Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Grew Up… in an influential family. Senator Shaw, who grew up with power, believes that she deserves to wield influence on how United States goes into the tumultuous twenty-first century.
Living… in Washington D.C., in the corridors of power. Senator Shaw knows that she lives in uncertain times. The United States not only faces the threat of terror, but the threat from “covert alliances of disaffected nations.”
Profession… U.S. Senator. Eleanor Shaw sees the future of the country in her hands, and she “will do whatever is necessary to protect America from anyone who opposes her,” even if it means manipulating her own son, Congressmen Raymond Shaw.
Interests… aiding her son, gaining power, and keeping the United States out of the hands of soft-hearted liberals, like her rival, Senator Tom Jordan. As the war on terror reaches a fever pitch, Eleanor seems to be the only one who understands the danger of their times. As she tells her fellow senators, “We are on the brink of another cataclysm, probably nuclear, on our own soil!”
Challenge… executing her plan to take control of America. With the help of Manchurian Global, an international weapons manufacturer, Eleanor finds herself a heartbeat away from the highest political office on Earth.
Personality… ruthless, bellicose, but well intended. Although she may come off as simply a power-thirsty tyrant, all of Eleanor's actions come from her concern for her country and her hopes for her son. People might get hurt, yes, but as Eleanor puts it, "I believe in the future. And people who do are the ones who make history instead of just sitting around watching it.”
Get to Know her in...
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When his army unit was ambushed during the first Gulf War, Sergeant Raymond Shaw saved his fellow soldiers just as his commanding officer, then-Captain Ben Marco, was knocked unconscious. Brokering the incident for political capital, Shaw eventually becomes a vice-presidential nominee, while Marco is haunted by dreams of what happened -- or didn't happen -- in Kuwait. As Marco (now a Major) investigates, the story begins to unravel, to the point where he questions if it happened at all. Is it possible the entire unit was kidnapped and brainwashed to believe Shaw is a war hero as part of a plot to seize the White House? Some very powerful people at Manchurian Global corporation appear desperate to stop him from finding out.
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Near the end of the Korean War, a platoon of U.S. soldiers is captured by communists and brainwashed. Following the war, the platoon is returned home, and Sergeant Raymond Shaw is lauded as a hero by the rest of his platoon. However, the platoon commander, Captain Bennett Marco, finds himself plagued by strange nightmares and soon races to uncover a terrible plot.
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The classic thriller about a hostile foreign power infiltrating American politics: “Brilliant . . . wild and exhilarating.” —The New Yorker A war hero and the recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, Sergeant Raymond Shaw is keeping a deadly secret—even from himself. During his time as a prisoner of war in North Korea, he was brainwashed by his Communist captors and transformed into a deadly weapon—a sleeper assassin, programmed to kill without question or mercy at his captors’ signal. Now he’s been returned to the United States with a covert mission: to kill a candidate for US President . . . This “shocking, tense” and sharply satirical novel has become a modern classic, and was the basis for two film adaptations (San Francisco Chronicle). “Crammed with suspense.” —Chicago Tribune “Condon is wickedly skillful.” —Time
