others think, and I need to watch this movie!

Well... (view spoiler)[ Chapter 6 and I was right...but I did not think so many innocent people would also be killed to cover up. Hank’s wife is a real piece of work. I did have sympathy for Jacob, though. Hank and his wife, wow. Poor Carl, I can’t believe Hank did not say anything but I also can’t believe Carl did not ask to see a badge (hide spoiler)]

I hope to finish tomorrow

Seriously...(view spoiler)[ Jacob tugged at my heartstrings. When he put on “nice” clothes to go talk to Hank about the farm, it almost made me cry. Sarah is just such an asshole. Hank too. Wow. And, I agree, I did not anticipate all of the collateral damage. It was horrifying when they drew Lou’s neighbor in and killed him! That was a good twist with the FBI agent; I guess a very small town cop might lose his suspicions and relax on protocol. I was so sad about him (Carl), too, and thought earlier that he might actually catch Hank. (hide spoiler)]

Wow...Just Wow (view spoiler)[first, I can’t believe the FBI would tell Hank about the list with the 5,000 serial numbers. No great escape for Hank. Second, Hank’s wife not sticking with the plan and spending 1 $100 bill at a convenient store. Third, I thought killing his brother and neighbor was bad enough, but calling the police to tell them a maniac with a machete is on the loose and going to the store to kill the clerk, as well as the old lady;Talk about collateral damage. Who are these people? Fourth, his getting conned into buying the Condo (and using almost all of their savings) that does not exist. Comeuppance? Counting chickens before they’re hatched?

I don’t think I have read a book with so much carnage, at least not that I can recall.

Also, the widows giving them money after what Hank did and did not do to their husbands. Aghh.

I’m not sure I care for the last part about their daughter Amanda getting injured and Sarah thinking it is punishment. The rest about his job, the fact they don’t talk, and Sarah looking at the money, fur coat and jewels in the attic was enough. The story had kind of a Twilight Zone feel to it. (hide spoiler)]

Lisa, I did agree with your review. (view spoiler)[How anyone could root for Hank after the murders, I don’t know (hide spoiler)]

So much for a simple plan.

Nancy wrote: "Wow...Just Wow first, I can’t believe the FBI would tell Hank about the list with the 5,000 serial numbers. No great escape for Hank. Second, Hank’s wife not sticking with the plan and spending 1 $..."

Seriously. This book was shocking. Nancy, (view spoiler)[ agreed about the widows...ugh! (hide spoiler)] It was very good, though; very well written, and not predictable, despite the reader likely having a feeling that this was going to go wrong. Now I have to watch the movie...