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| Plot Summary of The Amateur |
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"Charlie Heller's specialty at the CIA is breaking and creating codes. His hobby is looking for encoded clues in the writings of Shakespeare that would identify someone else as having written the plays he is credited with. He also has a fiancee whose smile is so soft and natural that it makes the person she's smiling at feel physically warm.
When a band of terrorists murders Sarah, Charlie is devastated. The only thing that can bring him back to life, he believes, is the death of the terrorists who murdered her. But the CIA seems to be taking little interest in tracking them down. However, to help bring closure to Charlie, they show him the photographs they have of the two men and a woman in the murderous band. Charlie decided to go to Czechoslovakia and capture or kill the terrorists himself. The CIA is, understandably, unwilling to send someone whose skills are entirely cerebral into a dangerous assassination assignment. But there seems to be something more, and Charlie must use all his ingenuity to convince the agency to train him and send him into the assignment.
Charlie discovers almost immediately after crossing the Czech border that the CIA is trying to kill him. He finds temporary safety with an agent he knows only because this agent has trouble understanding how to encode messages, making Charlie's job much harder. Together, they go after the killers.
As the pair travels through Prague, they discover that the Russians, the CIA and the terrorists are all out to get them. With a lot of luck, tactics and the help of the Czechs, they are able to get out of the country alive. The head of Czech intelligence, known as “The Professor,” is as interested in Charlie's Shakespeare studies as in his spying.
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David Gordon, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The Amateur |
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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 - 30%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
Tone of story
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story:
- 1960's-1970's
Spying/Terrorism Thriller
Yes
Cloak & Dagger Plotlets:
- preventing/finding assassin
- govt. doing secret bad things abroad
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Who's the terrorist enemy here?
- spy ring
Is Romance a MAJOR (25%+) part of story?
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- spy
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How much violence does he/she use?
- a significant amount
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- spy
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist
- power
The antagonists are:
- FBI/CIA
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- very athletic
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Mid-Atlantic states
Europe
Yes
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths?
- 5-7
Sex
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Click here for more information about this book
Robert Littell Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 David Gordon
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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