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| Plot Summary of The Discrete Charm of Charlie Monk |
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"
Warner, Mar 2003, 23.95, 288 pp.
ISBN: 0446527963
Super agent Charlie Monk believes he works for an agency so stratospherically secret, the work force will not mention its name even in the most secure room. However, Charlie sometimes wonders who he really is. Though he performs perfectly when he works in the cold as a killing machine with no conscience completing his mission, Charlie has problems recalling mundane obvious details from his past.
When on home leave in Los Angeles, Charlie sleeps with a myriad of women and paints landscapes that some dealer buys before the canvas dries. In Washington D.C., Dr. Susan Flemyng conducts cutting edge experiments on replacing visual memory in the minds of amnesia victims. However, the government has forced her to work for a top-secret agency whose name is classified by kidnapping her son. Her guinea pigs include Charlie.
This Walter Mitty type tale starring a protagonist like James Bond or Derek Flint will leave the audience wondering who Charlie is. The story line grips the reader with that question from the onset, but when the answer seems obvious David Ambrose cleverly twists the plot around so that the audience has to repeat the query. Fans of strange thrillers will want to read the DISCRETE CHARM OF CHARLIE MONK in one sitting because the tale provides a wonderful espionage story within a medical subplot inside a weird but deep character study, contained in etc. etc. etc. Yet all of this yada yada yada turns into a tremendous novel.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The Discrete Charm of Charlie Monk |
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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 - 30%
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:
- present (2000-2010)
Medical Thriller
Yes
Medical Plotlets:
- wild experiments on people
Spying/Terrorism Thriller
Yes
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Amnesia story?
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- spy
Age:
- 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use?
- just the right amount
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Main Adversary
Identity:
- an organization
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist
- power
Setting
United States
Yes
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths?
- 3-4
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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