Point of View

The novel is written in third person from an omniscient perspective. The information revealed is limited in many scenes, giving the author the opportunity to provide twists and to keep up the mystery. For example, Buzz visits Ron Reynolds and questions him about recent repairs done to Eric's Bronco. Tracy does not know about that visit because that report is not in the file Buzz has on the case. Also, the author keeps the damage to the Bronco from the reader until after Tracy learns about the visit from another source.

The third-person perspective means that the author is the narrator and the reader is not required to determine whether the narrator is honest and reliable. However, the reader is left to evaluate the word of various characters, including many who are not telling the truth, which allows the author to create red herrings. The...