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* BeneathSuspicion: Ransom ruminates that the person who attacked April is a seemingly ordinary person who would be beneath the notice of most people in his everyday life. [[spoiler:This is a subtle clue pointing not only to Michael Hogan, but to Ransom himself.]]
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* BeneathSuspicion: Ransom ruminates that the person who attacked April is a seemingly ordinary person who whom most would be beneath the notice assume is incapable of most people in his everyday life.such acts. [[spoiler:This is a subtle clue pointing not only to Michael Hogan, but to Ransom himself.]]
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** At disparate points, both Bandolier's father and [[spoiler:Hogan, his son,]] are said to bear resemblance to Creator/ClarkGable.
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** At disparate points, both Bandolier's father and [[spoiler:Hogan, his son,]] [[spoiler:Det. Sgt. Michael Hogan]] are said to bear resemblance to Creator/ClarkGable.
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** [[spoiler:Detective Sergeant Michael Hogan is a respected ReasonableAuthorityFigure in Millhaven, when in reality he is a twisted ex-war criminal who can't stop killing.]]
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** [[spoiler:Detective Sergeant Michael Hogan is regarded as a respected ReasonableAuthorityFigure in Millhaven, when in reality he is a twisted ex-war criminal who can't stop killing.]]
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* BeneathSuspicion: Ransom ruminates that the person who attacked April is a seemingly ordinary person who would be beneath the notice of most people in his everyday life. [[spoiler:This is a subtle clue pointing not only to Michael Hogan, but to Ransom himself.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing:
** [[spoiler:Detective Sergeant Michael Hogan is a respected ReasonableAuthorityFigure in Millhaven, when in reality he is a twisted ex-war criminal who can't stop killing.]]
** [[spoiler:John Ransom presents himself as a grieving spouse, when in reality he had been planning to kill his wife April for some time in order to get her money. He also killed another person, a student at the college where he worked, in order to blame everything on a serial killer.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing:
** [[spoiler:Detective Sergeant Michael Hogan is a respected ReasonableAuthorityFigure in Millhaven, when in reality he is a twisted ex-war criminal who can't stop killing.]]
** [[spoiler:John Ransom presents himself as a grieving spouse, when in reality he had been planning to kill his wife April for some time in order to get her money. He also killed another person, a student at the college where he worked, in order to blame everything on a serial killer.]]
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* ContrivedCoincidence: [[spoiler:The final PlotTwist hinges on the fact that Ransom is exploiting the original Blue Rose murders while having no idea (at the time) that the killer was Bob Bandolier, that his son Fee even existed, that Fee is living in Millhaven, or that Fee just so happens to be the very Franklin Bachelor who Ransom is framing as the second Blue Rose killer.]]
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* ContrivedCoincidence: [[spoiler:The final PlotTwist hinges on the fact that Ransom is exploiting the original Blue Rose murders while having no idea (at the time) that the killer was Bob Bandolier, that his son Fee even existed, that Fee is living in Millhaven, or that Fee just so happens to be the very Franklin Bachelor who was Ransom's arch-enemy in Vietnam and who Ransom is framing as the second Blue Rose killer.]]
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* ContrivedCoincidence: [[spoiler:The final PlotTwist hinges on the fact that Ransom is exploiting the original Blue Rose murders while having no idea (at the time) that the killer was Bob Bandolier, that his son Fee even existed, that Fee is living in Millhaven, or that Fee just so happens to be the very Franklin Bachelor who Ransom is framing as the second Blue Rose killer.]]
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** Walter Dragonette is undoubtedly a particularly disturbed serial killer, but it quickly becomes apparent that he is not the copycat Blue Rose killer.
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** Walter Dragonette is undoubtedly a particularly disturbed serial killer, but it quickly becomes apparent that he is not the copycat new Blue Rose killer.
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** In the end, [[spoiler:Bandolier himself wasn't the copycat either, although he did kill an underling and staged the scene to look like a Blue Rose murder]]. Tim ultimately realizes that the copycat is [[spoiler:John Ransom]].
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** In the end, [[spoiler:Bandolier himself wasn't the copycat either, although he did kill an underling [[spoiler:While Bandolier was also a serial killer and staged the scene one of his killings to look like a Blue Rose murder]]. murder, he also wasn't the new Blue Rose killer]]. Tim ultimately realizes that the copycat killer is [[spoiler:John Ransom]].
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* SociopathicSoldier: Fee Bandolier, while serving in Vietnam as Major Franklin Batchelor. "And how" doesn't even ''begin'' to cover it.
