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Blind Alley Summary & Study Guide Description
Blind Alley Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to help you understand the book. This study guide contains the following sections:
This detailed literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion and a Free Quiz on Blind Alley by Iris Johansen.
Blind Alley tells the story of Jane Maguire, a seventeen-year-old woman who is the object of a serial killer's obsession. It begins with a series of grisly murders in which women have been killed in varying manners, with one constant - all of their faces have been peeled off.
Eve Duncan, a forensic sculptor, becomes involved in the case when Detective Joe Quinn asks her to do a facial reconstruction of one of the victim's skulls. After completing the reconstruction, Eve and Joe are both struck by the resemblance to Jane. In fact, all of the victims resemble Jane.
Both Jane and Eve are haunted by dreams. Eve sees visions of her young daughter Bonnie who was abducted and murdered by a serial killer years earlier. Jane dreams about dark tunnels and a woman named Cira. The same woman Aldo, the killer, blames for the death of his father - the same woman, who died over two thousand years ago.
When Mark Trevor, a man with ties to Scotland Yard, arrives with information about similar murders in England, Italy and Spain, Joe is immediately suspicious. Trevor finds it increasingly difficult to get close to the family, but knows that he must in order to stop Aldo. Trevor wants to help protect Jane, but he has personal motivations for catching this sadistic killer.
Knowing that Jane is Aldo's next target, Joe hires a security detail to watch the house and keep Jane safe. With the police involved, Jane appears to be safe, but Aldo manages to lure Jane out into the open when he abducts her dog Toby and threatens to kill Toby if Jane doesn't meet him in the woods alone. The meeting goes awry as Jane takes a swing at Aldo with a knife and just as Aldo is about to attack, Trevor comes to the rescue. Aldo vanishes into the night, leaving Jane and her family to wonder what will happen next.
Over the next few days, Aldo kills repeatedly, quickly locating women who resemble Jane. The bodies are found along the East Coast, suggesting that Aldo has moved on and forgotten about Jane, but this is just what Aldo wants. With the police now convinced that Aldo has moved on, the extra security at the house is taken away, clearing the way for Aldo to return for Jane.
Though the police presence has diminished, Trevor stays with the family to protect Jane. An unorthodox relationship burgeons between Trevor and Jane. Clearly attracted to one another, Trevor knows that Jane is off limits, yet he's still drawn to her. Jane is just coming into her own sexuality as she begins to acknowledge her attraction to Trevor. She is both fascinated and fearful of the possibilities that exist between them, but that can never be.
Using Jane as bait, Trevor and Jane devise a plan to lure Aldo back to the place where the whole nightmare started - Herculaneum, a city that was destroyed in a massive volcanic eruption thousands of years earlier. In order for their plan to work, they will have to convince Aldo that Cira's body has been discovered. Then, in the dark tunnels where she allegedly perished, Jane will confront Aldo for a final battle to the death.
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This section contains 547 words (approx. 2 pages at 400 words per page) |