A. Items Analyzed

1. Novel from the review section - Genre - Paranormal and Horror, Title - Moonrunner: Gathering Darkness and Author - Jane Toombs   [Link to Review Page]
2. Novel from shelf (Harlequin Intrigue) - Genre - Romance, Title - Undercover Vows and Author - Judi Lind.
3. Television Episode - Law and Order (one hour weekly series).

0. Moonrunner: Gathering Darkness - The saga of the Volek family continues in Moonrunner: Gathering Darkness. The family's blood is tainted, giving certain members the ability to shapeshift into werewolf type creatures. Sergei Volek, the head of the family, carries the burden of protecting the family and preparing those members that will have the ability to shift. The Volek family's secret of shapeshifiting is threatened by the public and from a group known as 'stalkers', who hunt and kill shapeshifters. The Voleks are also at risk from family members who have the ability to shift but do not want to control their shifting. To protect his family, Sergei isolates the family on their estate and vows that no further Volek children will be born. Wolf, Sergei's beloved grandson, unknowingly risked the family by giving a stalker access to the house, resulting in the death of several family members and friends. Departing in shame, Wolf travels in self-exploration of his non-shifting abilities, returning one day to protect the family he loves.
1. Undercover Vows - Keely Travers is a police officer who must work undercover with an ex-love she has not seen in ten years. Keely's sister has been murdered and has been implicated in a counterfeit ring. Her father, an ex-police chief, is also suspected of being involved in this illegal activity. Special Agent Noah Bannister returns to Keely's life and they must pose as newlyweds on a cruise ship. The trust that she had for Noah is long gone but the spark of love still glows as they partner together in close quarters.
2. Law and Order - The two police officers, Lenny and Ray, must unravel a murder involving an ex-con and a team of bounty hunters. The officers are always one step behind the bounty hunters whom have little regard for the law. Their attempts at uncovering the truth are thwarted by the victims of the bounty hunters who now fear for their lives. The case against the bounty hunters is weak and the District Attorney's (DAs) office struggle with the antiquated laws covering and protecting bounty hunters. Jack McCoy and Ms Carmichael of the DA's office grapple with the law and what they believe to be right and wrong. The good guys don't always win and sometimes the bad guys just walk away free.

0. Moonrunner: Gathering Darkness - Sergei Volek is the principal protagonist and Wolf Volek is the secondary protagonist for the first half of the book. Upon Sergei's death, Wolf becomes the principal protagonist.
1. Undercover Vows - Keely Travers.
2. Law and Order - Lenny and Ray are the principal protagonists for the first half of the show and Jack McCoy and Ms Carmichael are the principal protagonists for the first half of the show.

1.    Moonrunner: Gathering Darkness - Sergie Volek is a shapeshifter and the head of the Volek family. Sergei's goal is to protect the family and the external conflicts that hinder his objective are:

a. stalkers;
b. the public; and
c. some family members.

Stalkers hunt and kill shifters and other family members that do not have the ability to shift. One of Sergie's sons, enjoyed shifting and did not care that by shifting, he subjected the rest of the family to the risk of being discovered as 'abnormal'. Sergei did not want to shift but was forced to do so in a battle against his son. Sergei, in his shifted form killed his son and a stalker as well. Sergei also tried to limit his family's exposure to the public as much as possible. He built a fortress on his estate and had his children educated inside the family estate. Sergei could tell if a person was a stalker or not and he constantly lived in fear for the safety of himself and his family.
Wolf's goal in the first half of the book was to protect the family and obey the wishes of Sergei. Wolf became romantically involved with a female who deceived him into detailing the layout of the house and sneaking her into the house. He contravened Sergei's orders about letting outsiders into the house and put at risk the family. She turned out to be a stalker and killed several family members and guests that were staying at the estate. For the last half of the book, Wolf's conflict was internal.

2.    Undercover Vows - Keely's goal, in terms of external conflict, is to solve her sister's murder, clear her sister's and father's name and to solve the case of counterfeting. She becomes, Noah Bannister's partner and the main source of her internal conflict. He also conflicts with her externally because he does not tell her all the truth all the time. There are times that she does not trust him as a police officer and this results in her taking risks that she would not have normally done. Suspects on the cruise ship and deception also lead her to dead-ends and more questions than answers. As her internal trust builds, she acts in a protective way, putting herself at greater risk. Since this is a romance, Keely's internal conflict of love and trust is the main theme and the external conflict is secondary but necessary for the action.

3.    Law and Order - The goal of the two police officers, Lenny and Ray is to arrest the guilty party(s). The bounty hunters were guilty of murder but were protected by the law. The bounty hunters intimidated several of the prospective witnesses, hampering the police investigation. Two witnesses were killed, which slowed down the investigation but ultimately gave up clues to aid the prosecution. The goal of the prosecution is to convict the bounty hunters and the external conflict is the bounty hunters, the law and the judge's interpretation of the law. The bounty hunters maintain their lies until they are separated and one bounty hunter 'turns in' the other two. The law covering bounty hunters thwarts the efforts of the DA and the law ends up protecting them. The judge is also aware of the loopholes in the law, however he must follow the letter of the law. The law prevails and the DA does not attain their goal in this episode.

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