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The Dream Stalker
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Plot Summary of The Dream Stalker
"The phone rings at St. Francis Mission late one night. When Father John O'Malley answers, an old cowboy on the line pleads for a meeting. He has something he wants to tell the priest, something that has been on his conscience for years. But when Father John drives to an old cabin to meet the cowboy, he finds him inside, shot to death.

The police investigate the murder while coping with demonstrators who have come to the Wind River Reservation in central Wyoming to protest plans to build a nuclear-waste storage site. Most of the Arapaho people favor the facility for the jobs and money it will provide them, but Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden is convinced the facility will harm the land and her people. She receives threats cautioning her to mind her own business, then a truck tries to run her down, and someone attempts to break into her house. Still, Vicky speaks out against the facility at a public meeting that turns into a riot.

Then a tribal council member, who may have decided to oppose the facility, is murdered. Father John discovers the murdered cowboy and the council member met together shortly before their deaths. Did the cowboy tell the council member what was weighing on his mind? Could the information have turned the council member against the nuclear-waste storage site? As the pair investigate, they come closer to exposing a killer who may have committed murder 30 years ago, and will commit murders now to make sure the facility is built."

Felicia Jordan, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of The Dream Stalker
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 - 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)
How difficult to spot villain? - Moderately Challenging
Time/era of story: - present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 60%
Murder of certain profession? - politicians
Misc. Murder Plotlets - local police w/ IQ of a houseplant - solving long-past murder
Kind of investigator - American Indian mystery
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - lefty/liberal activism
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes
Is Romance a MAJOR (25%+) part of story? Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - religious figure
Age: - 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How much violence does he/she use? - none
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Female
Age: - 60's-90's
Profession/status: - infantry soldier
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some
Motive of antagonist - money/treasure
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - West
Small town? Yes

Style
Part of a series? Yes
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths? - 3-4
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books to The Dream Stalker
The Face of Deception by Iris Johansen
The Ties That Bind by Phillip Margolin
Set in Darkness by Ian Rankin
Double Exposure by Bonnie Hearn Hill
Conspiracy by Allan Topol


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Margaret Coel Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Felicia Jordan  

SCHOLARS:
David Gordon  


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