| Charlotte Observer police beat reporter Andy Brazil is tired of his life after college. He lives with his shut in, alcoholic mother and works out when not putting in long hours at the newspaper. He wants to be a cop like his deceased father. A series of gruesome serial murders have occurred and the police are looking inept. The politicians are pointing fingers at Chief of Police Judy Hammer, a woman. Hammer authorizes Brazil to ride along with deputy chief Virginia West to help improve community relations. West and Brazil fall for each other but fight like crazy as only people in love can.
Meanwhile West's marriage is failing, the number of murder victims continues to increase, and the heat is turned up on the investigation and the romance. Despite occasional moments of humor and lightheartedness the novel has a dark side and is full of nasty characters; corrupt politicians, philanderers, drug dealers, weasel-like journalists, moronic rednecks, and a psychotic gender-conflicted killer. The story reaches a satisfying climax when the killer is tracked down in a final confrontation with police. | ||
|
Plot & Themes Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear) How difficult to spot villain? - Challenging Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 40% Special suspect? - chronically deranged person Murder of certain profession? Misc. Murder Plotlets - character killed during/after sexing - Big focus on forensic evidence - Killer purposely leaves clues Kind of investigator Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 20 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 30 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Male 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 - kicks How sensitive is this character? Intelligence - Average intelligence Setting United States Yes The US: - Southeast City? Yes City: - dangerous Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - very gorey descriptions deaths/dead bodies Explicit sex in book? Yes A lot of techno jargon? Yes Unusual form of death? Yes Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
||