CRASHERS is a crime-thriller about a trio of reckless and impulsive young people who, by no fault of their own, get caught up in the seamy underworld of crime, violations and auto insurance fraud by staging car accidents to collect insurance blood money. They all suffer the nightmarish descent at the events inevitably spiral out of control. It’s a cautionary tale but also a character study about greed, desperation and eventually, redemption.
The story is set in Los Angeles, California, where I have been living for the past thirty-three years. This story could only have happened here with so much hustle, bustle and drama. There are so many cars and so much traffic here that driving is almost crazy! I was inspired to write this story because I was a victim of auto insurance fraud, so I came up with that idea. I learned that there are criminals out there who do this kind of thing for a living. So, I wrote about those people, who must be horrible and desperate.
The main characters are an innocent young couple planning a life together. They are good people who are deeply in love and hope to become married one day. They literally fall on very hard times, though no fault of their own, and become desperate. Shari is a film student at USC and Nathan is an ambitious, young accountant at a prestigious Beverly Hills firm. Both lost their jobs due to strange events and Shari winds up in a staged accident, unbeknownst to her at the time.
The attorney John Nastic is the one who runs this underground crime ring. He’s super intelligent and charismatic but has a dark underbelly to his personality. His employee Bryce is his scout, so to speak. He finds vulnerable people and exploits them, trapping them in the downward spiral of crime and fraud by promising them lots of cash. It helps that he is mysterious and sexy, too! I
wrote him like that on purpose!
My characters are unique in the since that my work is very character driven but also the story takes the characters of this horrific journey. It’s a combination of cautionary tale, suspense,
crime thriller and yet it is also a character study of what lengths people can and will go to when they are greedy and happen to get a taste of another life. If you are a fan of crime fiction, pulp novels and redemption, I do have to recommend by story. I have been told that it’s a page turner, and I’ll humbly accept the compliment.
I also have Crashers the screenplay. I entered it into the Sherman Oaks Screenplay Competition. The screenplay was an official selection and, although it didn’t win, we got great literary representation out of the contacts we made. Crashers is currently in development with Face 2 Face Productions, as our manager is also a producer. I am still very ambitious and have never given up on my Hollywood Dream. Many people have told me that it would make a great movie, so I acted on that advice. Crashers – The Feature Film is currently in development with Face 2 Face Productions.
Title: Crashers
Author: Lindy S. Hudis
Publisher: Project X Publishing
Publication Date: August 24, 2024
Pages: 269
Genre: Crime Thriller
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle, KindleUnlimited
How far would you go to get rich?
What if you were desperate? What if you were completely out of options? Would you cut in front of a sparkling, new Mercedes on the busy L.A. freeway and slam on the brakes? What if it were that easy?
Enter the world of Crashers…
The con is simple: Get in a car accident. Collect the insurance blood money. What could go wrong? That’s what Shari believed when she found herself in dire need of cash. When she meets the sexy and mysterious Bryce, the teaches her all about how to be a “capper.”
Soon, Shari realizes that by staging more of these accidents, she’ll have more money than she knows what to do with.
But as she becomes more and more obsessed with her strange new world, she discovers there’s no such thing as easy money. And what started out as a simple payout soon turns into a deadly game.
Read sample here.
Crashers is available at Amazon and is currently in film development with Face 2 Face productions.
She is the author of several titles, including her romance suspense novel, Weekends, her “Hollywood” story City of Toys, and her crime novel, Crashers. Her latest release, “Hollywood Underworld – A Hollywood Series” is the first installment of a crime, mystery series.
In addition, she has written several erotic short stories, including “The S&M Club”, “The Backstage Pass”, “Guitar God”, “The Guitarist”, and “The Mile High Club”.
Her short film “The Lesson”, which she wrote, produced and directed, has won numerous awards, including ‘Best Short Film’ at the Paris International Film Festival, The Beverly Hills Arthouse Film Festival and the San Francisco International Film Festival.
She is also an actress, having appeared in the indie film Expressionism, the television daytime drama “Sunset Beach”, also “Married with Children” , “Beverly Hills 90210” and the feature film “Indecent Proposal” . She and her husband, Hollywood stuntman Stephen Hudis, have formed their own production company called Impact Motion Pictures, and have several projects and screenplays in development. She lives in California with her husband and two children.
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