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Icarus
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Plot Summary of Icarus
"

Doubleday, Jul 2001, 26.95, 416 pp.
ISBN: 0385498748

    In 1969, ten-year old Jack Keller watched the crazy Reggie Ivers toss his mother Joan out the window. Only the reaction of family friend Dom Bertolini kept Jack from following his mother out the seventh story Manhattan window.

    Several decades later, Jack and his beloved wife Caroline run a chain of restaurants around the world. The couple is in Charlottesville, Virginia for the newest opening of Jack's when disaster strikes. During the opening a brawl breaks out. At the same time an unknown assailant kills Caroline and severely injures Jack. As the restaurateur slowly heals, he realizes that the killer is not finished with him because the culprit finished his wife's murder by tossing her out the window. Jack knows the killer will be back to terminate him this time.

    ICARUS is an exciting thriller that touches the reader's soul, a rarity for this genre. Russell Andrews slowly simmers the plot so that the audience comes to care for Caroline and Jack. This leads to readers mourning Caroline's death and rooting for Jack to recover in order to take out the killer. Mr. Andrews provides quite a good tale even if the female death count seems high.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Icarus
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story: - 1980's-1999
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 40%
Special suspect? - chronically deranged person
Kind of investigator - amateur citizen investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - business executive
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - just the right amount
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - killer
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - an average amount
Motive of antagonist - insanity
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Southeast

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 2
Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
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