Title Loverboy Author Richard Belsky Publisher Hodder and Stoughton London 1997 Pages 313 Classification The book starts with a prologue. Part one: Start Me Up; Part two: Loverboy; Part three: My Back Pages; Part four: Read All About It!; Part five: Tangled Up In Blue; Part six: The Long Good-Bye; Part seven: I Love You To Death. After the seven parts there's an epilogue, it's part of the story. Summary The prologue discribes the first murdercase back in 1974. It's written in the Summertime in New York City in 1978. The real story starts with the thoughts of Lucy Shannon. She always wanted to be a newspaper reporter. She is working at the Blade, a newspaper in New York City, for some years. At the moment she doesn't feel the exitement of being a reporter anymore. She has to interview a women called Emily Tischler because Emilys husband is missed. Lucy figures out that Barry Tischler, the man who is missed, is murdered. At the same time Michael Anson is making a movie about Loverboy. Loverboy is the serial killer who terrorized the city a number of years ago. Lucy was the main reporter covering up the story. She knows a lot about the case. Michael Anson wants Lucy to play a small role in the movie. Lucy doesn't want to because the case of Loverboy still gives her nightmares. Theresa Anne Vinas is missing too. Lucy thinks that she is dead. Theresa Anne Vinas and Barry Tischler both were seen in a singles bar named "Partners". They found them both the next day. They were murdered. Lucy is the first reporter with this news, it was her first page 1 story since long. She had many page 1 stories a number of years ago when Loverboy was terrorizing the city. Lucy was the one who got letters from him. In every letter were jokes, but also threatments and in every letter he wrote: I love you to death. By now she's getting letters again from Loverboy and she's the first one who knows about the killings. Loverboy is back, at least everyone thinks he is even the police. Lucy thinks he is a copycat of the real Loverboy. The next victim of Loverboy is Julie Blaumstein. Lucy has a page 1 story again because she was the first one who knew Julie Blaumstein was murdered. Lucy thinks about the first time Loverboy was terrorizing the town, a number of years ago. She goes through all the cases. Who were murdered, who survived, what people they were, what sort of friends they had. She wants to know if it's the real Loverboy of a copycat. She thinks it's possible that Michael Anson comitted the crimes to get publicity for the movie. When Lucy says this to her, she says that it's possible too that Lucy murdered the latest victim to get page 1 stories. More people are murdered. Lucy discovers about the recent killings and about the first killings. The first time Loverboy was killing she had a boyfriend who was working by the police. His name was Jack Reagan, they examined everything about the case and talked a lot about the murders. They were both alcoholics and enjoyed the time they had together. The police had some suspects and Lucy and Jack thougt about it or followed them. At once Jack rang Lucy up and said he had found Loverboy. Lucy went to a bar where she found Jack. They were going to a place, Jack got out of the car and comes back with Joey Russo. They both think it's Loverboy. Jack says to Lucy that Joey told him that he was Loverboy. Jack wants to kill Joey, Lucy wants to call the police and when she goes to look for a phone, she hears a shot. Jack shot Loverboy. They threw Joey Russo in the canal and the killings stopped. Some time after they had killed Loverboy, Jack Reagan committed suicide. Lucy tried to stop drinking and now she's sober now. The killings continue and Lucy receives letters. She's dating a cop named Mitch Caruso and they talk a lot about Loverboy. She walks alone in an alley at an evening when she's caught from behind. The person says: "This is just a little reminder that no one is safe from Loverboy---not even you, Shannon, I'm always out

ther watching all you bitches."The person hit her and she is unconscious for a while. When she woke up she wrote a story for the paper and then went to the police office. Now they're thinking that Lucy is Loverboy. But suddenly she can go home without an explanation. With a lot of help from Lucy they discover who did the last killings. It is Robert Fowling, he was a Loverboy victim himself, his girlfriend died, but he survived. They had a child, Lucy discovers it's Emily Tischler, her husband was the first victim after years. Robert Fowler talks to Lucy and then commit suicide. Lucy and Mitch find out that Jack Reagan is alive. He wasn't the person they'd found in his appartment. After they discover that he is in Lucy's house. He takes Lucy to the place of the first killing. He wants to kill her. But she fights back and gets the gun and shoot him. He drives into the canal. Then the police came. After the whole Loverboy case Lucy and Mitch lived happily ever after. Lucy says in the epilogue that things have finally begun to settle down. But she sometimes has nightmares, and she's not sure if Jack Reagan is really
