The Straw Men

A serial killer and a kidnapping case are the clear load-bearing plot elements, so crime and thriller fit; the dual-narrative structure (Ward's first-person investigation vs. Zandt's third-person hunt) and the mystery surrounding the tape and the kidnapper's identity push it into the mystery genre. Moods: tense and dark throughout, with a gritty, noirish atmosphere and a genuinely creepy, menacing presence from the killer; mysterious and mysterious fit the ambiguity of the tape and the kidnapper's true identity. Tropes: the book is built on a dual-protagonist structure (Ward and Zandt) and a mentor-figure dynamic between them; the kidnapping of Zandt's daughter is a kidnapping plot; the serial killer's identity is a mystery the reader follows along with the characters.