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Book Review By Yajnavalka Banerjee
Avenger by Frederick Forsyth

Avenger begins with the nail biting experiences of Calvin Dexter as a “tunnel rat” in Vietnam, where he fights the Vietcong fighters in the extensive underground complexes of the “Cu Chi tunnels”.

After his return to the United States, Calvin goes to law school. He is offered a job by a prestigious law firm, but decides to become a public defender. Calvin settles down, marries and the couple have a beautiful daughter. But it seems that happiness in Calvin's life is transient. He looses both his wife and daughter due to the actions of a person involved with the Central American drug cartel. Calvin “avenges” the death of his loved ones by killing the ruffian. However, a realization strikes him; He comes to believe that a person who takes away the happiness of others should not die, but should be made to realize his mistake and should me made to live with the loss, same as his victims. He moves to a sub-urban town near NY, where surreptitiously he assumes the role of “Avenger”. His job is to “bring killers to justice”.

The plot thickens, when the grandson of copper tycoon Steve Edmond is murdered in cold blood by Milosevich's henchman Zoran Zilic in Serbia. Steve hires “Avenger” (Calvin) to bring Zoran to justice in the court of law. Calvin's quest takes him around the world. The book becomes a thrilling read when one discovers that unknowing to Calvin the CIA is trying to protect Zoran, who is now in exile.

Avenger is Fredrick Forsyth at his best. In the book he eschews psychological complexity in favor of meticulous plotting, based on detailed factual research. Avenger is just “Unputdownable”.


Plot & Themes
Tone of story - very upbeat
Time/era of story:
Spying/Terrorism Thriller Yes
Cloak & Dagger Plotlets:
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10 %
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20 %
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 30 %
Who's the terrorist enemy here?

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status:
Age: - 40's-50's
Ethnicity/Race

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status:
Eccentric: Yes
Motive of antagonist - kicks
The antagonists are: - communists
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters

Setting
United States Yes
Europe Yes
The Americas (not US): Yes
The Americas: - South

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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