Rundown

by Michael Cadnum

Sophisticated teens will savor this psychological thriller by the author of Calling Home and In a Dark Wood. Set in the wealthy, self-indulgent Northern California culture that teens may interpret as the dark side of Clueless, Michael Cadnum skewers with deadly accuracy obsessions with body image, exquisite food, and the right clothes--and reveals the unspoken rage of kids who are given everything but attention. Cadnum's oblique but concrete style works to great advantage in this enigmatic story as he uses vivid images to convey experience--sights, sounds, smells, and tastes--but leaves the motivations of characters blank for the reader to fill in.

We witness Jennifer jogging at dusk, coolly flinging herself into the thorny blackberry brambles, tumbling down a slope, pausing to slam her hand against a pole, and then continuing up the road to find a police car and report that she has been the victim of an attempted rape. But why has she so carefully constructed this lie? Is it aimed at her beautiful and preoccupied parents, her domineering older sister, the boyfriend who has moved away, or her own emptiness? The deception soon takes over her life, and as a police detective backs her into a corner, Jennifer realizes there is only one way out. (Ages 14 and older) --Patty Campbell

Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Book Club

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Michael Cadnum has had a number of jobs over the course of his life, including pick-and-shoveler for the York Archaeological Trust, in York, England, and substitute teacher in Oakland, California, but his true calling is writing. He is the author of thirty-five books, including the National Book Award finalist The Book of the Lion. His Calling Home and Breaking the Fall were both nominated for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Award. He is a former Creative Writing Fellow of the National Endowment for the Arts. Also a poet, he has received several awards, including Poetry Northwest's Helen Bullis Prize and the Owl Creek Book Award. Michael lives in Albany, California, with his wife Sherina.

Reviews

[Jody · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a stinking pile of horse crap.

Almost right away you discover that this is a book about a girl who makes a false claim of attempted rape. So, right away I was on edge because anything that implies that false claims are common, or that victims tend to lie about being raped, makes me angry. But I told myself to calm down and give it a chance. I questioned myself if I thought that no one should ever be able to write about a false rape claim, ever. This was actually the best part of the book - when I stopped reading and really examined my feelings about how sexual assaults and victims should be portrayed.

Anyway, maybe there is a book that could handle this subject, but good god this wasn't it. The writing was so, so bad. Jarring transitions between scenes, awkward word choices, no character development, bizarre dialog and descriptions. Just so bad. The plot was horrible, but so was everything else.

An example of the awkward word choices - who the hell calls a treadmill a "running machine"? No one.

I read this book after weeding it because of the picture of the runner on the cover. This is another book that is going into the garbage rather than the Friends book sale because it is just that bad. After finishing it I looked in our library's catalog to see if we had any other books by the same author, just so I could weed those too.

[Gabrielle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thus far the worst book I have ever read in YA fiction. The plot had potential, Jennifer Thayer, daughter of a restauranteur/ranch dressing maker, files a fake police report for an attempted rape that didn't happen, all because she didn't get the same attention that her darling sister Cassandra was getting. The ending was absolutely horrible! What was the message? Tell the truth after all, but before you do, take a bunch of pills and try to commit suicide?! Absolutely not to recommending this book! Then the book's focus shifted from fake reporting on attempted rapes to 'dad gets me a new horse' to 'Quinn's dad live in Las Vegas but hates it there and oh, I want to get back together because you were almost attacked, to ' Cassandra has the perfect man in the world and wants a wildlife photographer to be her wedding photographer'. Like....what? As a reader, we never had the opportunity to see if whether or not Jennifer told the truth about what happened on her run. It was never discussed if Jennifer had an illness or not. Why did she lie? Why would she lie? Her parents are well off. Was she bored? Did she live for the dramatics? Was this a Marcia/Jan Brady situation where Jennifer just 'had to have a spotlight' for once!? The only decent part of the book was when the Detectives questioned her in the car and at the station (when they told her that she made it all up and that she could get a felony for filing a false report) and quite honestly, the fact that Jennifer's character decided to get 'angry' at the Detectives because of her 'lie' instead of just saying "you know what? I made it all up" and call it a day. Instead, she kept the tom foolery going, which lets me know that she didn't learn anything, her character didn't develop into a character that realizes that her actions were wrong. If I were to recommend a book to students that have dealt with being harassed or assaulted sexually, this wouldn't be the book. The book's tone indicates that the character was content with keeping up with her lie and when she got 'caught', she then contemplated that she was going to end her life instead of being accountable for her actions. This book should be weeded and not considered a title to book talk with students, including my reluctant readers. I would rather book talk titles with better messages than this mess. Again, I want to state that this was the worst book I have ever read and I will not be book talking this title with any student. I cannot believe that I actually wasted my time with this mess. - GW