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* SociopathicSoldier: Fee Bandolier, while serving in Vietnam as Major Franklin Batchelor. "And how" doesn't even ''begin'' to cover it. [[spoiler:Although the worst of Batchelor's alleged crimes were really committed by Ransom.]]
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* HeWhoFightsMonsters: [[John Ransom was sent by the CIA to remove Franklin Batchelor from command after he crossed one too many lines, only to become just as bad as Batchelor.]]
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* HeWhoFightsMonsters: [[John [[spoiler:John Ransom was sent by the CIA to remove Franklin Batchelor from command after he crossed one too many lines, only to become just as bad as Batchelor.]]
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* HeWhoFightsMonsters: [[John Ransom was sent by the CIA to remove Franklin Batchelor from command after he crossed one too many lines, only to become just as bad as Batchelor.]]
* IAmAHumanitarian:
** Walter Dragonette, the book's Jeffrey Dahmer {{Expy}}, keeps body parts in his refrigerator and freely admits to eating pieces of his victims.
** Upon learning that the CIA was sending someone to bring him back to the U.S. for questioning, Major Batchelor murdered most of his Montagnard followers, then cooked and ate their flesh. [[spoiler:It turns out that was actually Ransom's doing.]]
* IAmAHumanitarian:
** Walter Dragonette, the book's Jeffrey Dahmer {{Expy}}, keeps body parts in his refrigerator and freely admits to eating pieces of his victims.
** Upon learning that the CIA was sending someone to bring him back to the U.S. for questioning, Major Batchelor murdered most of his Montagnard followers, then cooked and ate their flesh. [[spoiler:It turns out that was actually Ransom's doing.]]
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Underhill and Pasmore realize too late that [[spoiler:Detective Fontaine never was Fee Bandolier, meaning that their actions resulted in the death of an innocent man while the real killer remained at large]].
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** Walter Dragonette is undoubtedly a particularly disturbed serial killer, but it quickly becomes apparent that he is not the copycat killer.
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** Walter Dragonette is undoubtedly a particularly disturbed serial killer, but it quickly becomes apparent that he is not the copycat Blue Rose killer.
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* RewatchBonus: The book reads way differently after you learn that [[spoiler:Ransom]] is the copycat:
** During his initial reunion with Underhill, Ransom comments that the killer is probably an ordinary-looking person who goes about life as normal between his killings. [[spoiler:This turns out to be an apt description of Ransom himself.]]
** During his initial reunion with Underhill, Ransom comments that the killer is probably an ordinary-looking person who goes about life as normal between his killings. [[spoiler:This turns out to be an apt description of Ransom himself.]]
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* RewatchBonus: The book reads way differently after you learn that [[spoiler:Ransom]] [[spoiler:Michael Hogan is Fee Bandolier]] and that [[spoiler:Ransom is the copycat:
copycat]]:
** During his initial reunion with Underhill, Ransom comments that the killer is probably an ordinary-looking person who goes about life as normal between his killings. [[spoiler:This turns out to be an apt description of Ransom himself.]]]]
** At disparate points, both Bandolier's father and [[spoiler:Hogan, his son,]] are said to bear resemblance to Creator/ClarkGable.
** When Underhill asks Colonel Hubbel to identify Bandolier from a group photo of Millhaven police officers, the text specifies that Hubbel points his finger "on top" of [[spoiler:Fontaine]]'s face. What Underhill and the reader don't realize is that Hubbel is really pointing at [[spoiler:Hogan]].
* SociopathicSoldier: Fee Bandolier, while serving in Vietnam as Major Franklin Batchelor. "And how" doesn't even ''begin'' to cover it.
** During his initial reunion with Underhill, Ransom comments that the killer is probably an ordinary-looking person who goes about life as normal between his killings. [[spoiler:This turns out to be an apt description of Ransom himself.
** At disparate points, both Bandolier's father and [[spoiler:Hogan, his son,]] are said to bear resemblance to Creator/ClarkGable.
** When Underhill asks Colonel Hubbel to identify Bandolier from a group photo of Millhaven police officers, the text specifies that Hubbel points his finger "on top" of [[spoiler:Fontaine]]'s face. What Underhill and the reader don't realize is that Hubbel is really pointing at [[spoiler:Hogan]].
* SociopathicSoldier: Fee Bandolier, while serving in Vietnam as Major Franklin Batchelor. "And how" doesn't even ''begin'' to cover it.
