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Book Review By eyal
Outcast by Michael Woods

Outcast tells the story of Jade, a heroin-addicted prostitute, who wakes one morning to find her housemate dead of a heroin overdose. Because Jade helped Linzy to shoot up, Jade worries that she will be blamed for her death. In her desperation she decides to blame a man, a punter that she has not met before. She picks this man because he has a nice car and she can then accuse him of being a drug dealer who sold the stuff to Linzy and that was what killed her, wasn't it?

Jade picks a man called Oliver, a veteran of the conflict in Kosovo who unbeknownst to her, is looking for a young woman to kill in a snuff movie. He comes to her house and handles the syringes that Jade gives him to make sure that his fingerprints are on the syringe that will kill the hapless Linzy.

From there, it all becomes a bit complicated, with corrupt policemen and people who are not what they seem to be. Jade tries desperately to stick to her story, but it comes to the point where she is in too deep and cannot recant. Her only hope lies in Detective Inspector Bob Harrison, a Bradford policeman who has helped Jade in the past. The relationship between Jade and Harrison is a strange one, explained by the circumstances of their first meeting, when he saw her brutalized body after an attack which caused her to loose her baby.

Jade is not a particularly sympathetic character, selfish in a way that only junkies are, she feels that she has no responsibility for the dangers that she exposes herself to, blaming her plight on others, instead of looking for a way to better her circumstances.


Plot & Themes
descript. of violence and chases - 20 %
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40 %
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 %
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status:
Age: - 20's-30's

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
Intelligence - Brain damaged

Setting
United States Yes

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
Amount of dialog - little dialog
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