[Monica Caldicott]

Read p. 1

Jennifer Thayer's plan continues through her finding a police officer and reporting that she'd been attacked while running in the southern California hills near her home. Everyone believes her because a serial rapist has been on the loose, and other young women have been attacked as well.

But why would Jennifer make it up? Her older sister, Cassandra, is gorgeous and successful and as the bride-to-be is the center of all attention. Her father doesn't talk to her much anymore, preferring to spend too much time with someone with whom he just might be having an affair. And Jennifer's mother, well, let's just say there's not much of a relationship there.

So Jennifer likes being in the role of a hero, someone who fought off a would-be attacker. Heck, she even winds up on the 11 o'clock news.

But now the detectives are asking even more questions, and Jennifer starts to feel she is the guilty one they are looking for.

[Madeleine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible book. Did not keep my attention at all. Not recommended.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jennifer Thayer is almost invisible in her family. She lives completely in her sister Cass's shadow. And with Cass's wedding in the near future, she's been ignored.

Maybe that's what leads her to report a crime that never happened. Throwing herself down a hill of brambles and crashing into a lamppost, she convinces the police she has been accosted by the latest rapist in the area - and that she subsequently fought back.

Her story wins her attention in the local media, and from her parents and boyfriend. But things take a turn for the worse when the detectives on her case have more questions to ask her.

I almost put this book down halfway through it. Jennifer must be a spoiled brat - she has everything she could possibly want from her rich family, but craves the attention her sister is getting because of her wedding. I lost interest after she told her story to the cops, because shortly after, she begins contemplating suicide, and planning her attempts. It seemed pointless...

[Mike O'connor · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't say I enjoyed this book at all. The characters are very unentertaining and almost annoying in how unaware they are of the context around them. In fact, Jennifer Thayer isn't very likable as the main character, and that's not a good sign. Even when Jennifer goes through her whole ordeal (which wasn't as detailed and climatic as I thought it would be), she doesn't show any change as a person at all, really. Nothing was really offered to like in particular about this book. There aren't any lessons to be learned that aren't completely obvious to anybody more than 10 years old.

The author draws the book out in such a boring way. Jennifer just aimlessly lives life with a huge weight on her shoulder, though nothing indicates that it's pinning her down like the book says she's supposed to be. I don't think it was told very well. I certainly wouldn't recommend this book to anybody.

[Taylor Thornton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rundown is a realistic fiction book. It is about a girl named Jennifer Thayer that reports a fake crime, and she was the victim. It catched back up to her in the end. Her mother had a job with the law, so that would be a little hard to get away with, but Jennifer did for a period of time. Jennifer had a plan all planned out, but it became a big deal. A big lie. I don't really enjoy reading, but this book did have me on the edge of my seat. It had a lot of suspence, but like all books it had it's boring parts. I liked this book, however, it did not meet my expectations. My favorite park of the book is when she actually plans and performs the crime. She makes herself victim to a rapist. The cover actually sold me to read this book. I got the book from the shelf and read the back of the book and it seemed interesting. Overall, I think this book is pretty good.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was good, but it was kind of annoying in the sense that it made all female teens look mellow dramatic and attention hungry. A girl tired of living in her super sister's shadow goes on a jog & throws herself into some thorny bushes. Afterwards she rus in front of a college campus security car to begin her lie. She tells the cops she'd been raped by the present cerial rapist in her area. She had a pessimistic internal conflict throughout the book. When the cops suspect shes lieing she gets even more paranoid then when she started the sherade. Her father leaves for work one day, she grabs all of his prescription drugs, some orange juice & goes on a jog where she hides & pops them all, right before she dies she calls 911 to tell them about her lie, what she'd done and how sorry she was.

[Kayleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rundown by Michael Cadnum is an amazing book about a girl that fakes a rape just to get attention for her family especially her parents. Soon after she reports the incident, the detective soon realizes that her story is messed up. The detective believes her family is abusing her. Throughout the story, Jennifer , the main character, is trying to cope with much shame for her action that night. Read this fantastic book to find out what happens to her.

The theme of this book is basically don't lie because she lies about a rape and the physical and mental pain increases as the story goes on. Lying is something that also catches up with you in the end. She learns throughout the book that her lie is something she can't live with forever.

This book is for every one that likes an adventure story because the story is a major adventure of Jennifer and her major rape lie

[Tori]

2001- Another book that was on my required reading list for school. It centers around jennifer thayer, daughter of two newly well-off parents who seem to care alot....about Jennifer's older ""perfect"" sister. to get attention, Jennifer fakes being assaulted, which brings on many more emotions then Jennifer counted on. At first, I found the fast-moving action exciting, and the set-up promising. I even could identify with Jennifer at some points. Then, however, the story hit a point where I just didn't care anymore. Too many side-plots that went nowhere were annoying. Not the best book I've read, but not the worst

[Mrs.Bendel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought that the beginning of the book was really exciting and my initial prediction was that the thrill-factor would continue throughout the book. However, that was not the case at all. The middle of the book was very slow-going and I lost interest pretty quickly. I did make myself finish the book, though, which just made me angry. The author leaves a lot of loose ends with Jennifer's best friend and ex-boyfriend, and then leaves the reader wondering what happened to her in the end. This ending did not satisfy me at all and I am glad that I am done reading this book. UGH.

[Tyler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't get the point of this book at all. Jennifer, in my opinion, is plain stupid. I can understand the fact that she faked an attack to gain attention from others, but then to not want the attention after telling the police about the "incident" made it a dumb idea from the start. She was either ambivalent about the idiosyncrasy she created, or is just retarded. Why would you seek attention if you can't be bothered by it? Overall, the book is decent, but the characters made it seem like it wasn't planned out... >:(

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

A girl crying rape, when in fact nothing happened except her parents ignoring her her whole life, a boyfriend who moved away, and a sister who is manipulative. The story is intriguing, just wish the writing could be as good.

I had rehearsed this in my mind, but doing it felt like just another fantasy. I beat my hands on the top of the police car. This had been what I had visualized with the greatest intensity, my opening lines.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not get this book. The girl fakes an attack, for attention I'm guessing, yet doesn't seem to want the attention. There is some implied abuse, lying and fabrication of and by the sister, but the thought is never completed. The book ends with her taking a bunch of pills then she runs to a phone to call the police woman that has made her life difficult. The summary states that she's running from herself. The book was missing the girl's conflicting dialogue and impending struggles.

[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

At the beginning, the book seemed interesting: A girl who feels like her sister's wedding is overshadowing fakes an attack. However, the plot has tons of plot holes. Chapter after chapter, you have no clue how it transitioned or what day it is. The book overall didn't make any sense. Probably one of the worst books I ever read.

[♥sara♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about a teenage girl named Jennifer who lives in a town that has a serial rapist. One night she is out running and she wants to pretend that she got raped for attention basically. This book is kind of boring but some people might like it. I'd recommend it to girls.

[Kendall Park · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boooo!!!!! >:( This book is HORRIBLE!!! The book was not planned out at all...it made me wonder why this book was even accepted into the library in the first place. It was that bad. I'm officially for the first time ever too angry for words...all I can do is glare and think angry thoughts.

[Kim Benouski · Rating 2 out of 5]

A whiny girl isn't getting enough attention so she pretends she is raped by a serial rapist. Need I say more?

[Abbie · Rating 1 out of 5]

ugh. I really did not enjoy this book. It was very dull.

[Rosanise · Rating 3 out of 5]

hard to follow, this plot was sorta confusing...

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book

[Sha'terra]

So far this book is pretty good!

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

didn't finish..really couldn't get into it and the library wanted it back

[Brenda]

This book is catching.

[Gail Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

a great tale, simply told... I enjoyed learning of this event in history

[Jen Jones]

Dud.

[Daniel Echa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This girl was really hungry for attention so she made up a scene where she lied that she got raped but really didn't, she just wanted to gain more attention than her sister.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you prefer books with likeable main characters and plots that are actually resolved, you'd be better off reading pretty much anything but this.