| Six years prior to the novel's main action, Romilia Chacon's older sister was murdered brutally by a serial killer, inspiring Romilia to enter the law enforcement profession. Now, just days after Romilia suffered from a knifing to the jugular (see Home Killings), the killer strikes again. As she recuperates, Romilia searches the Internet for anything that can lead her closer to bringing the killer to justice. Meanwhile, at his home in Guatemala, drug lord Rafael Murillo illegally downloads files from the FBI database pertaining to this killer as a means of thanking Romilia for saving his life with her injury. He is also attracted to her and would do anything, save changing his business plans to support her.
In her quest to find her sister's killer, Romilia will stop at nothing; she uses excessive force against a hostile witness and is suspended from duty. But, when she offers information about Murillo to the FBI agents in charge, she is reinstated with the power to work with the feds to catch the killer, who is murdering people with little delay. The rest of the novel provides a police procedural account of the chase through the United States, the search for clues and information (many literary references), and the ultimate showdown. The novel is told in three sections: Romilia's 1st person narrative, Murillo's 3rd person tale, and the killer's 3rd person account of why/how he commits murder. Villatoro gives readers an insight into the criminal mind as well as insight into the mind of a law enforcement official with an insatiable thirst for justice. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear) How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given Time/era of story: Misc. Murder Plotlets - killer purposefully leaves puzzle clues - Big focus on forensic evidence - Killer purposely leaves clues What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 80% Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 30 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 20's-30's Eccentric: Yes Motive of antagonist - insanity How sensitive is this character? Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters Setting United States Yes The US: - Southeast - Deep South - California Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - very gorey references to deaths/dead bodies and torture Explicit sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - vague references A lot of techno jargon? Yes Unusual forms of death - hanging Unusual form of death? Yes Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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