| Plot Summary of First Offense |
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"Ann Carlisle, a probation officer in Ventura County, California, gets shot one evening after she leaves work and starts walking home. She is taken to the hospital and recovers--the shot did not seriously injure her, and she thinks it was a random shooting. However, when the policemen tell her that the ignition wires in her Jeep were cut, she realizes she was intentionally shot, but she doesn't know who would want to shoot her.
The police think the man who shot her is Jimmy Sawyer, a young man who has been convicted of drug possession and may be going to prison for making and selling drugs. They think Jimmy shot Ann, who is his probation officer, to keep her from unexpectedly dropping by the house where he and two other young men have been running a drug lab, at least any time soon. Ann thinks the perpetrator may be her husband, Hank. Hank has been missing for four years and everyone thinks he is dead, but when Ann was lying on the sidewalk after the shooting, she thought she saw him.
Ann tries to continue with her life. She goes back to her job and continues dating one of the assistant district attorneys, but one night a man breaks into her house and tries to rape her. She is able to break away from him and get her gun. Once she fires the gun, the man runs away. She thinks the man who broke in may be Hank, by his voice, his build, and that the man seemed familiar. Then she starts getting calls where a man says a few things and hangs up, and she believes it is Hank calling her.
Ann has some good friends in the legal system, such as Tommy Reed, a homicide detective who promised Ann's dying father that he would look out for Ann and her son David; Noah Abrams, an old friend from when they were both police cadets; and Melanie Chase, one of the best forensics examiner in Ventura County. Ann gets help from her friends as she tries to figure out who is behind these attacks on her before harm comes to her and/or to her son David.
"
Crystal, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of First 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 - 20%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
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:
- 1980's-1999
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- government investigator
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How much violence does he/she use?
- just the right amount
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- a lawyer creature
Eccentric:
Yes
- deluded
- emotionally unstable
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- an average amount
Motive of antagonist
- money/treasure
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- California
City?
Yes
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths?
- 3-4
Sex
Yes
What kind of sex:
- actual description of sex
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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