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12 Bliss Street
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Plot Summary of 12 Bliss Street
"

St. Martin's, June 2003, 23.95, 224 pp.
ISBN 0312315430

One day after getting off the San Francisco Muni Train, Nicola thinks she sees her ex-husband who she hasn't laid eyes on for three years. From there her day goes downhill rapidly with a cranky boss and an irate customer. When she goes out to her usual restaurant for lunch, she meets the man she has been non-verbally flirting with for weeks and they finally talk. He asks her out on a date but though she is tempted, she chickens out.

The next bad happening is when two college students kidnap her and by the time Nicola convinces them she has no idea what is going on, they become nervous and call the man who hired them. Just as she suspected, the man turns out to be Scooter who wants to borrow money from her to pay off a loan shark. She agrees to talk to the bookie's nephew who turns out to be a good looking and attractive man who wants to be a food critic. They start dating but the man who Nicola turned downed at the restaurant is looking for her because she's a loose end that needs tying up before he gets out of the snuff film business.

12 BLISS STREET is a funny upbeat chick-lit mystery starring a feisty resolute woman determined not to lose control in any situation. The villain is vile in a funky kind of way but the funniest character is the ex-husband who is always trying to reach for the gold ring only to find it's made foolishly of brass. Martha Conway is writing for the thirty-something crowd who will adore this work.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of 12 Bliss Street
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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)
Time/era of story: - present (2000-2010)
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
If story PRIMARILY about main chr. being hunted... - hunted by killer/stalker

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - computer programmer
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 - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - killer
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 - average physique

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - California

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 2
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
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