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Book Review By David Fletcher
Courting Trouble by Lisa Scottoline

Anne Murphy is a gorgeous young associate attorney at an all-female law firm in Philadelphia. Her world is turned upside down when a stalker from her past life in California reappears after his escape from prison and is the suspect in her murder. Actually the body is misidentified as hers, as the killer has mistaken Anne's cat-sitter, Willa, for her and the people in her life all think she is dead. She must track down the killer while not revealing that she is indeed alive.

It is a delicate balancing act set against the 4th of July holiday weekend and her upcoming representation in a sexual harrassment trial of her college acquantance and his soon-to-go-public computer software company. The action moves at an unbelievably fast pace and Anne has distractions aplenty ranging from her poorly timed sexual involvement with the opposing counsel, unwanted sexual advances from her own client, the initial pettiness of her jealous/stand-offish co-workers, her bitter feelings of abandonement towards her own mother and her preoccupation with comfortable, fashionable, and trendy footwear.

Ms. Scottoline has created a very interesting plot, although in many ways the time frame is beyond implausable, the characters and setting help to move the reader through to the surprise conclusion. This story is so rich in elements of love, hate, murder, obsession, friendship, revenge, lust, infidelity and humor proving to provide the reader with a roller coaster ride of emotions.


Plot & Themes
Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story:
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10 %
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 60 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20 %
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 %
Crime Thriller Yes
General Crime (including known murderer) Yes
If story PRIMARILY about main chr. being hunted... - hunted by killer/stalker

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

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status:
Eccentric: Yes
Motive of antagonist - revenge
How sensitive is this character?
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters

Setting
United States Yes
City? Yes
City: - Dirty, dangerous (like New York)
Misc setting - resort/hotel

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
Explicit sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references - descript of kissing - descript. of breasts - descript. of male nudity
A lot of techno jargon? Yes
Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
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