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| Plot Summary of Drum Beat: The Chester Drum Casebook |
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"
Five Star, Jul 2003, 25.95, 254 pp.
ISBN: 0786243155
This anthology consists of a novel (Drum Beat – Dominique) and several short stories all written in the 1960s. All the short stories are well written enhancing the image of Chet Drum as a no nonsense private investigator who cares for his clients.
Drum Beat – Dominique. Government “ghoul” Jack Morley looks like the pits when old friend Chet Drum meets with him in Paris. Jack explains that he no longer is a State Department VIP having fallen from grace following a divorce. He works for the Army Adjutant General determining whether World War II MIAs are dead though two decades have passed. However, his problem is that US Senator Clay Bundy accuses him of blackmail and threatens to have him killed if he fails to back off. Jack wants Chet to inform the senator he is not blackmailing him. Chet tells that to the Senator and persuades him to hire him to learn who is even while someone murders Jack. Great tale that fans of tough intelligent, but concerned sleuths will relish so much they will seek other works by Stephen Marlowe.
This is the reviewer's first taste of Mr. Marlowe (finally reprints besides Dickens in which I was too young to have read the first time around) and can say the author lives up to his surname. Drum sleuths to his own beat; he is a strong private investigator, who hooks the audience in each tale, short or long.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Drum Beat: The Chester Drum Casebook |
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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 - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
Tone of story
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain?
- Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story:
- 1960's-1970's
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 60%
Kind of investigator
- hard boiled/private eye
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Crime Thriller
Yes
Crime plotlets:
- seduction/blackmail
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
General Crime (including known murderer)
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- private investigator
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
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- mastermind
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist
- power
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Southeast
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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