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Fatal Affair Book Summary and Study Guide

Detailed plot synopsis reviews of Fatal Affair


Detective Sam Holland works to find the killer of Senator John O'Conner with the help of John's best friend and her lover. Nick Cappuano's life changed the day he walked into his best friend's townhouse, Senator John O'Conner and found him dead with a knife wound to his neck and his penis in his mouth. As his chief of staff, he was there to wake him, assuming he slept through his alarm again. He needed to get into the office for a vote on an immigration law he proposed and had spent the last year working on. Calling the police, he was confronted with Detective Sergeant Sam Holland, a one time girlfriend, who he thought he'd never see again. After questioning and clearing Nick of the murder, Nick and Sam went to John's parents, Senator Graham and Laine's house, to let the family know of his murder. Becoming John's best friend, while attending Harvard, was one of the best things that ever happened to him; they were like brothers and Graham and Laine became like parents to him as well. Before leaving the O'Conner house, Graham and Laine ask him to do the eulogy for John. He accepts.
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Sam begins working the murder, doing research into John's background. Nick tells her she won't find anything; he was an awesome guy. Unfortunately for Nick, he learns that his friend hid many things from him, including a son he had with a woman when he was sixteen and a string of girlfriends he enjoyed having sex with, often times a little on the rough side. The woman and son had been shipped off before the baby was born, hidden in the Midwest at Graham's insistence. He was up for re-election and didn't want John's secret out. John would visit them every third weekend of the month and he also sent large sums of money every month as well.

Sam, surprised and uncomfortable seeing Nick again, tries to keep him at a distance; however, that fails. They are soon having sex and Nick confesses he loves her. She, hesitant, holds off a little before she reveals her heart. Then, Sam's car explodes as she is leaving Nick's house one morning. Fortunately, the car wouldn't start and she was heading back into the house while the explosion rocked the quiet neighborhood, so she was only slightly harmed. Nick on the other hand, requires stitches in his head and feet, where he walked on broken glass from the imploding windows.

While preparing for John's funeral, he still is valuable to Sam while she continues to work on the case. Sam believes that John's murder is personal and most likely one of his ex-girlfriends, so she continues to look at that angle. Clearing the ex-girlfriends, she is looking more closely at the mother of John's son. Nick is an important asset to Sam as she continues to work on John's case. Meanwhile, both Nick and Sam find out that her ex-husband is responsible for the car explosion and a second bomb placed on Nick's car. Brought into the station, the ex is questioned and then arrested.

Soon, dead ex-girlfriends are showing up murdered and Sam is sure that it is the mother of John's son. While at the Senator's funeral, she has her team searching for both Thomas John O'Conner and his mother. The police see neither.

At the request of Senator Graham O'Conner, Nick and Sam are invited to a meeting where Nick is asked to fill John's seat until the end of the year. Unsure how Sam would react or want, he tells them he needs to think about it. There is a knock on the door that Nick opens and is shocked to see the younger face of John; he realizes this is John's son, Thomas. Asking to see his grandfather, Nick lets him in. Nick is uneasy with him in the room, he doesn't seem right: his eyes are jumpy. Nick's feeling is correct because Thomas pulls out a gun. He threatens to kill Senator Graham because he stole his father and the life he and his mother should have had. While holding a gun on Senator Graham, he also confesses that he murdered his father's ex-girlfriends because they deserved it: they were whores. His father gave him and his mother only one weekend a month and then the rest of the time, he was screwing around with anyone he could find. Thomas also confesses that his father told his mother that he was going to run again for the Senate seat, so they would have to wait longer to become a family. John had originally told them that he was only going to be Senator for one year, to make his father happy, and then they could be a family. While Thomas is unaware, both Nick and Sam point their guns at his temple. Thomas is arrested.

Two days later, Nick is sworn in as Senator and his girlfriend, Sam, is promoted to Lieutenant.
Best part of story, including ending: I truly liked the detective work, along with the wonderful characters created in this book.

Best scene in story: I think my favorite scene is when Nick and Sam are talking and she asks him if he just called her Samantha, because no one calls her Samantha. Nick admits that he did and he will continue to call her Samantha because it's such a feminine name, which suits her. She argues with him that she should be called Sam in public and Nick agrees to only call her Samantha in certain, personal situations.

Opinion about the main character: What I loved about Nick was that he was a genuine, awesome man. He was decent, respectful and honorable. What I didn't like about Sam, was that she was a little too aggressive and refused Nick's help time and time again in life threatening situations, until he confesses that it makes him feel bad that his girlfriend needs to protect him, when it should be the other way around.

The review of this Book prepared by Karenann Knotoff a Level 2 American Robin scholar

Chapter Analysis of Fatal Affair

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Plot & Themes

Composition of Book descript. of violence and chases 20%Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives 50%Feelings, relationships, character bio/development 20%How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) 10% Tone of story    -   suspenseful (sophisticated fear) How difficult to spot villain?    -   Moderately Challenging Time/era of story:    -   2000+ (Present) What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot?    -   60% Special suspect?    -   relative Murder of certain profession?    -   politicians Misc. Murder Plotlets    -   "All in the family" murder Kind of investigator    -   police procedural, American Kid or adult book?    -   Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot?    -   feelings towards lover Crime Thriller    -   Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown)    -   Yes

Main Character

Gender    -   Female Profession/status:    -   police/lawman Age:    -   20's-30's Ethnicity/Race    -   White/American

Setting

United States    -   Yes The US:    -   Northeast City?    -   Yes City:    -   Washington D.C.

Writing Style

Accounts of torture and death?    -   moderately detailed references to deaths Explicit sex in book?    -   Yes What kind of sex:    -   descript of kissing    -   touching of anatomy    -   licking    -   actual description of sex Amount of dialog    -   significantly more dialog than descript

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Marie Force Books Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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