Crazy Dangerous by Andrew Klavan

“You probably want to hear about Jennifer and the demons and how I played chicken with a freight train and—oh yeah—the weird murder and how I found out about it—you’re definitely going to want to hear about that. But first, I have to tell you about the stupidest thing I ever did . . .”

Sam Hopkins is bored with his status as a preacher’s kid. So when a group of guys notorious for being in trouble offers him friendship, he accepts. Before long, he has several new skills—including hot-wiring cars.

At school, there’s an eccentric loner named Jennifer. When Sam defends her from being bullied, she begins to seek him out as her only friend. Her ramblings often seem illogical . . . but then start to contain grains of truth. One leads Sam to discover that one of his new friends has been killed. And then she tells him, “I’m looking for the devil.” Sam doesn’t know what that means, but he knows it’s a matter of life and death that he figure it out.

Everyone else thinks Jennifer is suffering from schizophrenia. But Sam is starting to wonder if there could be something prophetic in her words. Discovering the truth is going to be both crazy and dangerous.

When I first read the synopsis for Crazy Dangerous I was immediately hooked. I was so intrigued by the entire concept, so when I got the change to review it for this tour I immediately jumped on it. I’ve never read anything from Andrew Klavan before, but I often have heard him compared to Stephen King. That alone added to my initial curiosity.

When I began reading, I was hooked early on. Even being hooked, I found myself taking breaks from reading it to comprehend and process what I had just read. That’s not a typical reading habit of mine, so I’m not sure if it was just a mood thing or the fact the book was so, for lack of a better word…crazy.

Sam’s lived his entire life being the typical preacher’s kid. Doing what everyone expects and staying under the radar. He’s tired of this, so when given the chance to hang out with the “bad guys” in town, he’s game. Jennifer sees and hears things – demons in her hallway, skeletons, and other creepy things. After saving Jennifer from bullying, she decides Sam is her best friend and that he can save the world.

Crazy Dangerous focuses on what Jennifer is seeing and Sam’s decision that she isn’t as far out there as everyone thinks. Sam’s journey to uncover the truth is hectic and pretty dangerous. The entire story is suspense-filled and kept me wondering what was going on.

While Crazy Dangerous is told mainly from Sam’s point of view (in first-person), it also features chapters in third-person from Jennifer’s, giving a bit of “crazy” insight into what is going on. A fact that added so much to the suspense and scary factor of the book.

Crazy Dangerous is considered “Christian fiction”, but it is a very light factor in the story. It is more focused on mental illnesses and Sam’s self-discovery.

Lovers of books dealing with mental illnesses, told from male POV, and/or suspense are going to love Crazy Dangerous. Klavan has weaved quite an intense book that features some of my favorite “categories” into one.

I received my copy of Crazy Dangerous from the publisher and Litfuse in exchange for my honest opinion.

 

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