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Enigma
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Plot Summary of Enigma
"Tom Jericho is a brilliant mathematician who has been recruited to become a codebreaker at Bletchley Park, the center for British cryptographers. He has already been instrumental in breaking the infamous Nazi Enigma code which allows the Allies to track the movement of German submarine traffic. The stress of cracking the code has caused Jericho to have a nervous breakdown, and he has returned to his college to rest. Now, however the code has been changed and Tom has been brought back to try to break it once more.

To complicate matters, he is in love with a mysterious woman, Claire Rommily, who works in codebreaking also. As Jericho and his team work feverishly to break the code and avoid disaster for the Allied submarine forces, he comes to the conclusion that a traitor is at work among his fellow cryptographers. When Claire suddenly disppears and is found to have removed important information from her workplace, accusations of Nazi collaboration are made. Tom is desperate to find Claire and with the help of her roomate, Hester, he sets out to clear her name.   This, along with cracking the code and finding the traitor, is stretching him to his breaking point once more. This story presents a fascinating view of the world of wartime codebreaking, as well as an exciting romance."

Tara Robertson, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Enigma
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).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 20%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%




Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story: - 1930's-1950's
Spying/Terrorism Thriller Yes
Cloak & Dagger Plotlets: - stopping a saboteur/spy
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Who's the terrorist enemy here? - nazis!
Is Romance a MAJOR (25%+) part of story? Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - none
Ethnicity/Race - British
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence - Genius (really!)

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount

Setting
Europe Yes
Misc setting - fort/military installation

Style
A lot of techno jargon? Yes
Most similar books to Enigma
The Ministry of Fear by Graham Greene
N or M? by Agatha Christie
The Tongue-Tied Canary by Nicolas Bentley
Epitaph for a Spy by Eric Ambler
The Himmler Equation by William P. Kennedy


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Robert Harris Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Tara Robertson  

SCHOLARS:


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