| Growing up in Los Angeles in the 1950s and 1960s, orphaned Martin Plunkett perfects his skills at burglary and voyeurism (and also has a brush with Manson's "family") before doing a year in prison for breaking and entering. He moves to San Francisco, commits his first double murder there in 1974, and then is off on a spree across the western states, killing roughly 40 people before running afoul of a Wisconsin State Police sergeant named Ross Anderson in early 1979. The sergeant turns out to be another budding serial killer! A sort of love-hate killing competition develops between the two twisted men as FBI serial crimes agent Thomas Dusenberry slowly but steadily tracks them both down. This 1986 novel (also published under the name _Silent Terror_) was Ellroy's fifth and bloodiest tale before he began the stunning LA noir quartet. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - scarey (primal ax-wielding fear) Time/era of story: Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book The crook is.... - stalking/killing innocents 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 Is MAIN CHARACTER an EVIL criminal? Yes Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Race Unusual characteristics: Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 40's-50's Profession/status: The antagonists are: - FBI/CIA How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting United States Yes The US: - Midwest - California City? Yes City: - Los Angeles - Dirty, dangerous (like New York) Misc setting - prison Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - very gorey descriptions deaths/dead bodies Explicit sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - touching of anatomy - actual description of sex - homosexuals doing their thing Unusual forms of death - asphyxiation - diced - decapitated - perforation--bullets - perforation--swords/knives - blunt clubbing (like seals) Unusual form of death? Yes Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog |
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