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A Drink Before The War
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Plot Summary of A Drink Before The War
"Patrick Kenize and his lovely assistant Angela Gennara are hired to find a missing cleaning lady who stole some confidential materials from a couple of Senators. Patrick believes this should be an easy job, and takes it quite readily. When he finds the missing woman he also finds some photos that a few of the Senators would not like to be revealed. When the missing woman turns up dead, his next job is to find out who did it, and why. Taking place in Boston, Patrick also deals with a gang who are seeking revenge for things that have occurred many years previously."
Jenn Moss, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of A Drink Before The War
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 30%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%




Tone of story - very humorous
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 - hard boiled/private eye
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - politics
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - private investigator
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - just the right amount
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - thief/con artist
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some
Motive of antagonist - revenge
The antagonists are: - gangs
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Dumb
Physique - very athletic

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Midwest

Style
Part of a series? Yes
Person - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths? - 3-4
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
Most similar books to A Drink Before The War
Murder, He Guessed by C.D. Moulton
Shadow of Death by William G. Tapply
Westerfield's Chain by Jack Clark
Clutching at Straws by J.L. Abramo
Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow


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Dennis Lehane Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Jenn Moss  

SCHOLARS:
Betty Porter  


Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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