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* {{Expy}}: Fee Bandolier/Franklin Batchelor's backstory in Vietnam, being a renowned military operative who goes insane and leads a Montagnard army deep in the jungle, is clearly inspired by Colonel Kurtz in ''Film/ApocalypseNow''. Ransom, in turn, becomes an expy for Willard.
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* {{Expy}}: Fee Bandolier/Franklin Batchelor's backstory in Vietnam, being a renowned military operative who goes insane and leads a rogue Montagnard army deep in the jungle, is clearly inspired by Colonel Kurtz in ''Film/ApocalypseNow''. Ransom, in turn, becomes an expy for Willard.Willard, having been assigned to bring him back from the field.
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The story follows Tim Underhill, an author and [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam veteran]] who is called back to his hometown of Millhaven, Illinois, when the wife of his old friend, religious studies professor John Ransom, is brutally attacked by a SerialKiller. The killer is apparently copying the earlier "Blue Rose" murder spree from forty years earlier, which included Underhill's sister as one of the victims. With the help of Underhill's friend, the reclusive amateur detective Tom Pasmore, he and Ransom uncover clues linking the murders to their experiences in Vietnam, and soon find themselves confronting old demons.
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The story follows Tim Underhill, an author a novelist and [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam veteran]] who is called back to his hometown of Millhaven, Illinois, when the wife of his old friend, religious studies professor John Ransom, is brutally attacked by a SerialKiller. The killer is apparently copying the earlier "Blue Rose" murder spree from forty years earlier, which included Underhill's sister as one of the victims. With the help of Underhill's friend, the reclusive amateur detective Tom Pasmore, he and Ransom uncover clues linking the murders to their experiences in Vietnam, and soon find themselves confronting old demons.
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* GreatDetective: Tom is internationally famous for his work in reexamining old cases and exonerating wrongfully-convicted prisoners. He shuns the spotlight, however, and lives as a recluse.
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** In the end, [[spoiler:Bandolier himself wasn't the copycat either, although he did kill an underling and staged the scene to look like a Blue Rose murder]]. Tim ultimately realizes that the copycat is [[spoiler:John Ransom]].
to:
** In the end, [[spoiler:Bandolier himself wasn't the copycat either, although he did kill an underling and staged the scene to look like a Blue Rose murder]]. Tim ultimately realizes that the copycat is [[spoiler:John Ransom]].Ransom]].
* RewatchBonus: The book reads way differently after you learn that [[spoiler:Ransom]] is the copycat:
** During his initial reunion with Underhill, Ransom comments that the killer is probably an ordinary-looking person who goes about life as normal between his killings. [[spoiler:This turns out to be an apt description of Ransom himself.]]
* RewatchBonus: The book reads way differently after you learn that [[spoiler:Ransom]] is the copycat:
** During his initial reunion with Underhill, Ransom comments that the killer is probably an ordinary-looking person who goes about life as normal between his killings. [[spoiler:This turns out to be an apt description of Ransom himself.]]
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* ConvenientlyInterruptedDocument: Tim finds a scrap of paper with a name and a town written on it, only the town name is slightly damaged and looks like "Alle_to_n". [[spoiler:He misreads it as Alle''n''town, which leads him to entirely the wrong man; the real murderer was in Alle''r''town.]]
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** In the end, [[spoiler:Bandolier himself wasn't the copycat either, although he did kill an underling and staged the scene to look like a Blue Rose murder]]. Tim ultimately realizes that the copycat is actually [[spoiler:John Ransom]].
to:
** In the end, [[spoiler:Bandolier himself wasn't the copycat either, although he did kill an underling and staged the scene to look like a Blue Rose murder]]. Tim ultimately realizes that the copycat is actually [[spoiler:John Ransom]].
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''The Throat'' is a 1993 horror novel by Creator/PeterStraub, the third and final installment of his "Blue Rose" trilogy, following ''Koko'' and ''Literature/{{Mystery}}''.
The story follows Tim Underhill, an author and [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam veteran]] who is called back to his hometown of Millhaven, Illinois, when the wife of his old friend, religious studies professor John Ransom, is brutally attacked by a SerialKiller. The killer is apparently copying the earlier "Blue Rose" murder spree from forty years earlier, which included Underhill's sister as one of the victims. With the help of Underhill's friend, the reclusive amateur detective Tom Pasmore, he and Ransom uncover clues linking the murders to their experiences in Vietnam, and soon find themselves confronting old demons.
!!''The Throat'' contains examples of:
* AuthorAvatar: Tim Underhill, a novelist who survived being hit by a car as a child, is clearly a stand-in for Peter Straub himself.
