Point of View

The novel is written in third person from the limited perspective of Travis Devine. This means the reader knows only what Devine knows. However, because there is an independent narrator, the author is also able to keep some details secret from the reader. For example, Devine begins to question a woman named Helen Speers. He knows she is not a recent graduate studying for her bar exam, but he is not sure of her true identity and reason for being here. When she enters his room one evening, Devine arranges himself on the bed next to a pillow. He then “slipped his hand under the pillow where it gripped something” (333). Even though Devine knows what is in his hand, he does not reveal it to the reader until later in the scene. The reader will assume he is holding a gun, but it is not...