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Book Review By Nick Dorrington
The Honorary Consul by Graham Greene

Eduardo Plaar, a young doctor of English heritage, moves from Buenos Aires to a small port town near the border with Paraguay. He is summoned to the house of Britain's Honorary Consul, Charles Fortnum, to tend to his sickly wife, whom he engages in an affair, resulting in her falling pregnant with his child.

In the midst of this situation, a group of Plaar's childhood friends appear to inform him that his father, presumed dead, is still alive in a Paraguayan jail. They hatch a harebrained plan to kidnap the United States Ambassador and use him as bait to demand the release of all political prisoners being held in Paraguay.

Their plan falls apart when they accidentally kidnap Fortnum instead of the US Ambassador. Despite the best efforts of Plaar, the situation devolves into chaos and as the book reaches its conclusion, the kidnappers, Fortnum and Plaar find themselves surrounded by armed police.


Plot & Themes
Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
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 - 20 %
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 10 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40 %
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 30 %
Is Romance a MAJOR (25%+) part of story? Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status:
Age: - 20's-30's
Ethnicity/Race

Setting
The Americas (not US): Yes
The Americas: - South

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
Explicit sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - descript of kissing - impregnation/reproduction - actual description of sex - descript. of breasts
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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