Book Review
of Crashers Sponsored by Virtual Book Tours
Welcome to Books, Books, and More Books. I am pleased to share my review of this book
with you. Thank you for visiting and
please come again.
Crashers: A Tale of Cappers and Hammers
Lindy S. Hudis
crime fiction/suspense
290 pages
Blurb
:
Fraudulent car accidents is a multi-million dollar racket,
involving unscrupulous medical providers, personal injury attorneys, and the cooperating passengers
involved in the accidents—and who also receive a portion of the illegal
proceeds. Such is the fate of newly engaged, Nathan and Shari, whose joy is
tempered by the dark cloud of mounting debt.
A chance encounter with a stranger in whom Shari confides
her troubles proves fortuitous: he tells her of a get-rich-quick scheme that
will put her and her fiancé on easy street. Seduced by the chance to move from
hard times to good times in no time, Shari takes the carrot offered her, and
finds herself acting as a “stuffed passenger”—the “victim” in a staged auto
accident. The act goes according to plan and Shari gets her payday, but getting
out and breaking free of the insurance fraud underworld will take nothing short
of a miracle.
About the
Author:
Lindy
S. Hudis is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She
is the author of a suspense novel, Weekends. Her screenplay “The Lesson” was
made into an independent film and was screened at the Seattle Independent Film
Festival and Cine-Nights in 2000. She lives in California with her husband and
two children.
Contacts:
Vocabulary:
The
real-world vocabulary of the capper world:
Capper—The
person responsible for recruiting stuffed passengers who will be used to submit
fraudulent claims to the insurance companies. Cappers are typically paid a
percentage of the total receipts from the false claims. The cappers supply
cooperating passengers for the participating attorneys and medical providers.
Stuffed
Passengers—Individuals are recruited to make false claims regarding their
involvement in automobile accidents. They are typically coached as to the
details of the staged or fictitious collisions and resulting fictitious
injuries.
Nail Car—The
term used for the victim vehicle involved in the staged accident that is hit by
the hammer car. The vehicle is often stuffed with passengers, who then file the
fraudulent claims with the assistance of legal professionals.
Hammer Car—The
term for the “at fault” vehicle in a staged accident that hits the nail car.
This car is typically insured, and the insurer is often defrauded of an average
of $6000 per claimant per accident.
Kickback—The
fees paid to cappers by unethical attorneys and medical providers for the
referral of accidents. These payments are often made in cash to conceal them
from investigators.
Excerpt:
Chapter 1
For KXXX TV and KXXX AM Radio News, this is Katie Carlson
with your mid-morning eye-in-the-sky traffic report, and it’s an easy one: It’s
messed up EVERYWHERE! So far, the 405 South is backed up all the way to the
101. So, if you are going into Hollywood this morning, you are going to be late
for that audition. Also, there is an injury crash on the Eastbound 10. So, if
you are heading into downtown LA, you might want to bring a magazine or get some
knitting done. If you are going to LAX, forget it, call mom back east and tell
her you will be driving out instead. Just Kidding! Any way, this is Katie
Carlson with the Los Angeles mid-morning traffic report. Enjoy your
commute everybody, NOT!
* * *
As the blare of the clock radio on the night table jolted
her awake, Shari Barnes rubbed her eyes, blew her long brown hair out of
her face, and snuggled into Nathan Townsend’s chest. She curled her body around
his middle and took a deep whiff of his salty, masculine neck.
But she couldn’t ignore the voice on the radio.
“Monday morning traffic,” she sighed.
Nathan matched the sigh and put his arms around her. “At
least you don’t have to drive over the hill.”
“Yeah, I would just die if I had to drive into Beverly
Hills every day to work in a beautiful office.” Shari giggled and disappeared
under their thick blue comforter for a few more moments of sleepy-headed bliss.
She felt Nathan stretch up, and a moment later the radio shut off. Then he slid
down next to her in the single bed they shared in their Studio City apartment,
a few blocks north of Ventura Boulevard. The constant drone and rumble of
another L.A. morning came clearly through the open window: cars honking, rock
music blaring, the frantic scurrying sounds of the film shoot a few blocks
away. Shari ran her bare feet up the inside of Nathan’s thigh.
He jumped. “Shit, your feet are cold.” He pushed her legs
off of him.
“What time is it?” she murmured between kisses.
“Um, seven.” He nuzzled her neck and she felt him becoming
erect against her.
“No time for that!” She threw off the covers. “Gotta be at
work on time for once; gotta get my asp out of bed.”
“There’s a snake in the bed?” Nathan grabbed her with both
hands and gave her belly gentle nips.
“Yeah, of the one-eyed variety.” Shari leaped to the floor
and padded naked into the bathroom. She turned the hot water in the shower to
high and stepped in, filling the small bathroom with steam.
She had just poured a green drop of shampoo into her palm
and was running her hands together when the flimsy yellow and white shower
curtain flew back and Nathan grinned in at her. She smiled back, surprised by
neither his arrival nor the partial hard-on that preceded him.
“Mind if we join you?” he asked.
“There’s enough shampoo for everybody,” Shari said as she
rubbed her hands across her scalp.
He stepped into the stall, pulled the curtain closed and
began to lather her hair for her. She put her hands on his back, feeling the
taut muscles and the water streaming there, but did not reach down between
them. It took him about five seconds to realize it and hold her away.
“You okay?”
“Fine….”
“Don’t lie; I can always tell when you have something on
your mind.”
“You know me better than I know me,” she said.
“You know it.” He pushed her wet hair over her shoulders.
“Come on, give.”
“I was thinking maybe I should get a second job.”
“You’re worrying about money again?”
“Well, I have to shoot my student thesis film this year or I
won’t graduate. But where am I going to get the money I need?”
“How much do you need?”
“At least five figures.”
Book Review:
I found
this book difficult to read because I actually know a couple people who were
victims of this type of crime, so just having someone was contemplating this
kind of upset me a little at first. It
probably didn’t help that book started slow.
Once the story picked up, those little uncomfortable thoughts vanished
as the story wrapped me in and tantalized me.
I give
this story 4.5 out of 5 clouds.
This
product or book may have been distributed for review; this in no way affects my
opinions or reviews.
No comments:
Post a Comment