''A Simple Plan'' is a 1993 thriller novel by Scott Smith. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' review said the book had "emotional accuracy with an exceptionally skilled plot." A

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

, directed by

Sam Raimi Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the first three films in the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present) and the ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007). He also directed the super ...

, was released in 1998; according to the ''Times'' review, the novel is so dark that the story was adjusted to soften the ending.

Plot

Three men find an airplane crashed in a rural Northern Ohio forest. The pilot is dead and the cockpit contains a gym bag with $4.4 million in hundred dollar bills. They decide to keep the money, dividing it equally, but their plans go wrong when others come close to discovering their secret, resulting in multiple murders.

Critical reception

In its 1993 review, ''

'' called ''A Simple Plan'' a "beautifully controlled and disturbing first novel." The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' described the book as "a tragic journey as compelling, resolute and relentlessly grim as '' The Treasure of the Sierra Madre''."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simple Plan, A 1993 American novels American novels adapted into films American thriller novels Alfred A. Knopf books Novels set in Ohio Works by Scott Smith