Simon Lamar: Character Analysis of The Crash's Hidden Villain

Overview

Simon Lamar is the primary antagonist of Freida McFadden’s psychological thriller The Crash. A wealthy married businessman and real-estate developer, Simon uses his power, money, and charm to assault Tegan, then attempts to bury the crime behind a nondisclosure agreement. When Tegan refuses to be silenced, he escalates to attempted murder by hiring her own brother to sabotage her car. Simon embodies the intersection of privilege, predation, and cold calculation—a man who treats people as disposable obstacles to his own comfort.

Plot Role

Simon’s assault of Tegan at a ski‑lodge bar eight months before the main story sets the entire plot in motion. He is the unseen threat that Tegan initially believes is a one‑night stand; the discovery of pregnancy leads to a financial arrangement that she hopes will secure her baby’s future. When repressed memories of the rape resurface during the contract signing (Chapter 5), Simon shifts from a distant benefactor to a clear villain. He tears up the contract, threatens a defamation lawsuit, and leaves Tegan with nothing. Later, through his business partnership with Tegan’s brother Dennis, he funds the sabotage of Tegan’s car, causing the crash that strands her in a blizzard and ultimately leads to her captivity by Hank and Polly. Simon remains off‑page for much of the novel but is revealed in Chapter 66 as the mastermind behind the accident and the planned murder of Tegan in the hospital.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Simon’s primary motivation is self‑preservation of his reputation, marriage, and business empire. He is a man accustomed to control and entitlement.

Entitlement and Predation: The rape itself—drugging Tegan’s drink (Chapter 5)—demonstrates a belief that he can take what he wants without consequence. Later, during the contract meeting, he shows disgust toward Tegan’s pregnancy (“[looks] down at my belly with undisguised disgust” – Chapter 5) and refers to the condom failure as grounds for a lawsuit, framing his victim as the source of his inconvenience.
Manipulation Through Wealth: Simon offers a “generous” NDA payment not out of remorse but as a tool to buy silence. Chapter 3 shows that he refused even to meet Tegan after the paternity test; he used his lawyer Jackson as a buffer to avoid accountability.
Cruelty and Vengefulness: When Tegan refuses to sign (Chapter 6), Simon immediately tears up the contract and threatens to “destroy [her] in court” for defamation. Rather than let the matter drop, he actively conspires with Dennis to make the problem “go away” permanently—first through a car accident, then, when she survives, through a lethal morphine injection in the hospital (Chapter 66).
Cowardice: Simon never confronts Tegan directly after the signing. He works through intermediaries—Jackson to deliver cash, Dennis to tamper with the brakes—revealing a man unwilling to dirty his own hands.

These traits are established through his actions, not authorial commentary. The narrative consistently shows Simon using his status to evade direct responsibility.

Chronological Arc

The Encounter (8 Months Before the Novel): Simon meets Tegan at a bar near Snow Mountain ski resort. He is charming; Tegan has only a vague memory of returning to her hotel room.
The NDA Offer (3 Months Before the Novel): After Tegan sees Simon on TV and a paternity test confirms his fatherhood, Simon sends Jackson to offer a large sum in exchange for silence. Tegan accepts.
The Contract Signing (Present Day, Chapter 5): Simon arrives at Tegan’s apartment. His cologne triggers a repressed memory of the rape. Tegan accuses him; he denies everything, tears up the contract, and leaves.
The Conspiracy (Off‑stage, Chapter 66): Simon uses his business partnership with Dennis to order the brake‑line sabotage, promising to cancel the resort deal if Tegan reports him.
The Crash (Chapter 9): Tegan’s car loses braking ability and hits a tree, leading to her four‑day captivity.
The Hospital Attempt (Chapter 66): Dennis, at Simon’s direction, attempts to inject a lethal dose of morphine into Tegan’s IV. He is stopped by Polly in disguise.
Arrest: By the end of the novel, Detective Maxwell confirms that Simon is in custody, facing charges for the assault and the attempted murder plot (Chapter 66).

