Scott Smith Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Scott Smith is an entertainment, mystery and thriller, and horror fiction author that is best known for his debut novel “A Simple Plan” which was published in 1993.

The author was born in 1965 in Summit, New Jersey but the family moved to Toledo in Ohio when Smith was still a child.

Smith was born to Doug and Linda Smith and told a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review journalist that he used to read his father’s castoffs and the novels of Jack Higgins and Clive Cussler as a child.
Some other works that he read while he was growing up included Stephen King and Ray Bradbury. Even at that very young age, he had strong creativity and could create places that were not found in the real world.

After he graduated from Columbia University and Dartmouth College with an MFA in writing, he decided to become a full-time author.

The screen adaptation of his debut novel was nominated for an Academy Award while the screenplay won the National Board of Review Award and the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award.
“The Ruins” which was his second novel was also adapted into a film in 2008. It got high praise as Stephen King called it the best horror novel since the turn of the century.
In 2016, TNT announced that Civil a new TV series about the second American Civil War created by Scott Smith had received the green light.

Smith also wrote the TV adaptation of “The Peripheral” originally penned by William Gibson. As the creator of the TV series, Scott Smith acted as executive showrunner and producer while the pilot of the series will be directed by Vincenzo Natali.

In conversations, Scott Smith comes across as a modest Midwestern man who surprisingly lives in New York City, one of the most thriving metropolises in the world.

He always loved writing growing up but never thought he could make a living as a writer. During his childhood in Ohio, writing was not something that people believed was a serious career path.

While he is very distractible, he is also the same fellow that graduated from Columbia and penned A Simple Plan. It was a mesmerizing work of harrowing morality that ended with the murder of nine people.
As such, it may be argued that perhaps some darker and deeper current may be flowing through Scott Smith’s veins.

He loves to call some kind of effervescent ice water which is what makes it possible for him to live comfortably in New York just as he used to in the Midwest.

He has said that Elizabeth Hill his wife who he met in graduate school is usually the reader he has in his mind when he is penning his works. The reason for this is that she is often the first person to read anything the writes.
Nonetheless, he has also said that Elizabeth is not his ideal reader as she is yet to finish reading any of his works. He believes this is because his works often make her very uncomfortable.

Scott Smith’s novel “The Ruins” has to be one of the best crime novels out there. The work came more than a dozen years after the release of “A Simple plan” in 1993 but it is clear that the author never lost any of his chutzpah.
The concept in this novel is pretty simple as it asserts that whenever idiots head to some place they should not go some bad stuff will inevitably happen.

In this instance, two boy-girl couples from an American college have gone on vacation in Mexico. It is here that they meet and connect with a bunch of tourists from across the globe.
Mathis is a German tourist who tells them a story of how his younger brother had fallen for some woman and proceeded to follow her to an archeological dig in the third world.

He is now going to the jungle hoping to get back his brother before he heads home. Some Greek fellow and several Americans decided to follow him as they head on an impromptu adventure, using a hand-drawn map of the supposed location.

A bunch of ill-equipped and unprepared tourists proceeds to head into the forest hoping for the best. Soon enough, they are trapped inside the jungle as they have to battle injuries, hunger, and thirst.
Ultimately, they may have to consider extreme actions just for the sake of survival.

“A Simple Plan” by Scott Smith is a pretty simple story with a very simple plan.

Two brothers and their friend stumble upon the wreckage of a plane with a lot of money inside. They take the money and keep it for six months and then split it up hoping they can finally live happily ever after.

It sounds like a brilliant plan and they show exceptional patience as they wait for half a year to see if anyone will come looking for the money. It does seem that no one found the plane and comes looking for the money after six months.

It makes for a heartwarming story in the mold of Tiger’s Neighborhood as it extols the virtues of sharing with family and friends and the beauty of patience.

The story is narrated from the perspective of the keeper of the cash Hank. He is the most level-headed of the characters and often wonders just how much he can trust Lou and Jacob who are both out of work and drink too much.

Will they keep the secret and stick to the plan they had all agreed to? Through the lead’s narration, we are privy not only to what may happen next in the story but also get insights into Hank’s mindset over time.

He increasingly has anxieties and doubts about his co-conspirators, which only gets worse when he tells his wife the secret and Lou also tells his girlfriend.
Watching as things play out over the weeks is like watching a movie of a train wreck even as it is so engrossing one cannot look away.