| After impressively winning a trial, Ben Kincaid is approached by an employee of Apollo Consortium, a huge amalgamation in Oklahoma, with an offer of employment. Apollo's eagerness to have Ben on board leaves Ben feeling somewhat uneasy, and Christina McCall, his legal assistant, thinks the offer is too good to be true. However, as Ben is still struggling in private practice, and Christina is also offered a position at Apollo to work for him, Ben accepts the offer.
From the time Ben starts working at Apollo, things are unsettling. He sees that his boss, Robert Crichton, head of the legal department, is abusive and unfair to his employees. Several of the lawyers in the legal department are also abusive and unfair to each other. Ben is already wondering what he has gotten into when late at night on the second day, he finds one of the lawyers in his office—dead! After Ben runs down the hall to call the police, he comes back and finds the body gone. However, the body shows up behind the boarding house where Ben lives, which makes Ben the prime suspect. Tulsa's Chief of Police, Chief Blackwell, plans to take Ben to the police station right away, but Ben tells Blackwell that he would be more valuable outside of jail and working at Apollo so that he can keep an eye on the employees and possibly find out who is the murderer. Since most of the police force has been assigned to investigate several murders of teenage girls, Blackwell agrees and gives Ben one week to find out who murdered the Apollo employee, or he will arrest Ben for the murder. Now Ben must do some heavy-duty sleuthing or will find himself in jail, maybe for life. | ||
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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: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 60% Murder of certain profession? Misc. Murder Plotlets - Proving innocence of very obvious suspect Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book descript. of violence and chases - 30 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - an organization Motive of antagonist - power The antagonists are: - government bureaucracy Setting United States Yes City? Yes Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths Explicit sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - vague references Unusual forms of death - decapitated Unusual form of death? Yes Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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