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| Plot Summary of Keeping Watch |
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"
Bantam, March 2003, 23.95, 385 pp.
ISBN 0553801910
He was in his first year of college when the patriotic spirit moved Allen Carmichael to enlist in the army, knowing that he would send time in Viet Nam. While serving in Nam, he saw and did things to people that made him doubt his own humanity. When he left service Allen suffered flashbacks leading to staying alone and homeless for fear what he would to anyone who got close to him. After seven years, he finally gets his act together.
For the next twenty-six years he has rescued (or kidnapped, depending on your point of view) children in abusive situations. Allen is proud of the fact that fifty-two children are alive because of his intervention but now he plans to retire and make a life with his lover Rae. He's asked to go out on one more assignment and he reluctantly agrees to snatch Jamie O'Connell, from his sadistic father. This is his last case but it turns out to be very dangerous because nobody knew that Jamie's father takes his violence out on anybody who gets in his way.
The hero saw and committed a lot of atrocities during the Viet Nam war and has spent the rest of his life seeking redemption. To achieve this impossible salvation, Allen saves children even if it means stepping outside the law to accomplish his deed. KEEPING WATCH is a masterpiece of psychological suspense wrapped inside a taut action thriller.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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"The first half of the book is set in Vietnam, as the protaganist goes from an innocent young man to one haunted and corrupted by the violence he lives with every moment. It is a chilling picture of how one's thinking can become twisted, and how difficult it can be to right yourself.
After the war, Allen is truly a "basket case" and lives on the street. A series of events begin to change his perspective, and he becomes a civilian mercenary, rescuing abused children, often by kidnapping them. At a point in his life at which he is finally at peace, and ready to retire to an island with the woman he loves, a final case is presented. He completes the job, but is haunted by the boy involved, and when the boy is threatened, Allen steps in.
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, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Keeping Watch |
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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
Tone of book?
- thoughtful
Time/era of story
- present (2000-2010)
Crime & Police story
Yes
Story of
- vigiliante-ism
- kidnapping
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- champion of justice
Age:
- 40's-50's
Eccentric/Mental
Yes
Eccentric:
- emotionally unstable
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- 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
- business executive
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
- average physique
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 4 (a fair amount)
United States
Yes
The US:
- Pacific NW
Europe
Yes
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
- very explicit references to deaths and torture
Unusual Style:
- a lot of flashback and forwards
- a lot of stream of consciousness
Amount of dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
- 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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