A Simple Plan
It All Seemed So Simple...
Two brothers and their friend stumble upon the wreckage of a plane—the pilot is dead and his duffle bag contains four million dollars in cash. The men agree to hide, keep and share the fortune. But what started off as a simple plan slowly devolves into a gruesome nightmare none of them can control.
Two brothers and their friend stumble upon the wreckage of a plane—the pilot is dead and his duffle bag contains four million dollars in cash. The men agree to hide, keep and share the fortune. But what started off as a simple plan slowly devolves into a gruesome nightmare none of them can control.
Mass Market Paperback, 416 pages
Published
September 25th 2007
by Vintage
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
4,492)
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I heard a story once about a Holocaust survivor who attended the trial at Nuremburg of the Nazi who commanded the camp in which he was a prisoner. When the defendant was brought in, the Jewish man became hysterical and had to be dragged out of the courtroom. People assumed that seeing the Nazi's face again had simply brought back memories too horrific for the man to bear. He later explained that he'd lost his composure because he saw, for the first time, that this Nazi was not some fire-breathin...more
Scott Smith's books are, above all, methodical. For all their chaos and violence, everything seems inevitable, everyone acts logically, and yet, without fail, things go terribly, terribly wrong. It's impossible not to imagine yourself in his characters' places, wondering if you would have made similar decisions, acted in a similar way, and still come to the same calamitous end. His wildly entertaining second novel, The Ruins, placed its characters in an impossible situation that was articificial...more
I find it hilarious whenever I see negative reviews for this book and almost all the time, the reason for the negativity is that the reviewer thought that the main characters were stupid and made dumb decisions. If characters always made the right decisions or the smartest ones, there would be absolutely no drama and why the hell would anyone want to read about people who do all the right things?!
I think this was a wonderful story about how all of us are capable of terrible things if c...more
I think this was a wonderful story about how all of us are capable of terrible things if c...more
This book was probably THE most painful reading experience I have ever had. I actually finished it - more because of my own stubbornness than anything. I guess I would have to liken it to the first few weeks of American Idol where the whole point is to show you the people that are really bad. I am just too sensitive for that - I feel the pain and embarrasment they should be feeling but in some cases don't. In the case of this book the pure idiocy that these characters go through after findin...more
If you're a writer or serious reader, you know the value of complications -- a character does one thing to try to make things better for himself, but this action creates an even bigger problem he must then solve. This novel is an excellent example of this kind of plotting.
I was drawn to the novel because of the movie. The premise of three people stumbling upon a few million dollars didn't excite me much, but one evening when there was nothing else to watch, I tried it. And what grippe...more
I was drawn to the novel because of the movie. The premise of three people stumbling upon a few million dollars didn't excite me much, but one evening when there was nothing else to watch, I tried it. And what grippe...more
Splendidamente angosciante
Non vi è uomo che cerchi il male in quanto tale: lo confonde semplicemente con la felicità, con il bene cui egli anela.
Mary Wollstonecraft
Con questa citazione esordisce Scott Smith, trascinandoci nella sua ipnotica e angosciante narrazione. Nonostante avessi già visto il bel film di Raimi tratto da questo libro, "Soldi sporchi", sono rimasta estremamente soddisfatta da questa lettura, e non è dir poco!
E' inverno in Ohio e il paesaggio è co...more
Non vi è uomo che cerchi il male in quanto tale: lo confonde semplicemente con la felicità, con il bene cui egli anela.
Mary Wollstonecraft
Con questa citazione esordisce Scott Smith, trascinandoci nella sua ipnotica e angosciante narrazione. Nonostante avessi già visto il bel film di Raimi tratto da questo libro, "Soldi sporchi", sono rimasta estremamente soddisfatta da questa lettura, e non è dir poco!
E' inverno in Ohio e il paesaggio è co...more
From ISawLightningFall.com
In his The New Rhetoric, Chaim Perelman concludes, "The distinction of the different genres of oratory is highly artificial, as the study of a speech shows." He then goes on to cite Marc Antony's "friends, Romans, countrymen" speech in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, noting how it "opens with a funeral eulogy ... and ends by provoking a riot that is clearly political." While Perelman sees this as an example of genre's artifice, I t...more
In his The New Rhetoric, Chaim Perelman concludes, "The distinction of the different genres of oratory is highly artificial, as the study of a speech shows." He then goes on to cite Marc Antony's "friends, Romans, countrymen" speech in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, noting how it "opens with a funeral eulogy ... and ends by provoking a riot that is clearly political." While Perelman sees this as an example of genre's artifice, I t...more
As with The Ruins this is a hard book to put down. The story starts off right away and forces you to keep reading unill the very end. I like how this author tells stories, noone is safe. Main characters can die halfway thru the book. There's no happily ever after. And Paranoia will Distroy yaaa! There really was no evidence against Hank and Sarah and no one ever really suspected them of anything. They were simply paranoid.
