Title: Crashers
Author: Lindy Hudis
Publication Date: May 5, 2012
Genre: True Crime, Fiction
Genre: True Crime, Fiction
Publisher: Bettie Youngs Book Publishers
Blurb:
It may not be armed robbery, but the illegal business of fraudulent car accidents is a multi-million-dollar racket, involving unscrupulous medical providers, personal injury attorneys, and the cooperating passengers involved in the accidents and who also receive a portion of the illegal proceeds.
What makes good people turn to crime—any type of crime? Newly engaged, Nathan and Shari are blissfully happy—but their joy is tempered by the dark cloud of mounting debt. They know it's just a matter of time until an avalanche of bills buries them—and their future along with it.
A chance encounter with a stranger in whom Shari confides her troubles prove fortuitous: he tells her of a get-rich-quick scheme that will put her and her fiancé on easy street. Seduced by the chance to move from hard times to good times in no time, she takes the carrot offered her and finds herself acting as a "stuffed passenger"—the "victim" in a staged auto accident. The act goes according to plan and Shari gets her payday. She goes back for more—again and again, eventually becoming trapped in a dark and dangerous underworld, dragging her fiancé with her. Getting out and breaking free will take nothing short of a miracle.
A modern day cautionary tale, Crashers is a fascinating study in the derailing of a young couple's moral compass.
What makes good people turn to crime—any type of crime? Newly engaged, Nathan and Shari are blissfully happy—but their joy is tempered by the dark cloud of mounting debt. They know it's just a matter of time until an avalanche of bills buries them—and their future along with it.
A chance encounter with a stranger in whom Shari confides her troubles prove fortuitous: he tells her of a get-rich-quick scheme that will put her and her fiancé on easy street. Seduced by the chance to move from hard times to good times in no time, she takes the carrot offered her and finds herself acting as a "stuffed passenger"—the "victim" in a staged auto accident. The act goes according to plan and Shari gets her payday. She goes back for more—again and again, eventually becoming trapped in a dark and dangerous underworld, dragging her fiancé with her. Getting out and breaking free will take nothing short of a miracle.
A modern day cautionary tale, Crashers is a fascinating study in the derailing of a young couple's moral compass.
Kayla's Thoughts:
Okay, so I have to be really honest when it comes to this book. It made me angry. I probably better clarify before people reading this think it is a bad book and decide to not read it. It made me angry in a GOOD way. I love books that make me react, that make me feel something. Because if an author can invoke that kind of emotion from me, then I know they are definitely worth checking out.
When the book starts out, its two main characters, Shari and Nathan, seem to have it all. Or at least they hope to have it all in the very near future. Nathan is up for a big promotion, and if that happens, which to Nathan seems a distinct reality, all their troubles will just go away. They won't want for anything. Nathan has their lives all planned out: proposal, house, kids, etc. The whole she-bang. The only problem is that his dream, their dream, suddenly poofs out of existence with just a few clacks on a keyboard. Yeah. Nathan is stabbed in the back by one of his co-workers and suddenly finds himself out of a job. Even worse, he cannot even get a job at another company because his license is revoked. Sucks, huh? The couple's situation gets even more dire when Shari loses her own job. But a fender-bender on the day she is fired could very well be their only salvation.
A lawsuit turns into a single idea which pretty much turns into a sudden job offer, and suddenly Shari and Nathan are thrust, willingly on her part and not so much on his, into a world of easy money...or so they think.
But this story is not just about Shari and Nathan's rise from the ashes, and the threat of falling again hanging in the background, it also tells the story of a cop searching for the head of this whole escapade. She knows about the world Shari and Nathan have suddenly got themselves into, and she's bound and determined to catch all involved, even if it means putting her life in danger to do it.
When the book starts out, its two main characters, Shari and Nathan, seem to have it all. Or at least they hope to have it all in the very near future. Nathan is up for a big promotion, and if that happens, which to Nathan seems a distinct reality, all their troubles will just go away. They won't want for anything. Nathan has their lives all planned out: proposal, house, kids, etc. The whole she-bang. The only problem is that his dream, their dream, suddenly poofs out of existence with just a few clacks on a keyboard. Yeah. Nathan is stabbed in the back by one of his co-workers and suddenly finds himself out of a job. Even worse, he cannot even get a job at another company because his license is revoked. Sucks, huh? The couple's situation gets even more dire when Shari loses her own job. But a fender-bender on the day she is fired could very well be their only salvation.
A lawsuit turns into a single idea which pretty much turns into a sudden job offer, and suddenly Shari and Nathan are thrust, willingly on her part and not so much on his, into a world of easy money...or so they think.
But this story is not just about Shari and Nathan's rise from the ashes, and the threat of falling again hanging in the background, it also tells the story of a cop searching for the head of this whole escapade. She knows about the world Shari and Nathan have suddenly got themselves into, and she's bound and determined to catch all involved, even if it means putting her life in danger to do it.
Verdict:
This is a heart-pounding read. We get to see what people who have nothing to lose will do just to survive in a dog-eat-dog world. We get to see every single point of view. From Shari, to Nathan, to the man who recruits them, to the Big Kahuna who started it all, to the cop getting closer and closer. Every single chapter connects the characters together and gives the book a completeness to it. And while it may not be perfect, yeah there were some grammar issues, it was still an exciting story that just made me not want to put it down.
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