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Clean Cut
Theresa Monsour Book Review

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Plot Summary of Clean Cut
"

Putnam, Feb 2003, 23.95, 304 pp.
ISBN 0399149686

He is one of the most esteemed plastic surgeons in the Twin Cities and is connected, through his relatives, to the people in power of St. Paul. Dr. A. Romann Michaels is married to a high society woman and has two beautiful daughters. After having a fight with his wife, he leaves his country cabin and returns to the city. He does what he does best when the buzzing in his head becomes too loud: find a longhaired prostitute to rape, kill and cut off her hair as his trophy.

St. Paul homicide detective Paris Murphy doesn't realize at first that she is dealing with a serial rapist killer when she is assigned the case of the murdered prostitute. The case doesn't begin to take shape for her until a Catholic priest is almost murdered in the confession booth, holding the prostitute's cross in his hand. As the death toll mounts, Paris and Michaels are involved in a cat and mouse game that will only end when one of them is dead.

This is Theresa Monsour's debut novel but nobody reading this exciting police procedural would ever believes it. The characters are well developed to the point where the reader ever understands even the killer's motivation. CLEAN CUT is fast-paced and the plot is believable but the heroine is the star of this work. She is determined to find a way to bring the antagonist in so justice can be served even if it means putting her life on the line. She is courageous and spunky.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar



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




Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story: - present (2000-2010)
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
The crook is.... - stalking/killing innocents
Crime Thriller Yes
Mostly a criminal POV story Yes
General Crime (including known murderer) Yes
Who's the criminal enemy here? - rapist

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - police/lawman
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - just the right amount
Ethnicity/Race - Russian
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - killer
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - an average amount
Motive of antagonist - insanity
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Midwest

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths? - 8 or more
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
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