Likes:
- Cool story idea, really suspensful
- Graphi...more
Likes:
- Cool story idea, really suspensful
- Graphi...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This book was infuriating. I almost stopped reading three or four times. The characters were unintelligent and largely uninteresting. The plot was predictable. I thought I had wasted hours reading a humdrum book about mediocre morons in Ohio ... until the very end. Then it all coalesced into a clever and piercing testament to human nature. If I find a book disappointing, it's often because I expect more than it delivers. This one disappointed me so long because I didn't expect enough. I ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Hank Mitchell is the epitome of everything despicable about human nature. It was a little disconcerting to be inside his head the whole time, especially since he's convinced, despite all evidence to the contrary, that he's a good man.
Hank, along with his brother and his brother's best friend, find a plane crashed in the woods. There's money on the plane...lots and lots of money. Of course they decide against turning it in, and even without all the foreshadowing Smith provides, it...more
Hank, along with his brother and his brother's best friend, find a plane crashed in the woods. There's money on the plane...lots and lots of money. Of course they decide against turning it in, and even without all the foreshadowing Smith provides, it...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
A few years back I watched the 1998 movie based on this novel, and loved it to pieces: it's the most wonderful noir tragicomedy, eliciting bleak laughter at the same time as a profound sorrow at the way potential human destiny and dreams are forever thwarted by human stupidity. So, although I picked up my copy of the novel a while ago, I fought somewhat shy of actually reading it in case I found it a let-down.
Not so: it's wonderful. And here, too, we have one of those very rare instances...more
The first of two novels by Scott Smith (the other being "The Ruins"), which was eventually made into a movie starring Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, and Bridgett Fonda.
The story line can be briefly summarized by the old adage, "Oh, what a tangled web we weave...". What starts out as a "simple plan" soon becomes not so simple.
This was a fascinating character study - a look at how money affects people and the way they think. The book was a ...more
The story line can be briefly summarized by the old adage, "Oh, what a tangled web we weave...". What starts out as a "simple plan" soon becomes not so simple.
This was a fascinating character study - a look at how money affects people and the way they think. The book was a ...more
What a terrible book. None of the characters acted believably. Not one. Smith actually expects me to believe that a straight laced white-collar man with a pregnant wife is going to trust a secret of such a huge magnitude to two people he dislikes and barely knows? Or that he wouldn't think of the larger ramifications of his actions or the drawbacks to the plan or the intelligence of any of the larger justice agencies? You eventually wind up rooting for the blatantly unsympathetic characters, whi...more
This is one of my all-time favorites which assesses human nature in it's many forms, from discovered wealth to secret keeping to greed to familial relationships, with some criminal thriller thrown in. I zipped through this book and thought the story was tight, well-rendered and well-executed. I had high hopes for his second book, The Ruins but alas, that one was a disappointment to me. A Simple Plan was also made into a movie with Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton and Bridget Fonda. I liked the ...more
A grisly parable about how small sins lead to bigger ones, A Simple Plan's effectiveness depends on how far the reader will be willing to empathize with the main character's descent into evil. It's a cynical novel, but I accept the premise that people are capable of far more evil than they'd ever suspect, should the right temptation come along. I really like the way the characters seek to justify their actions, however nefarious...that's something everybody should be able to relate to on some ...more
"Excellent suspense book! I was hooked right from the first page and I didn't ever want to put it down.
