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Stronghold
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Plot Summary of Stronghold
"James Flood has just gotten out of a Florida prison with three partners and a plan: to rob an upstate New York bank of $4 million and escape to the West Indies and ultimately South America or Africa. As Jimmy, he grew up troubled, angry, and all but orphaned by his battling and neglectful parents in the town of Scammons Landing, New York. Now he's going back there, not only to strike it rich, but to take hostages among the Quaker community that tried to take care of him when he was little, even after he accidentally shot a garbage collector when he was still just a kid. His opponents include 55-year-old banker Marcus Hayworth and his oldest daughter Janet, who sexually humiliated James when he was 16 and now keeps herself half comatose on drugs.

When Flood's team goes up against a community of nonviolent Quakers, it comes down to who can out-think the others, whether Marcus can negotiate the criminals into splitting up and betraying one another, and how to keep the entire powder keg of a situation secret from the local law enforcement who will only mess it up and trip off the gunfire."

David Loftus, Resident Scholar



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

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 30%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%




Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story: - 1960's-1970's
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
The crook is.... - stalking/killing innocents
Crime Thriller Yes
Crime plotlets: - escape/rescue from kidnappers
Mostly a criminal POV story Yes
General Crime (including known murderer) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - business executive
Age: - 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
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 - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - criminal
Eccentric: Yes - wild - emotionally unstable
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - throughout most of the book.
Motive of antagonist - money/treasure
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Northeast
Small town? Yes
Small town people: - nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee

Style
Person - rotating 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths? - 2
Sex Yes
What kind of sex: - actual description of sex
Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
Most similar books to Stronghold
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In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
The Spy Who Loved Me by Ian Fleming


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Stanley Ellin Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
David Loftus  

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