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The Little Drummer Girl
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Plot Summary of The Little Drummer Girl
"The story opens in an affluent Bad Godesberg a suburb of Bonn, in Germany, with an explosion that tears apart an Israeli diplomat's house. Thinly disguised as investigators a small group from the Mosad, led by Kurtz, quickly discovers that it is the work of a Palestinian terrorist organization. They know the bomb manufacturer, whose handiwork has wreaked havoc in several other incidents. Marty sets up a plan to capture the perpetrator.

Charlie is a pretty and innocent young English actress. She becomes the unwitting assistant of the Mosad plan. What seems at face value a love affair with a mysterious man named Joseph is in fact a way of creating a history for Charlie as a way of inserting her into the terrorist organization.

In a strange odyssey moving from England through Germany, and eventually Greece, Charlie is persuaded to help the Mosad capture the bomber. Charlie is the consummate actress, but even she has problems separating Mosad fiction, from terrorist reality.

Her most difficult role comes when she must become one of the terrorists and spend time in a Palestinian training camp. The Mosad are worried, have they gone too far, has Charlie joined the enemy. Tensions reach a fever pitch when Charlie is invited to take part in a terrorist action."

Simon Barrett, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of The Little Drummer Girl
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).
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 - 10%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 40%




Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story: - 1980's-1999
Spying/Terrorism Thriller Yes
Cloak & Dagger Plotlets: - preventing bomb/biohazard/disaster
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Who's the terrorist enemy here? - arabs and/or muslims

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - actor
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - none
Ethnicity/Race - British
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - an organization
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - criminal
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - an average amount
Motive of antagonist - power
The antagonists are: - Arab terrorists
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
Europe Yes

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths? - hundreds or more
Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
Most similar books to The Little Drummer Girl
Bernie Minihan's Dilemma by John V. Tieso
Out of the Ashes by Skip Allen
At Risk by Stella Rimington
Prince of Fire by Daniel Silva
Deep Black: Dark Zone by Stephen Coonts


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John Le Carre Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Simon Barrett  

SCHOLARS:
r b siddhanti  Tena van't Foort  Jack Goodstein  Rob Fisher  Jennifer Hamm  


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