Relationships

With Tegan: The most significant relationship is that of predator and prey. Simon views Tegan as a problem to be managed. Even the NDA offer is framed as a business transaction. After the assault is revealed, any pretense of civility vanishes; he threatens her future and her life.
With Dennis (Tegan’s Brother): Simon and Dennis are business partners. Simon leverages Dennis’s resentment of Tegan and his greed to turn him into a co‑conspirator. Dennis sabotages the car and attempts the hospital murder because Simon holds the resort deal as leverage.
With Jackson Bruckner: Jackson is Simon’s lawyer, initially tasked with “handling” Tegan. Simon trusts Jackson to deliver cash and negotiate the NDA, but Jackson eventually discovers another victim of Simon’s and, just before the crash, is trying to tell Tegan that he plans to go to the police. Simon’s relationship with Jackson is purely transactional and ultimately backfires when Jackson testifies or cooperates with the detective.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Decision: To drug and rape Tegan.
Consequence: Pregnancy, which leads to the NDA demand and eventually to Tegan’s refusal to be silenced. The crime itself makes Simon a target of investigation.
Decision: To tear up the contract rather than negotiate.
Consequence: Tegan goes to the police. Simon escalates to lethal measures.
Decision: To hire Dennis to sabotage the car.
Consequence: The crash nearly kills Tegan and her baby; it also strands her with Hank and Polly, whose own scheme to steal the baby further complicates the plot. The brake failure provides direct evidence of tampering.
Decision: To order the hospital morphine injection.
Consequence: Dennis is caught, leads police to Simon, and ensures that Simon faces justice for both the assault and the attempted murder.

Each decision narrows Simon’s options and reduces his plausible deniability. By Chapter 66, he has no escape.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Captivity and Control (Captivity and Control theme page): Simon’s attempt to control Tegan through an NDA and later through violence mirrors the physical captivity she later endures in Polly’s basement. He represents the invisible cage of wealth and threat that surrounds her before the crash.
Betrayal and Trust (Betrayal and Trust theme page): The ultimate betrayal is family: Simon turns Tegan’s brother against her. The trust Tegan had in Dennis—her lifelong protector—is shattered because Simon offered a business deal.
Moral Ambiguity and Justice (Moral Ambiguity and Justice theme page): Simon’s arrest is clear justice, but the narrative complicates it: Tegan chooses not to report Polly and Hank, who also victimized her but saved her life. Simon’s absolute villainy contrasts with the gray morality of other characters.
Survival and Vulnerability (Survival and Vulnerability theme page): Simon exploits Tegan’s economic vulnerability (poverty, single motherhood) to try to pressure her into silence. His wealth is a weapon that makes her survival more difficult.

Simon’s character also symbolically represents the system of privilege that allows predators to evade accountability—a system that, in this story, is finally broken when a victim with nothing left to lose refuses to settle.

Book‑Specific Questions and Answers

1. Why does Simon Lamar offer Tegan an NDA instead of accepting responsibility for the assault?
Simon’s priority is protecting his reputation and his marriage. An NDA hides the paternity and the rape from his wife, the public, and the press. He refuses to acknowledge the assault because doing so would destroy his carefully constructed life.

2. How does Simon react when Tegan accuses him of rape during the contract signing?
He denies it immediately, calling her claim “preposterous” (Chapter 6). He tears up the contract, threatens to sue her for defamation, and leaves with Jackson, making it clear he will use his resources to silence her through legal intimidation.

3. What role does Simon play in the car crash that nearly kills Tegan?
Simon pays Tegan’s brother Dennis to cut the brake hose on her car the night before the crash (Chapter 66). The slow fluid leak causes complete brake failure, sending her car into a tree during a blizzard. He intended the crash to kill her or at least end her pregnancy.

4. Does Simon Lamar ever face consequences for his crimes?
Yes. Detective Maxwell confirms in Chapter 66 that Simon is in custody. Jackson cooperates with the investigation, and the evidence from Dennis’s confession, the tampered brake line, and the attempted morphine injection ensures Simon will be held accountable for assault, conspiracy, and attempted murder.

5. Why does Simon choose Dennis as his co‑conspirator rather than a stranger?
Simon already has a business partnership with Dennis, so he knows Dennis’s financial ambitions and his long‑standing resentment toward Tegan over a childhood accident that ruined his ski career. By threatening to cancel the resort‑funding deal, Simon turns Dennis’s greed and bitterness into a weapon—a more deniable and personal way to eliminate the problem.