dead.......... Characters Lucy Shannon is the main character in the book. She's a Blade reporter and is involved in the Loverboy case. She had had a lot of problems and divorced two men. She has been an alcoholic but now she's sober and she wants to be sober. Actually all that she really wants is a normal life with an husband, children without all the problems she used to have. She wans to get rid of them. All she wants is to live hapilly ever after and that's what she gets with Mitch Caruso. Jack Reagan/Martin Chambers is a cop and he's dating Lucy Shannon. He works very hard for the Loverboy case. His drunk very often and then he is bitter and violent. He's obsessed with Loverboy and wants to find him. After he had killed Joey Russo he committed suicide. But at the end of the story it turns to be out that he isn't Jack Reagan but Martin Chambers. He is Loverboy. He was very clever because nobody figured out he was Loverboy. Victoria Crawford is the editor of the Blade. She started out as a reporter at the Blade. Then she married the Ronald Mackell and she turned out to be the editor. Ronald Mackell was a wealthy real estate tycoon and he bought the paper. Lucy hated Victoria. In the end they become friends. Mitch Caruso is a cop. He is doeing the Loverboycase. And even arrests Lucy because the police suspects her. In the end Lucy and Mitch are having an affair. They figure out together who the real Loverboy is. He gives Lucy what she wants. The Loverboy victims they were young , beautiful, innocent girls or love couples. Some of them survived the shootings. Rober Fowler one of the Loverboy victims who survived. He's the copycat and he is obsessed with Loverboy, he is very angry and had had a lof of pain because Loverboy killed the woman he loved. He committed suicide. Explanation of the title The story is about Loverboy. He controls the life of very many people in New York City. The victims, the people in New York , the police, Lucy Shannon. It's a book about Loverboy. Theme -What drives a killer to kill people? -People who are obsessed of a serial killer. -Frightening Place and time The story is about a period in ten years. Most of the story plays in New York on the streets, in bars, at the Blade's office, at the police office and at home by Lucy. The story is not told chronologically it looks forwards and backwards. Things that struck me The writer used the word "though" very often. Most exciting passage (page 167,17,178) Lucy is at the police office because she is attacked by Loverboy. They arrest her because they think she's Loverboy.
'"We canvassed the area, Lucy. No one saw any attack. There's no evidence in the alley. No sign of a struggle anywhere." "I was there, Lieutenant, remember?" He grunted. "Yeah. Just you and this imaginary assailant." I couldn't believe this was happening. "Are you saying I made this up?" "Its starting to look that way. " "Why would I do that?" Masters pointed to the newspapaer article. "To get on the front page. To keep this whole Loverboy thing going for you." "That's ridiculous." I looked over at Caruso. "Is that what you think, Mitch? That I made it all up just to get my name in the paper again?" He shook his head. "I don't know, Lucy...." "Maybe you didn't do it deliberately," Masters said. "Maybe you really thought you were being attacked. People who drink a lot sometimes have delusions---" (.........) Masters reached into the cardboard box and took out some other things. A scrapbook. A few letters. A vodka bottle. "Where did you get those?" I wanted to know. "What were you doing in my appartment?" "We had a warrant to search it." "Why?" Then it dawned on me. Of course. That was why Mitch Caruso had been looking around my bedroom. He'd been trying to find out if there was anything there to come back for later with a warrant. He hadn't been on a dat at all. He'd been on the job the whole time. I glared at him. He looked away. "You son of a bitch!"I said.(.........) He reached into the box one more time and took out a gun. Not just any gun. A Bulldog .44 revolver. Just like the one Loverboy used. "We found this in your apartment too,"Masters told me. That was when I knew I was really in trouble."I want to talk to a lawyer,"I said. My personal opinion I think it's a very good book. I liked it becaus you want to know who Loverboy is as badly as Lucy want to know that. You think and think but you don't know it. You have some suspects but you don't know. When Jack turns out to be Loverboy it's not that strange. I understood the whole story and that's very important to me. It's an exciting book.