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| Plot Summary of Chasing Darkness |
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"
Onyx, March 2002, 6.99, 368 pp.
ISBN 0451416238
She was a homicide detective in the Sheriff's department but she became sick of dealing with death all the time so she transferred over to the State of California of Department of Justice working mainly with abuse victims. At the same time she transferred jobs Sam Chase unexpectedly gained guardianship of her twin eight-year-old nephews. Their parents died in a car crash and their deceased mother (Sam's late sister) did not want her family in Mississippi even getting near them.
Eight years later Sam and her two nephews Derek and Rob are a family. Sam is a success at work and envied by her peers when one of her old cases comes back to haunt her. The mother of a child abuse victim is found murdered and Sam is forced to work with Derek Thomas of the Sheriff's department since the victim looks like she was murdered by a serial killer that Sam once caught. Since the killer is dead, the police are working on the assumption that it's a copycat killer until another homicide is committed and Sam is linked to both deaths.
Danielle Girard is a name to watch because she's rapidly reading the level of a Nancy Taylor Rosenberg or a Sandra Brown. CHASING DARKNESS is a tightly woven thriller that shines a dark light on the evil things done to children and shows how it affects them long after the abuse stops. The strange and off beat romance that develops between Sam and Derek is a realistic necessary subplot to reduce the tension, which becomes unbelievably high voltage at times. This one sitting read entertains as well as educates.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Chasing Darkness |
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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 - 60%
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?
- Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story:
- present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 60%
Misc. Murder Plotlets
- Big focus on forensic evidence
- Big focus on autopsies
Kind of investigator
- police procedural, American
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
- feelings towards family/friends
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- police/lawman
How much violence does he/she use?
- just the right amount
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- a teen
Profession/status:
- student
Eccentric:
Yes
- obsessed
- deluded
- mentally ill
- emotionally unstable
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist
- insanity
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- California
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths?
- 3-4
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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