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Dead Line
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Plot Summary of Dead Line
"

Atria, Jan 2004, 25.00
ISBN: 0743463668

Lawyer Hilary Kane comes home early from a business trip only to find her boyfriend in bed with another woman. Instead of clubbing him with Big Bertha, Hilary chucks him for the Ritz Carlton where she drinks at the bar when Boston Mayor Daniel Harkins arrives. Hilary and Daniel end up in his room for the night.

As she goes to sneak out of their room while he is asleep, she cannot resist peaking into his computer files where she finds a link to his allegedly estranged son Toby the mobster, who the Mayor has sworn he has not had contact with in a decade. Also in those files is a link between Toby terrible and the thirteen years ago robbery of eleven paintings worth thirty million dollars from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Not long afterward someone kills Hilary. Boston Record reporter Jack Flynn vows to uncover the truth.

DEAD LINE is an exciting investigative tale that never slows down from the moment that Hilary uncovers the mayor's secrets (aside: the painting theft is a real incident that obviously adds realism) until the final confrontation. However, though the plot is exhilarating Jack's obsession to solve this due to remorse seems weird because his despondency does not seem linked to the victim. Instead his regrets tie back to his pregnant girlfriend reporter Elizabeth Riggs ending their New England Turnpike relationship. Still fans of the series (see THE NOMINEE) will appreciate Jack's Beantown romp, but newcomers will wonder why he races this marathon.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Dead Line
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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? - 70%
Kind of investigator - skilled citizen investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - feelings towards lover
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - journalist
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - a little
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - middling 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: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - mastermind
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist - money/treasure
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: - Northeast

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
Most similar books to Dead Line
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Intent To Harm by Jonnie Jacobs
Dead Tide by Jeannine Kadow


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