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| Plot Summary of Bitter Instinct |
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"
Robert W. Walker
Berkley, May 2001
ISBN:0425179634
He calls himself the Poet. His targets trust him so much so they cooperate as he engraves a piece of his epic verse on their backs. His victims are unaware that the ink is poison and soon leads to a swift, painless death. The Poet believes that his victims are angels who must return home so that when every one of them are finally gone, he will be transferred into an angel too.
After the third similar death, the Philadelphia police realize they have made no progress in catching this serial killer that leaves a calling card. The FBI sends two agents, medical examiner Dr. Jessica Coran and psychic expert Kim Desinow, to join the local task force. They quickly learn that the young have taken to having poetry written on their backs as a form of twisted homage. This makes tracing clues that much more difficult as this counterculture phenomena hides the culprit's trail behind wrong suspects. As the murder count rises, the City of Brotherly Love Task Force finds little to feel friendly about as they fail to gain any ground on identifying the murderer.
BITTER INSTINCT is a very frightening police thriller that shows the difficulty in catching a destructive individual when society adopts him as a hero. Robert W. Westlake combines the best of Cornwell with Koontz in this psychological terror investigative novel. The heroine is quite good as a person struggling to profile a “popular” killer whose camouflage is inadvertently developed by the teens of the city. Mr. Walker has another captivating novel that readers will fully appreciate.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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"When FBI medical examiner Dr. Jessica Coran is called to Philadelphia to oversee a case involving a series of bizarre and literal poison pen murders in which the poison is etched into the skin of the victims in a loving and haunting poem, Jessica begins to piece the poetry together to solve the most bloodless crimes she has ever had to deal with. Without the usual mutilation murder, she is at first at a loss for why she has been called in until she learns that her former lover, James Perry from Hawaii is now Bureau Chief in Philly and he wants her (on the case)...so to speak. BITTER INSTINCT comes out in April in paperback and is currently available in hardcover."
Author Robert W. Walker, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Bitter Instinct |
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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 - 20%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
Tone of story
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story:
- 1980's-1999
- present (2000-2010)
Medical Thriller
Yes
Medical Plotlets:
- poisoning
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
The crook is....
- stalking/killing innocents
Crime Thriller
Yes
General Crime (including known murderer)
Yes
Who's the criminal enemy here?
- finding a known killer
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- police/lawman
- doctor
Age:
- 20's-30's
Has special powers?
Yes
Magical/mental powers of main character:
- can read emotions
- is very quick
Eccentric/Mental:
Yes
Eccentric:
- obsessed
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How much violence does he/she use?
- none
- a little
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
- Genius (really!)
Physique
- very athletic
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 20's-30's
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- scholar
- writer
Has special powers?
Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist:
- mind control
- can cast all sorts of spells
- can read emotions
Eccentric:
Yes
- obsessed
- deluded
- eccentric
- mentally ill
- emotionally unstable
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- an average amount
- a substantial amount
Motive of antagonist
- insanity
The antagonists are:
- cults
How sensitive is this character?
- soggy whimpering jelly muffin
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
- Genius
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
- Mid-Atlantic states
City?
Yes
City:
- Dirty, dangerous (like New York)
- dangerous
Misc setting
- scientific labs
Style
Part of a series?
Yes
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
- moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths?
- 5-7
- 8 or more
Sex
Yes
What kind of sex:
- touching of anatomy
- orgies
- lesbians!
- descript. of male nudity
- homosexuals doing their thing
A lot of techno jargon?
Yes
Kind of jargon?
- biology/medical
Unusual forms of death
- poisoning
- biohazard/virus
Unusual form of death?
Yes
Amount of dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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