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| Plot Summary of Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less |
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"With a deviousness born of long practice, Harvey Metcalfe, a Boston based self-made guru of deceit, stays behind the scenes and runs a stock scam involving some bogus petroleum shares at the London Stock Exchange. After the scam folds, Harvey happily goes away a million dollars richer and leaves behind four stupified men, the unwitting principal buyers, teetering on the edge of financial ruin.
Stephen Bradley, a visiting American professor at Oxford, chooses to get even rather than get mad and brings together the other three investors comprising of Harley Street's Dr. Robin Oakley, gallery owner Jean-Pierre Lamanns and Lord James Brigsley. They decide to turn the tables on Harvey. Combining their individual abilities and expertise, they each come up a scheme to relieve Harvey of the exact amount he robbed them of. "
Rashmi Srinivas, Resident Scholar
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"Henryk Metelski changes his name to Harvey Metcalfe. Wealthy enough at the start of the book, he is a person who would cheat people to earn more. The story starts with Prospecta Oil Company Shares.
David Kesler a Harvard graduate working for Prospecta Oil in all innocence made four people invest in Prospecta Oil Shares. David was told that the company had made a fantastic strike in the North Sea and when they announce it the shares of the company would be at an all time peak.
The four people involved were: Stephen Bradley, Dr. Robin Oakley, Jean-Pierre Lamanns and Lord James Brigsley. Stephen Bradley was David's friend during Harvard days and a visiting American professor at Oxford. David made a casual visit to the Dr. Robin Oakley, where he mentioned about the strike. David met gallery owner Jean-Pierre Lamanns when he went to buy a piece of art to furnish his apartment and he met Lord James Brigsley while having a drink.
The four invested a good chunk of money in Prospecta Oil, only to realize they were tricked . They decided to get their money back.
All the four came up with their individual plans using their skills and area of expertise. James who initially did not come up so easily with the plan, ultimately surprised the other three with his plan. The four with their neatly laid plans went ahead in pursuit of their goal of defeating Metcalfe and getting their money back."
Malathi Gopinath, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 50%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
Tone of story
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story:
- 1980's-1999
Crime Thriller
Yes
Crime plotlets:
- white collar fraud or theft
General Crime (including known murderer)
Yes
Who's the criminal enemy here?
- catching con-artist
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- thief/con artist
Age:
- 20's-30's
- 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How much violence does he/she use?
- none
- a little
Ethnicity/Race
- British
- Russian
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 20's-30's
- 60's-90's
Profession/status:
- business executive
- mastermind
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- an above average amount
- throughout most of the book.
Motive of antagonist
- revenge
- money/treasure
The antagonists are:
- big business leader(s)
- gangs
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
Europe
Yes
European country:
- England/UK
City?
Yes
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
How many deaths?
- 0 (not a murder mystery)
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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