Crazy Dangerous Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway!

 

Crazy Dangerous

Author: Andrew Klavan

Genre: YA/Paranormal

Release Date: May 1, 2012

Goodreads Summary:

"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.  

Review:

"Do right. Fear nothing."

This is the first book I've read by Andrew Klavan and I certainly wasn't disappointed. Crazy Dangerous is an incredibly well written thriller/mystery that is fast paced and addicting to read. The plot twists keep the reader guessing until the end of the book, making this a great page turner. Aside from dealing with normal teen issues of popularity, bullying, friendship and family, the novel also provides a unique look into mental illness and schizophrenia as well as the tough topic of morals and ethics.

The story is told mostly from Sam's point of view, although at times we get to see into the troubled mind of Jennifer as well. By using Sam as the narrator, we are able to see his character grow and change drastically throughout the book. At the beginning, Sam is just seen as the PK (the preacher's kid) and is always trying to be perfect. As the story progresses, we see Sam begin to trust his intuition more and to take risks that could, and usually do, result in bad things happening. His motto throughout the book is "Do right. Fear nothing." This phrase perfectly reflects the change in Sam's character and also is a great moral lesson to readers. 

There were also some religious ideas mixed into the story, but these fit in well with the plot because Sam's father was a pastor. The characters question important things like evil in the world, faith, and why God would allow suffering and pain. Also, through Jennifer's character, we see the questions of if God ever leaves us and why he lets bad things happen. These are very worthwhile questions for readers of all age to ponder and along with the other moral lessons in the book, there is much going on beneath the surface of this extraordinary young adult thriller.

In all honesty, I had this book on my wishlist before I signed up for the tour. The description sounded really interesting and I thought it would be something I would enjoy reading. After reading the ebook copy of Crazy Dangerous, I am very glad I trusted my instincts about this book and I loved it so much that I'm hoping to get a hardcover copy for my shelf so I can read it again! I highly recommend this book to readers of all ages who enjoy paranormal, thrillers, mysteries, suspense, YA, and just really fascinating plots with awesome writing.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for the tour in exchange for an honest review.

About the Author:

 

Award winning author, screenwriter and media commentator Andrew Klavan is the author of such internationally bestselling novels as True Crime, filmed by Clint Eastwood, and Don’t Say A Word, filmed starring Michael Douglas. Andrew has been nominated for the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award five times and has won twice. His books have been translated around the world. His latest novel for adults, The Identity Man, has been praised by Nelson Demille as “fast paced, intelligent and thought-provoking; a great read!” Television and radio host Glenn Beck says “Andrew Klavan never disappoints…one of the best illustrations of the power of redemption that I’ve ever read.” His last novel Empire of Lies was about media bias in the age of terror, and topped Amazon.com’s thriller list. Andrew has also published a series of thrillers for young adults, The Homelanders, which follows a patriotic teenager’s battle against jihadists. The books have been optioned to be made into movies by Summit Entertainment, the team behind the mega-successful Twilight film series.

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