Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner, was investigating suspected multiple homicides by a single killer in England when a female torso was discovered at a landfill near her home similar to the style of killings in England. Investigations leading into this woman's unnatural death prompted massive media frenzy of a serial killer on the loose.
Dr. Scarpetta soon started to receive e-mails from the killer who goes by the name of Deadoc with photographs of blood-ridden crime scenes and dismembered limbs. Unexplanable death of a woman at Tangier Islands revealed a mutant-strain of killer virus on the loose as Dr. Scarpetta noticed the similarities of the blistered skin from both of the bodies of what appeared to be smallpox. Deadoc continues to haunt Dr. Scarpetta as more cryptic messages were sent to her through the Internet. Along with her trusted colleague and long-time friend Police Captain Pete Marino and Lucy, her niece and a computer whiz-kid who works for the FBI, a plan was put to place to nail the killer by enticing 'him' to start conversations with Dr. Scarpetta in the AOL chat rooms. | ||
Plot & Themes Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear) How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given Time/era of story: Medical Thriller Yes Medical Plotlets: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 70% Misc. Murder Plotlets - Big focus on forensic evidence - Big focus on autopsies Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 20 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Main Adversary Identity: - Female Age: - 40's-50's Profession/status: Eccentric: Yes Motive of antagonist - jealousy The antagonists are: - evil doctors How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting United States Yes The US: - Northeast Island? Yes Island: - Atlantic Ocean Island Small town? Yes Small town people: - dumb rednecks, like Gomer Pyle Misc setting - scientific labs Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - very gorey descriptions deaths/dead bodies Unusual forms of death - biohazard/virus Unusual form of death? Yes Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |