True Witness
Jo Bannister Book Review

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Plot Summary of True Witness

"

St. Martin's, Dec 2002, 23.95, 304 pp.
ISBN 0312308175

Ten years ago in the English town of Dimmock, three teens were raped and killed. Their murderer is never brought to justice. Though the police knew who the killer was, but they lacked solid evidence to link him to the crimes.

In the present, Daniel Hood sees two men running on Dimmock Pier when he witnesses one of the men hit the other before throwing his body in the water. Daniel jumps into the water to rescue the teenager but the young man is dead. The police believe the killer is the same person who murdered the three young men a decade ago, but when they bring the suspect in Daniel tells him he wasn't the killer. When a second boy is killed, the town blames Daniel and burns his house down. Daniel is now second-guessing himself and goes to confront the suspect by himself, a dangerous move but one that leads him and the police to the true killer.

TRUE WITNESS is as much a character study as it is a mystery. The protagonist is a loner, a peson of strong moral fiber. He endures much in the pursuit of the truth and the reward for his efforts is that he gets beaten up, ridiculed, and thrown out of his house that is burned down. Jo Bannister is a talented writer who gives equal weight to plot and characterizations so that the audience receives an engagingly balanced crime thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Crested sapwood supportable noradrenaline runout.

"
Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of True Witness

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).

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 - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%

Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story: - present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 80%
Misc. Murder Plotlets - Proving innocence of very obvious suspect
Kind of investigator - police procedural, American
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - life in small town
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - teacher
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - none
Ethnicity/Race - British
How sensitive is this character? - 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: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - small businessman
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist - power
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 - very athletic

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 3-4
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript

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Jo Bannister Book Review