|
|
| Plot Summary of Tanglewood |
|---|
"Ben Taylor is a police officer who leaves New York under questionable circumstances following the bombing of the World Trade Center. He returns to New England and takes a poorly paying job as a farm hand at Tanglewood Vineyards, where he had worked as a teenager.
Much has changed over the years. Michael Voracci, the grandson of the farm's founder now runs the operations. While marketing the vineyard's wine on his famous political family name, he has industrialized the rest of the farm, tearing out apple orchards and replacing them with plastic hydroponic greenhouses. Ben's memories of a happy workplace are completely washed away by Voracci's brutal warehouse manager, the grotesque and twisted Randy Caines, who routinely abuses and harasses the farm hands.
The novel begins when the young daughter of Tanglewood's wine master is kidnapped and murdered. Politics between the famous Voracci family and the local police threaten to brush the murder under the carpet until FBI Agent Walter Kumar arrives to investigate the kidnapping. Every character, including Ben Taylor, is a suspect from Kumar's perspective as well as the reader's.
To complicate matters, Taylor becomes reacquainted with his college sweetheart, Jennifer, who is now married to Michael Voracci, and lives a lonely life within the farmhouse and her gated backyard, with a piano as her only company. Jennifer suffers from nightmares and repressed memories. The truth behind her shadowed years of drugs, blackouts and her dominating husband begin to come to light, paralleling the murder investigation. All the while, the ghost of the young murdered girl haunts Taylor, telling him, “You are responsible.” "
Heather Norman, Resident Scholar
|
|
| Review Analysis of Tanglewood |
|---|
|
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 - 20%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 60%
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?
- 80%
Special suspect?
- lover
Misc. Murder Plotlets
- local police w/ IQ of a houseplant
Kind of investigator
- skilled citizen investigator
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
- feelings of fear/loss/inadequacy
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
General Crime (including known murderer)
Yes
Is Romance a MAJOR (25%+) part of story?
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- unemployed
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric/Mental:
Yes
Eccentric:
- deluded
- emotionally unstable
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How much violence does he/she use?
- just the right amount
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- farmer
Eccentric:
Yes
- deluded
- wild
- emotionally unstable
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
The antagonists are:
- Drug kingpins
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Dumb
Physique
- quite fatty
Setting
United States
Yes
Farm/Ranch?
Yes
Farm/Ranch:
- farm
Small town?
Yes
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths?
- 3-4
Sex
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
Unusual forms of death
- dropped from large heights
- eaten
- flamed
- perforation--swords/knives
Unusual form of death?
Yes
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
|
|
|
Click here for more information about this book
David Weedmark Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Heather Norman
SCHOLARS:
| |
Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
Use our site!
17 FREE Sci-Fi Ebooks!
FREE "How to be happy" Ebook!
Funny Videos
Feedback
Most recent discussions:
General Book Talk
Book writing discussion
Off-topic message board
George W. Bush
3:22:38 AM
Robert Segarra
5:13:47 PM
Deric Longden
3:49:15 PM
Slavomir Rawicz
10:00:34 AM
Karen Armstrong
10:51:40 AM
Anonymous
1:39:52 PM
Suzanne Weyn
6:24:19 PM
Colin Forbes
12:23:54 PM
John Christopher
5:12:45 AM
Tom Clancy
2:19:45 AM
Margaret Peterson Haddix
5:36:55 PM
Nikolai Tolstoy
7:46:16 AM
J.K. Rowling
11:40:22 PM
Jack Higgins
4:54:08 PM
Eloise Jarvis McGraw
12:51:17 PM
Jane Rubino
1:21:00 PM
Lori Wick
2:11:45 AM
Betty Mahmoody
5:57:33 PM
Patricia Cornwell
2:48:17 PM
Andrew Clements
9:13:44 PM
Silicon Valley
More message boards
|
