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| Plot Summary of Lethal Risk |
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"
Pinnacle, Dec 2003, 6.99, 384 pp.
ISBN: 0786015810
In Duvall, Louisiana, Dr. Jack Harris, working the night shift of the emergency room, treats a battered but tough teenage girl Shannon Willis. Before he can finish with her, a wounded cop near death arrives. Rural ER is limited so Jack tries to keep the officer alive so that he can be air lifted to New Orleans. The other cop Sergeant Gillis has wounds that are not life threatening. Gillis drafts Jack to serve as the coroner because the man who shot the cops is dead. The deceased is Jack's boss Doc Saban. Meanwhile Shannon fled during the chaos.
Jack sees Shannon on the street. He buys her a meal and gets her a motel room. He promises to return in the morning, but the next day she is missing and the police suspect Jack had sex with her and killed her. They wonder if Jack is tied to Saban's apparent illegal activities and a narcotics ring that target high school students. Jack realizes he must prove his innocence because the circumstantial evidence allows the police to have no reason to look at anyone else.
LETHAL RISK is an excellent amateur sleuth tale that uses elements of a medical thriller (the spotlight on rural ER is fascinating as the bottom line is more important than saving lives) and police procedural (assume guilty unless proven innocent) as its underpinnings. The story line moves forward rather quickly from the first taste of ER bedlam to Jack learning a lesson about what happens to the good intentions of a Good Samaritan. Jack is the heart of a solid tale that fans will value highly.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Lethal Risk |
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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 - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
Tone of story
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain?
- Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story:
- present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 80%
Special suspect?
- investigator him/herself
Misc. Murder Plotlets
- Proving innocence of very obvious suspect
Kind of investigator
- amateur citizen investigator
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
- life in that culture
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- doctor
Age:
- 20's-30's
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
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- police/lawman
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
- very athletic
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Deep South
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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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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