Sunday, January 13, 2008

Top 10 list

My top 10 list is in no particular order.
1.-When Sharon gets kidnapped by Kessell; This is a very important part in the book because Sharon had a "hunch" that Kessell was the ever running man. After Kessell finds out that she's on to him, he makes a movie and kidnapps her. Meanwhile, her husband Hy is walking out from his hotel and is shot at twice bu the ever running man meaning Kessell couldn't be the ever running man. "The ever-running man's been at it again. This time he took a shot at me in the parking lot. I sensed motion in the shadows, ducked, and the shots-two of them-broke the windows in the company car I've been using. Then the night crew came running out of the building, and he disappeared." "No way Kessell could have made it to La Jolla in 2 hours after he'd imprisoned me, much less back by the rime the sheriff's deputies took him away. He couldn't have been shooter(231)."
2.-When Sharon first finds out about the ever running man; After Sharon first finds out about the ever running man, something strange and ironic happens to her. When she returned home from work the night she first learned about the ever running man, she saw a man running outside her apartment window. To her luck she left to go visit her cousins, but right as she is walking to her car, her apartment blows up sending her to the hospital. The explosion destroyed everything inside her apartment, including her friends and neighbors. "I leaned against the wall by the living room window, which looked out onto the rear alley, and pulled back the curtains. A couple of buildings away, a garbage can lid thumped, and moments later a man jogged along in a peculiar, uneven gait-probably one of the city's many scavengers who Dumpster-dived for the edible or useful(13)." "I was just taking my keys out when- WHUMP! The percussive blast threw me against the car. I felt heat across my face, and my ears rang. When I looked back across the street, I saw smoke billowing from RKI's building(14)."
3.-The conflict between Sharon and her husband Hy; The problems that occur between Sharon and Hy are very confusing at times because it interferes with all the other problems going on, for example, the ever running man case. I don't think the author, Marcia Muller, should have put as much time as she did into the problems that the couple was having. It takes away the intensity from the ever running man case. However, if she had put the marriage problem in the beginning of the book, explained it then, and solved it at the end, i would have enjoyed it more because it would have been another reason for me to keep reading. "Hy didn't answer his cellular. I called the apartment at the safe house and got the machine. Left a message telling him where i was and that i might continue on to touchstone and spend the night there(53)." "Ever since I accepted this case, I'd been walking through an emotional minefield-worrying about what it might do to my marriage, traumatized by nearly being blown up in the Green Street explosion(148)."
4.-The confusing setting; I think that Marica Muller, the author did a confusing job with the setting. She liked to move the setting around and it confused me. It didn't take away from the book's intensity, it just confused me and took away understanding from book. Since she messed with the setting, I think it made the book a lot more complicated than it actually was. At one point Sharon was in California and the next moment she was in New York. Then she'd switch characters conflicts and focus on her husbands, Hy. Maybe if both Sharon and her husband solved the case together with each other by their side, it would have been less confusing. "I was in a storage room. I could tell by touch: cartons, cushions for the outdoor furniture, a kettle barbecue that i backed into and nearly tipped over. It was totally black in what must be a windowless space(225)." Then right as Sharon picks the lock on the handcuffs, it switches to her husband who was in La Jolla and was shot at by the ever running man. "The ever-running man's been at it again. This time he took a shot at me in the parking lot(231)."
5.-When Kessell dies. When Kessell dies, that effected the book majorly. Since he was a major suspect of being the ever running man, that meant that it couldn't have been him. Since Sharon had a "hunch" that Kessell was up to something, he decided to kidnap her. "In a sense. He wanted you to know that Dan Kessell has died. Kessell? Too bad. A good man. What happened? Heart attack(251)."
6.When they find out who the ever-running man is. When Sharon interviews Chad's family about they day he went missing, she found out a clue about a watch that received from his fiance for Christmas, that helped her solve the case. When she flew into the empty airport, she knew something was wrong. Since no one was there to greet her, she got the creepy, scary feeling that someone was waiting to kill her. As she found the big factory and saw Chad in it, she realized he was wearing the watch that his fiance had given him! She found Hy tied up in a closet, so she rescued him, but then they had to get out of there because Chad, the ever running man was making a bomb and was going to kill them!"I extended the Magnum in both hands as i moved toward the lighted building. At its wall, i stopped, listening. Inside, someone coughed, and the sound drew me to a high window that was slightly open. i went up on my toes and peered over the bottom of the frame. Brent Chavez-aka Chad Merkel-sat at a desk, his profile to the window. He was tinkering with what i recognized as the makings of a bomb. After a moment, he glanced at his watch-probably the Rolex his fiance had given him(286)."
7.When they escape from the empty airport and kill the ever running man. After Sharon discovers what Chad is doing, her and Hy have to take an abandoned car and try to break down a gate to escape because there was no other way out. She would have taken the plane that she arrived in, but it was broken since Chad cut the cords. As they started accelerating, Chad jumped in front of the car. He flew backwards as the car hit him, killing him and setting the bomb off, making the car shake in the distance. Then they approached the gate and broke it down."Brace yourself, Hy said. That gate is one heavy mother. Christ! Hy exclaimed. Look out! A figure had leaped out of the darkness to the right and was running diagonally toward us. Merkel. He held a rectangular object in his hand. The bomb! The Chevy's bumper grazed his body, knocked him sideways. The ever-running man had finally stopped running(294)."
8.When Sharon and Hy resolve their marriage problems. At the end of the book, Sharon and Hy are talking about how they wanted to start fresh and that they wanted to make things work. I think the whole case really brought them closer together because they almost died together. "Lets close the books on this past month and move on. He smiled, brushed a lock of my hair from my cheek, where the sea wind had blown it. After a moment i laid my head on his shoulder and we watched the play of the light on the water-together(312)."
9.The ending of the book. I thought the author did a really good job of cleaning up the ending of the book. She made it really suspenseful and had me under my blankets because i was so scared. She had Sharon and Hy solve there marriage problems and to me the ending was just perfect with the quote that she used...."After a moment i laid my head on his shoulder and we watched the play of the light on the water-together(312)."
10.The Suspense. I think Marcia Muller did a good job of making you want to keep reading. Even though parts were confusing at times, she made the action parts filled with suspense and a feeling of whats going to happen next. When Sharon first arrives at the empty airport, i thought someone was going to come and tie her up because Marica did such a great job of making it scary and suspenseful. "As i got out of the plane, i immediately became aware of the intense heat and an eerie silence(283)."

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