| A famous, best selling author receives a note informing him that a body has been buried in his backyard along with evidence that incriminates him. He's highly educated and well-respected and knows for a fact that he has committed no crime. So he goes back in the house, and phones the police, right? No. He digs up the body and calls a number that he finds in one the corpse's pockets. The killer threatens him on the phone.
So he hangs up and calls the police, right? No. He goes to a motel in the middle of nowhere and gets himself kidnapped by a sadistic serial killer who keeps him prisoner and forces him to first watch, then participate in brutal acts. Until one day when he manages to get away from the cabin where he's being held and comes across a friendly rancher. At this point he tells the rancher what's been happening and gets out of there, right? No, he doesn't do that either.If these events were ever to occur in the real world, the story would end around page ten, when the protagonist would call the cops, or perhaps a dozen or so pages later, when the protagonist would call the cops. Throughout the book Crouch doesn't ask the reader to merely suspend belief, but to make it float through the air and jump through unlikely hoops. For his efforts the reader is rewarded with unrelentingly cruel and pointless novel. The only message seems to be that whatever you do, it's never a good idea to have an evil twin. Don't worry, I'm not giving anything away. There's no suspense here, you always know that the bad guy is over there in the shadows even though our protagonist will spend another page or so figuring it out. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated 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 - 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 Crime plotlets: Is MAIN CHARACTER an EVIL criminal? Yes General Crime (including known murderer) Yes Who's the criminal enemy here? - finding a known killer If story PRIMARILY about main chr. being hunted... - game where people hunted Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 20's-30's Profession/status: Motive of antagonist - insanity How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters Setting Desert? Yes Farm/Ranch? Yes Farm/Ranch: - ranch Small town? Yes Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - very gorey references to deaths/dead bodies and torture Unusual forms of death - diced - decapitated - perforation--bullets - perforation--swords/knives - blunt clubbing (like seals) Unusual form of death? Yes Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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