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St. Martin's Jun 2004, 6.99, 352 pp. ISBN: 0312993064 In California, when Analise Glover attended school, she looked up to Linguistics expert Professor Nathan Rhodes until he stole her work. When she confronted him, he tried to kill her, but she survived, killing him instead. Her friend gets her out of there, but not before he tosses the body into the sea. A few years later, Analise uses the name of Dr. Erin Abbott, a criminal psychology professor at Burdeen University in the New Orleans area. She receives a package containing five obits of people who were murdered and she soon sees a pattern that links the name to the murder weapon and ultimately back to Nathan. She reports her finding, but the police write her off as a quack. However, overhearing the discussion, Bayou Ledger reporter-owner Gabriel Moss thinks he might have a story to save his fledgling newspaper in the professor and the “ABC murders”. Reluctantly Erin agrees to partner with Gabe to uncover the identity of a killer as she expects to be the last victim. As they work together, they fall in love, but she feels that she could never stay with anyone permanently because of all the traumas she suffered. Romantic suspense readers will not only appreciate this exciting serial killer romance, but will also tell peers how good an author Selena Montgomery is. The story line is fast-paced and filled with action as Erin deciphers the clues that the culprit sends her way. She struggles to identify the murderer as the evidence points to Nathan who is a dead man. However, no one else could know what the killer knows except Nathan and her. She also doesn't know what to do about her growing love for Gabe. Harriet Klausner | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear) How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 70% Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 10 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 40's-50's Profession/status: Motive of antagonist - revenge 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: - Deep South Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript |
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