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| Plot Summary of Land of Burning Heat |
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"
Signet, Feb 2003, 5.99, 272 pp.
ISBN 0451208005
Archivist Claire Reynier works at the Center for Southwest Research at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. One day Isabel Santos informs Claire that she tripped over a loose brick on the floor but when she investigated it she found a wooden cross with a note hidden in it. Isabel made a copy of the document and shows it to Claire who believes it was the last note written by a Jewish mystic before he was killed in the Mexican Inquisition.
The document should be placed somewhere safe but when Claire tries to convince Isabel to give it to the university, she tells the archivist she has to think about it. The very next day Isabel is murdered in her home and the document is missing but the cross is found On a hunch, Claire asks the police to dig around the area where the cross was buried and they unearth a skeleton over four centuries old. The police think Isabel was murdered in a robbery gone bad, but Claire thinks the modern day homicide, the document, and the skeleton are all linked together and she intends to prove it or die trying.
The protagonist is an independent thinker who does not allow herself to be sidetracked when she thinks she is right. She is a woman of the new millennium one to be admired and emulated. Judith Van Gieson tells a creative and fascinating story intermingling the past with the present and educating the reader in a period not widely studied. The who-done-it is fascinating but it is the mystery of the past that holds the reader's attention.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Land of Burning Heat |
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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 - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 60%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%
How difficult to spot villain?
- Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story:
- present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 70%
Murder of certain profession?
- students/teachers
Kind of investigator
- amateur citizen investigator
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
- life in that culture
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- scholar
Age:
- 40's-50's
How much violence does he/she use?
- none
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- scholar
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist
- power
The antagonists are:
- communists
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- West
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths?
- 1
Amount of dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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