Multiple Plotlines
by Sarah Winn

Double Rita winner Suzanne Brockman's new contemporary, The Unsung Hero (Ivy Books ISBN 0-8041-1952-X) is a terrific example of how to handle multiple plotlines. This book, in fact, has four distinct plots: 1) a terrorist threatening a sea-side resort, 2) the reuniting of a couple who had teenage crushes on each other fifteen years earlier, 3) conflict between two friends who fell in love with the same girl during WWII, and 4) and first love between the hero's niece and a budding cartoonist.

The terrorist plot initiates the action and is the glue that holds the book together, but throughout much of the book it takes a definite backseat to the other stories. The main love relationship, (2), is immediately involved with the terrorist plot because the hero is dedicated to finding and stopping the terrorist, but at times the other two plotlines seem totally unrelated. The two old men in plot (3) do get involved in the hunt for the terrorist fairly early on, but the young lovers in (4) know nothing about the other plotlines.

Near the end of the book, the hero is pressured into checking up on his niece's relationship and discovers that the young lovers have accidentally found the clue he needs. From this point, the action escalates and all the plotlines become tightly intertwined. Even the resolutions of the various plotlines affect each other. Not surprisingly, the life threatening situations that develop as the hunt closes in on the terrorist make the lovers realize just how much their partners mean to them. I was surprised and touched, however, that the final solution to the action brought understanding to a heart that had been broken nearly sixty years before.

Looking back, I can see that no unnecessary information was given in any of the plotlines. Everything had a purpose and all led to the final resolution. Just as it should.

© Sarah Winn 2000

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