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| Plot Summary of Dark Ambition |
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"
Onyx, Jan 2003, 6.99, 480 pp.
ISBN: 0451410645
The State Department's Office of Diplomatic Security has two experienced agents guarding Secretary of State Robert Winthrop. After his wife Ann leaves, only gardener Clyde Gillis remains on the property until George Nesbitt arrives for his appointment. George is actually a woman who kills America's top diplomat before leaving for her home in Connecticut. Clyde finds the body, but fears what happened to his father in Mississippi will happen to him and flees the scene.
With strong circumstantial evidence, the FBI quickly concludes that Clyde killed Robert though no one can locate Nesbitt. Justice Department Attorney Ben Hartwell leads the prosecution team but also wants to insure that the government does not use Clyde as a convenient scapegoat just in case the man is innocent. Anne believes Clyde is innocent and hires her friend lawyer Jennifer Moore to defend him. Jennifer and Ben have a history, but both will do the right thing though that is not safe as this simple robbery gone bad case has more of an international flavor than either lawyer realizes.
Legal procedural fans will relish this strong novel starring a delightful duo, but the female assassin steals the plot. DARK AMBITION never slows down as the case against Clyde seems airtight and he changes his innocent attitude after a visit from the Connecticut killer. Readers will question more so than even Ben does how a vanished Nesbitt fails to place doubts on the case and why no one wonders why the missing visitor left no fingerprints in Winthrop's home. Still readers will follow the lead of the Attorney General's Office and not object because Allan Topal provides quite a thriller.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Dark Ambition |
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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).
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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 - 40%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%
Tone of story
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain?
- Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story:
- present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 70%
Misc. Murder Plotlets
- Proving innocence of very obvious suspect
Kind of investigator
- police procedural, American
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
- politics
Legal Thriller
Yes
Legal Plotlets
- finding out whether someone is really guilty
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- a lawyer creature
Age:
- 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use?
- none
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Female
Age:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- killer
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a little/some
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:
- Southeast
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
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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