* AscendedExtra: Tim, who was a supporting character in ''Koko'', appears here as the main protagonist.
* AxCrazy: Fee Bandolier, a.k.a. Franklin Batchelor, a.k.a. [[spoiler:Mike Hogan]], was disturbed even as a kid and only got worse after he was sent to Vietnam as a Green Beret.
* ConsultingAConvictedKiller: At Tom's suggestion, Tim and John interview Walter Dragonette in an effort to understand the copycat killer.
* ContinuitySnarl: In ''Literature/{{Mystery}}'', it was Tom who was forced to recover from being hit by a car as a child. Here, that experience is transferred over to Tim Underhill, which wasn't mentioned in ''Koko''.
* DirtyCop: The Millhaven police are depicted as incompetent and racist, and they engage in a coverup when [[spoiler:Detective Fontaine]] is implicated in the copycat murders.
* {{Expy}}: Fee Bandolier/Franklin Batchelor's backstory in Vietnam, being a renowned military operative who goes insane and leads a Montagnard army deep in the jungle, is clearly inspired by Colonel Kurtz in ''Film/ApocalypseNow''. Ransom, in turn, becomes an expy for Willard.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Walter Dragonette is based on Jeffrey Dahmer, right down to Dahmer's choice of victim, ''modus operandi'', and the fact that police ignored warnings from his neighbors. Dahmer was active in Straub's hometown of Milwaukee, which Millhaven is based on.
* RedHerring: Several:
** Walter Dragonette is undoubtedly a particularly disturbed serial killer, but it quickly becomes apparent that he is not the copycat killer.
** [[spoiler:Neither is Paul Fontaine, who is misidentified as Fee Bandolier.]]
** In the end, [[spoiler:Bandolier himself wasn't the copycat either, although he did kill an underling and staged the scene to look like a Blue Rose murder]]. Tim ultimately realizes that the copycat is actually [[spoiler:John Ransom]].
The story follows Tim Underhill, an author and [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam veteran]] who is called back to his hometown of Millhaven, Illinois, when the wife of his old friend, religious studies professor John Ransom, is brutally attacked by a SerialKiller. The killer is apparently copying the earlier "Blue Rose" murder spree from forty years earlier, which included Underhill's sister as one of the victims. With the help of Underhill's friend, the reclusive amateur detective Tom Pasmore, he and Ransom uncover clues linking the murders to their experiences in Vietnam, and soon find themselves confronting old demons.
!!''The Throat'' contains examples of:
* AuthorAvatar: Tim Underhill, a novelist who survived being hit by a car as a child, is clearly a stand-in for Peter Straub himself.
* AscendedExtra: Tim, who was a supporting character in ''Koko'', appears here as the main protagonist.
* AxCrazy: Fee Bandolier, a.k.a. Franklin Batchelor, a.k.a. [[spoiler:Mike Hogan]], was disturbed even as a kid and only got worse after he was sent to Vietnam as a Green Beret.
* ConsultingAConvictedKiller: At Tom's suggestion, Tim and John interview Walter Dragonette in an effort to understand the copycat killer.
* ContinuitySnarl: In ''Literature/{{Mystery}}'', it was Tom who was forced to recover from being hit by a car as a child. Here, that experience is transferred over to Tim Underhill, which wasn't mentioned in ''Koko''.
* DirtyCop: The Millhaven police are depicted as incompetent and racist, and they engage in a coverup when [[spoiler:Detective Fontaine]] is implicated in the copycat murders.
* {{Expy}}: Fee Bandolier/Franklin Batchelor's backstory in Vietnam, being a renowned military operative who goes insane and leads a Montagnard army deep in the jungle, is clearly inspired by Colonel Kurtz in ''Film/ApocalypseNow''. Ransom, in turn, becomes an expy for Willard.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Walter Dragonette is based on Jeffrey Dahmer, right down to Dahmer's choice of victim, ''modus operandi'', and the fact that police ignored warnings from his neighbors. Dahmer was active in Straub's hometown of Milwaukee, which Millhaven is based on.
* RedHerring: Several:
** Walter Dragonette is undoubtedly a particularly disturbed serial killer, but it quickly becomes apparent that he is not the copycat killer.
** [[spoiler:Neither is Paul Fontaine, who is misidentified as Fee Bandolier.]]
** In the end, [[spoiler:Bandolier himself wasn't the copycat either, although he did kill an underling and staged the scene to look like a Blue Rose murder]]. Tim ultimately realizes that the copycat is actually [[spoiler:John Ransom]].
