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Keep Me Alive
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Plot Summary of Keep Me Alive
"

St. Martin's, Oct 2004, 24.95, 352 pp.
ISBN: 0312335911

In London barrister Trish Maguire works with Antony Shelley as they represent a group of small food producers in a “no win, no fee” breach of contract civil suit against the ruthlessly run giant Furbishers Food supermarket chain. The clients insist the chain tendered profitable contracts that led to the firms over extending themselves, but that the supermarket giant acted in bad faith just enough to cause their clients' bankruptcy.

Meanwhile Trish and her friend Caro Lyalt suffer food poisoning from tainted sausage. This sends Will Applewood, who has the hots for Trish, to investigate the bad bangers. He traces a trail of spoiled carcasses sent from Kent to Normandy for processing, but a reporter covering the scam is murdered. Trish begins to have doubts about one of her clients who seems to have either gone over the edge, but to verify this may prove deadly even as she works a second case involving child abuse.

KEEP ME ALIVE is an insightful look at the meat processing industry (at least in the European Union though America is probably similar) that will stun readers with the process. The story line is action-packed in and out of the court room so that the audience receives a solid investigative legal thriller in which the barrister may be the star but is not the prime investigator. Trish's second client adds depth as the barrister has to find time to do justice to both cases. Although allusions to Trish's past are sprinkled throughout the novel, these are never adequately explained so that the audience has no anchor.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Keep Me Alive
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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 - 40%
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%
Kind of investigator - skilled citizen investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - theft/fraud investigation
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - a lawyer creature
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - none
Ethnicity/Race - British
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

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - business executive
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist - power
The antagonists are: - big business leader(s)
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
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 2
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
Most similar books to Keep Me Alive
The Dead Stone by Vicki Stiefel
Loaded Dice by James Swain
K is for Killer by Sue Grafton
The Body in the Snowdrift by Katherine Hall Page
Love Her to Death by Linda Palmer


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