"A Simple Plan marks the astonishing debut of a natural born storyteller. It is a novel about a young man, unaware of his own moral fragility, who finds an immense cache of money - and makes a seemingly plausible decision that sets his hitherto "ordinary and ordered" life on the road to chaos and horror. " "He is Hank Mitchell - steady, solid, devoted husband, proud new father. He tells the story. It begins on a snowy winter afternoon. Hank is driving on a lonely country road with his brother, Jacob, and his brother's pal, when suddenly Jacob's dog leaps into the woods. Following him, the three men come upon the wreckage of a single-engine plane and the body of the pilot. Under the seat they find a duffel bag containing four million dollars in packets of hundred-dollar bills. Shocked, barely able to make sense of what they see, they try to puzzle out the right thing to do. They arrive at a seemingly simple plan, a plan that will enable them to hide, keep, and eventually share the fortune. They believe it will harm no one, put no one at risk. " "From the moment the plan is set in motion, Hank's orderly universe begins to crumble. He is constantly on the watch, trying to prevent his partners - his brother, his brother's pal, and, ultimately, his wife - from making impulsive or careless moves, triggered by panic or even impatience, that could endanger them all. But soon, himself panicked by his brother's stupidity and confusion, Hank commits a murder. And his nightmare begins. " "Riveting, highly charged at its core, told with extraordinary clarity, coolness, and restraint, Scott Smith's story of a man driven to acts previously unthinkable seizes the reader and never lets go. It will be compulsively read and everywhere talked about. "--Jacket.