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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
A lot
Multiple murders — the moral math of the crime escalates violently
Language
Some
Some strong language
Sexual Content
None
No sexual content
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
Very heavy
Hank's step-by-step rationalization of each new terrible decision; the way each choice narrows the available choices; the devastating final accounting
What this book is about
Hank Mitchell, his brother Jacob, and a friend stumble upon a crashed plane in the woods containing $4.4 million in cash. They decide to keep it and say nothing. Scott Smith's debut thriller is a precise, devastating study in how good intentions become impossible choices become catastrophic violence — a moral thriller that never lets anyone, including the reader, off the hook.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Multiple murders — each one more consequential than the last
Moral ratchet — the novel's genius is showing how good people make catastrophic choices
The ending — impossible and inevitable
Reader Verification
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