There were some parts that of course I didn't agree with or could see myself actually doing if I were in Hank's position, but that's what made the book fun. I wanted to know how the story was going to end and what was going to happen to Hank and his wife. It also really made me think what I would do if I were to ever find several million dollars. Like that would ever happen...more
There were some parts that of course I didn't agree with or could see myself actually doing if I were in Hank's position, but that's what made the book fun. I wanted to know how the story was going to end and what was going to happen to Hank and his wife. It also really made me think what I would do if I were to ever find several million dollars. Like that would ever happen...more
Notice that I don't have any Bookshelf/Tags like "suspense," "thriller," or "painful"? That's because I Don't. Like. This. Kind. Of. Book. Well, every now and then I get out of my comfort zone and don't regret it--Beat the Reaper is a perfect example. But I think what redeemed BTR, despite its unpleasant heart-poundingness, was that it had a sly sense of humor. A Simple Plan has NO humor that I could find. My husband suggested I should read this because it was a pr...more
A contemporary morality tale about fear, greed, and grief that made me want to see the film again. (The screenplay by Scott Smith, the book's author, is quite simplified as compared to the novel, which has one horrific and unexpected twist or turn after another.) This suspense-filled tale of human frailty and rationalization presents characters who are almost too real, thereby drawing you in and making you empathize, despite their foolhardiness and various other flaws--or maybe because of them. ...more
I'm with those who thought this book was gripping and intriguing. You could see it as a book with an obvious moral, and/or about people making stupid decisions. But I thought it portrayed the way decisions were made in a brilliantly complicated, unclear way. The actions especially of the narrator sometimes seem to take place in spite of him, or happen as he observes with apparent detachment, or just seem to him inescapably logical and inevitable. But he then has to keep persuading himself they w...more
Made into a movie with Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton in 1998, A Simple Plan is a book that poses a simple question - what would you do if you stumbled upon a fortune? I never saw the movie, but I just may rent it now. This novel is actually a really good read. Interesting, horrifying, and tragic. A group of three men come across the wreckage of a small plane in a field. Inside, they discover a dead pilot and a duffel bag with 4.4 million dollars. Two of the men want to split the money...more
I am very reluctant to read "suspense" novels. I have a high standard for the genre and I find that I am seldom satisfied. As luck would have it a friend gave me this book, so I was obligated to read it. It turned out to be quiet possibly the best suspense novel I've read in years and certainly one of the best books I've read this year. Simply written, with simple characters, each with simple motives, this was an engrossing story which I gave my undivided attention. I was also ple...more
On an afternoon jaunt, Hank, his brother, and a friend accidentally discover a wrecked plane. Inside they find the dead pilot and a sack containing four million dollars. The men know that they should notify the authorities, but instead they devise a foolproof scheme for keeping the money. They will hide it for one year, tell no one, live normally, and then divide the loot into three equal portions. Nothing can go wrong with such a simple plan-or can it?
This book was okay. Graphic, b...more
This book was okay. Graphic, b...more
I was drawn in by the premise of the book: 3 ordinary guys find a lot of money in a wrecked airplane, and make the decision to keep it for themselves. The book spiraled down from there, with the plot of whatever-can-go-wrong-will-go-wrong at times trite and predictable, and at others far-fetched to the point of being farcical. The writing is flat and styleless. Despite all that, I will admit that it was hard to put down, but that may have just been because I was so eager to get to the end of ...more
Well written with great pacing and plenty of twists.
I liked Hank at the beginning, but by the end my opinion had soured. For some reason when he did away with his brother's dog the way he did, I was hoping Hank would go to jail. By this time I had become numb to the killings of humans. (Another unexpected emotion of myself.)
This is one of those books that makes you think about what you would do under similar circumstances. How the power of peer pressure and greed can ...more
I liked Hank at the beginning, but by the end my opinion had soured. For some reason when he did away with his brother's dog the way he did, I was hoping Hank would go to jail. By this time I had become numb to the killings of humans. (Another unexpected emotion of myself.)
This is one of those books that makes you think about what you would do under similar circumstances. How the power of peer pressure and greed can ...more
It began wonderfully, but by the first third of the book, I was becoming annoyed at the over-the-top noirishness, and the author's constant badgering of how else could the protagonist be expected to act? (Novel is in first person, and very quickly, I became annoyed by the protagonist's stupidity and greed). I have serious problems with noir when I can't emotionally identify/empathize with any of the characters. By halfway through, I was tired of the characters. I'm surprised I gave it as high a ...more
What does one do if you find 4.4 million dollars in hard cash? Just ask Hank Mitchell, a small town accountant who discovered the immense sum while out with his brother, Jacob, and his brother's friend, Lou.
It's simple, Hank assures the reader. Such an impressive sum of money couldn't be simply lost. Either it belonged to the dead pilot who's plane the three men discovered or it was stolen and happened to be on board. In either instance, people must know about the money. But, what if...more
It's simple, Hank assures the reader. Such an impressive sum of money couldn't be simply lost. Either it belonged to the dead pilot who's plane the three men discovered or it was stolen and happened to be on board. In either instance, people must know about the money. But, what if...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madison Mega-Mara...: A Simple Plan | 4 | 4 | Feb 07, 2012 06:15am | |
| Viskanta Readers: A good book | 4 | 14 | Nov 02, 2011 05:35pm |
Scott Bechtel Smith is an American author and screenwriter. He has published two suspense novels, A Simple Plan and The Ruins, and adapted them for the screen.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
(from wikipedia)
More about Scott B. Smith...
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
(from wikipedia)
Share This Book
1 trivia question
More quizzes & trivia...

Loading...

view 1 comment










































