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| Plot Summary of A Firing Offense |
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"A young, talented journalist working and writing in Paris named Eric Truell is on the fast track to success when he writes about corruption in the award of a huge Chinese telecommunications contract to a French company. As Truell gets deeper into the details of the story he also learns of French-supported biotech weapons research being conducted in Beijing. More than a coincidence, Truell is being fed information about these events by a disillusioned CIA agent, ultimately uncovering the fact that the two stories are connected to a corrupt French government official.
He begins fearing for his safety going to New York to talk about the implications of the bigger story with his boss. By chance he turns to an older, trusted foreign correspondent named Arthur Bowman. Arthur is knowledgeable about much of what is going on having covered France as part of the New York Mirror's Paris bureau for many years. Truell feels he is being turned into a CIA operative, manipulated in a high stakes game of cat and mouse but his journalistic instincts compel him to follow the story even at great risk to himself. He turns to his ex-girlfriend Annie for comfort while back home in Washington, DC.
Even though he is certain Arthur has been a pawn for the French, for years writing in support of the government and probably taking money for it, he accompanies Arthur to China for an international consortium. Truell eludes those trailing him and makes contact with the French researcher, whom he had interviewed once before back in France. He is able to pass along a coded message. In the chaos that ensues, Arthur confesses his ethical sins but is later deliberately run down by a truck. He had become a liability to his French handlers and needed to be silenced. Truell makes his way back to DC to help bury his deceased colleague, come clean about his use of his CIA sources to his boss and publisher, and come to terms with Annie whom he learned was having an affair with married Arthur."
David Fletcher, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of A Firing Offense |
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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 - 20%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
Tone of story
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story:
- 1980's-1999
Spying/Terrorism Thriller
Yes
Cloak & Dagger Plotlets:
- stopping a saboteur/spy
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Search for technology?
- bioweapon/cure
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- journalist
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How much violence does he/she use?
- none
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- spy
Eccentric:
Yes
- deluded
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a substantial amount
Motive of antagonist
- money/treasure
The antagonists are:
- Chinese
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
Europe
Yes
European country:
- France
Asia/Pacific
Yes
Asian country:
- China
City?
Yes
City:
- Washington D.C.
Misc setting
- scientific labs
Style
Part of a series?
Yes
Person
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths?
- 1
Sex
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
- descript of kissing
Unusual forms of death
- run over
Unusual form of death?
Yes
Amount of dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
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Click here for more information about this book
David Ignatius Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 David Fletcher
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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