Crash and Burn
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4.9 • 14 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
Major streaming series coming soon to Hulu
Starring in the Hulu adaptation of this cult bestseller: Alex Fitzalan, Alex Wolff, Sebastian Chacon, and Camila Perez.
On April 21, 2008, Steven "Crash" Crashinsky saved more than a thousand people when he stopped his classmate David Burnett from taking their high school hostage armed with assault weapons and high-powered explosives.
You likely already know what came after for Crash: the nationwide notoriety, the college recruitment, and, of course, the book deal. What you might not know is what came before: a story of two teens whose lives have been inextricably linked since grade school, who were destined, some say, to meet that day in the teachers' lounge of Meadows High.
And what you definitely don't know are the words that Burn whispered to Crash right as the siege was ending, a secret that Crash has never revealed.
Until now.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Hassan's gritty but ponderous first novel, ADHD sufferer Steven "Crash" Crashinsky has become a local hero, having stopped his sometimes friend David from shooting up their high school. Steven has been offered a major book deal, sans ghostwriter and with a two-month deadline, and as the apathetic student and pothead attempts to write, he reflects on his history with David over the years, as well as drugs, booze, learning disabilities, school, family, and his constant quest for sex (which often includes getting girls drunk). Over the course of 12 years, readers see abusive parents and teachers, school pranks, divorce, death, 9/11, a suicide attempt, and more. Hassan effectively conveys the numbing influence of drugs and alcohol on Steven's life and the messy social relationships of young adulthood, with a tone that blends ennui with an undercurrent of aggression. However, the most compelling and painful aspect of the novel Steven's complex and sometimes sinister connection with David isn't satisfactorily explored. That Steven's eventual redemption comes at the hands of another tragedy may strike readers as anticlimactic rather than profound. Ages 14 up.
Customer Reviews
Crash And Burn
A combination of Tom Sawyer, Catcher in the Reye, and Tom Wolfe (with his gift of writing about contemporary social issues), and the authors gift for fine writing with humor makes this one of the better books of the last several years. Reward yourself and read it now. Few will be disappointed and for others, read it again and again until you get it.
GW
Brilliant
Hassan has gone where no other writer has gone before. Brilliant. Best book I've read in ages.