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| Plot Summary of The Last Good Day |
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"
Little, Brown, Jun 2003, 24.95, 422 pp.
ISBN: 0316098736
Riverside, New York Police Chief Harold Baltimore knows that the headless floater is not a poor person. He bases his conclusion on the liposuction scars found on the corpse. Harold soon learns that online sports-memorabilia salesman Jeffrey Lanier has filed a missing person's report. When he returned home from a business trip his wife Sandi was nowhere to be seen. Harold concludes that the headless floater is Sandi.
Photographer Lynn Stockdale Schulman is devastated by the violent death of her best friend. Even more moribund to the grieving woman is that Detective Lieutenant Michael Fallon is using the tragedy to hit on her, as he wants to renew their high-school romance. When Michael begins crossing the line her husband tells her to file a sexual harassment charge against the cop. Sandi's murder goes to a back burner as the dysfunctional triangle heats up.
A social veneer related to sexual harassment, immigration and 9-11 is placed over the police procedural, but this is a two edged sword. On the one hand it provides depth and insight into a small town coping with a nasty world, but on the other it trivializes the homicide investigation. The cast is intriguing though at times they act more like soap opera performers as everyone has a dark secret to hide. Still THE LAST GOOD DAY entertains the audience, but aimed more at those fans that prefer reading about the sins of village life on a greater footing than the murder mystery.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The Last Good Day |
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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 - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
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?
- 60%
Kind of investigator
- amateur citizen investigator
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Crime Thriller
Yes
Crime plotlets:
- vigilante getting revenge
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
General Crime (including known murderer)
Yes
If story PRIMARILY about main chr. being hunted...
- hunted by killer/stalker
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- artist
Age:
- 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use?
- a little
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- police/lawman
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist
- power
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths?
- 1
Amount of dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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