| John le Carre has exchanged his usual cloak-and-dagger themes for this fast-paced thriller on the evils of corporate greed. Mild-mannered English diplomat Justin Quayle goes in search of his wife's murderers after she is discovered savagely murdered in the Kenyan backroads. Posted in the African country on a diplomatic mission, Justin traces his wife Tessa's last days and weeks, discovering that her death was no accident. The clever and kind Tessa had been close to revealing some very dirty secrets about a very large company until she met her untimely death. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear) How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 60% Special suspect? - lover Murder of certain profession? Misc. Murder Plotlets - Proving innocence of very obvious suspect Kind of investigator Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 10 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Is Romance a MAJOR (25%+) part of story? Yes Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 40's-50's Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - an organization Profession/status: Motive of antagonist - money/treasure The antagonists are: - big business leader(s) How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting Europe Yes European country: - England/UK - Germany - Italy Africa Yes Misc setting - fancy mansion Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths Explicit sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - descript of kissing - touching of anatomy - descript. of breasts - descript. of other female areas Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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