Today, Emily is happy to be a part of the Crazy Dangerous Blog Tour
hosted by YA Bound.
Find the other tour stops here.
Crazy Dangerous by Andrew Klavan
Release Date: May 1, 2012
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
330 Pages
"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.
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Review:
Recte Age Nil Time.
Do Right. Fear Nothing.
Crazy Dangerous? More like Crazy Awesome!
This was one of the strangest, coolest books I've read this year. Some elements are more middle grade than young adult, but I really enjoyed it. I only put the book down once and that was to go to sleep. (I couldn't help it, I was exhausted.)
The narrator is great. Our main character, Sam Hopkins, has a very funny voice. I don't mean that literally. I mean that reading from his perspective was very fun. Even during the dark parts of this book, I was able to find humor with him. He's a great young man. His only fault is his need to fit in, though that is completely understandable, especially for his age group. He's so sincere and caring. I don't see how he couldn't have any real friends - until you add in the fact that he lives in a small town and his father is a well-known priest. Yikes.
Our other major character is Jennifer. And God love her, you feel horrible for her, too. Her situation is much worse than the main character's, but she doesn't really care because she has her brother and her friend and hero, Sam. After he saves her from some awful bullies, Jennifer really begins to rely on Sam. She believes that he will keep the monsters away. The monsters that she sees when she's alone, ones that she is powerless to stop on her own. Jennifer has mental issues, but she's such a sweetheart that you can't help but really care for her.
Mystery is the basis of this novel. Things are happening in this small town that Sam lives in and he and Jennifer are the only ones that can stop them. Enter the shockers. The twists in this story are legitimately crazy. Like smack-you-in-the-face crazy. Personally, I didn't see them coming. And I love that! I love when stories can weave a great plot AND cause some genuine surprise.
There were some weird font and set-up issues in the version I read, but since I received it through Netgalley, it may just be the fact that it's an unedited copy. There were also couple of grammar issues, but other than that, nothing stood out as seriously horrendous. My only swiggles with the book were minor. The author really favored some words and seemed at a loss for any synonyms at some points. i.e.: Four percent into the book, the author uses the word "thug" four times in one paragraph. The book also could've gone without all the modern references, most of them were about technology. But I was thrilled that Sam had a Kindle. My note on that was: "I love you."
Overall, this is a great mystery for young adults. It is one book that focuses more on friendship than love, which is not common in YA books nowadays. I would really recommend this book to young adult and adult fans of mystery. It's fun and it's a stand alone novel. (I know, I'm in shock over it, too.) So go get yourself a copy of Crazy Dangerous!
I received a free e-copy of this novel from the publisher for a blog tour in exchange for my honest review.
Love the cover. Love the blurb. You sold me.
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