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Up In Smoke
Charlene Weir Book Review

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Plot Summary of Up In Smoke
"

Dunne, Nov 2002, 23.95, 272 pp.
ISBN 031231020x

Governor Jack Garrett is one of the several Democratic Candidates running for the office of President. Twenty years ago, he was a smoke jumper whose bravery saved three men in an out of control forest fire on Pale Horse Mountain in Montana. His friend since childhood Wakely Fromm was severally injured in that fire leading to his being wheelchair bound. For the past two decades Jack has taken care of him.

When Jack and his campaign team come to Hampstead, Kansas, trouble follows. The wife of a man who was on Pale Horse Mountain when Jack was fighting the fire is found murdered in the trunk of her car. Her younger sister was badly injured by someone who broke into her home but with time she is expected to recover. Wakely is murdered in a homicide made to look like a suicide and if Police Chief Susan Wren finds the common link that ties these people together, she will have named her killer.

Charlene Weir weaves a tangled web that somehow is totally believable in turns of plots and characterizations. There are some very interesting sub-plots that enhance and ultimately run into the main storyline including a suicidal woman who finds she has much to live for when the killer tries to make her victim number five. In a classic turnabout, she is the one that finally confronts the killer and is doing so learns to cope with the loss of her husband and child at the hands of a drunken driver. UP IN SMOKE is a very creative work that gives readers an insider's look into a political campaign.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Up In Smoke
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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: - present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 80%
Kind of investigator - police procedural, American
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - politics
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - police/lawman
How much violence does he/she use? - a little
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - politician/elected ruler
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: - Midwest

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
Most similar books to Up In Smoke
Darker Than Night by John Lutz
At the Stroke of Madness by Alex Kava
Kill and Tell by Linda Howard
Broken Wings by John Douglas
A Confidential Source by Jan Brogan


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