Confessions of a Murder Suspect: Part 2

by James Patterson, Maxine Paetro
Tandy Angel was the last person to see her parents before they were murdered. Now she and her three siblings are the prime suspects. As she works to clear their names, Tandy discovers her family's dark secrets.

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. incarceration
    the state of being imprisoned
    My incarceration was, in some ways, a disconcerting metaphor for my whole life.
  2. luxurious
    rich and superior in quality
    I’d been raised in one of the most luxurious homes in Manhattan, and yet somehow I was seeing myself in the caged women surrounding me.
  3. catharsis
    purging of emotional tensions
    I swung wildly between being overwhelmed with emotion—and actually sort of liking the catharsis of it—and feeling like the pain of my situation was too much to bear.
  4. phlegmatic
    showing little emotion
    Some days I worshipped Dr. Keyes for giving me sanity. Peace. And that very phlegmatic conscience. And sometimes I hated Dr. Keyes for it—as much as I was able to hate, anyway.
  5. toxin
    a poisonous substance produced organically
    The prints on the bottle are smudged, and the toxin is an unknown chemical that doesn’t show up in the poison database.
  6. unabashed
    not embarrassed
    Despite warnings and Big Chops, Hugo consistently started fights with his classmates; he actually knocked out a total of three teeth, and was unabashedly proud of his right uppercut.
  7. Draconian
    imposing a harsh code of laws
    After Hugo was shipped out for his draconian punishment, I interrogated Maud, and she finally relented and told me about Camp Kokopoki.
  8. calisthenics
    light exercises designed to promote general fitness
    It was an army-style boot camp for out-of-control kids with a punishing regimen of predawn six-mile runs, grueling calisthenics, tasteless food, and big, bullying boys.
  9. replica
    copy that is not the original
    If he were playing ninja, he'd be wearing his junior-sized balaclava and using his replica samurai sword.
  10. sociopath
    a person with an antisocial personality disorder
    He was already a sociopath, and he was just out of kindergarten.
  11. nuzzle
    gently rub or push one's nose or face against something
    If you saw your father whispering sweet nothings into the ear of your brother’s girlfriend, and if you saw her giggle in response and nuzzle your father’s face and neck, and if you saw him smile and laugh and basically encourage the whole disgusting exchange, it would freak you out, right?
  12. dalliance
    the act of delaying and playing instead of working
    Or had Maud and Samantha’s bond been strengthened, even transformed, after my mother learned of my father’s dalliance with a woman young enough to be his daughter?
  13. ambient
    completely enveloping
    Just then, a hush sucked the ambient sound right out of the restaurant.
  14. plead
    appeal or request earnestly
    Dead flowers drooped in a vase on the fireplace mantel, and the armoire doors were opened wide, as if they were pleading with me to come in and find the truth.
  15. volatility
    the trait of being unpredictable
    Malcolm was tracking something about us here. The lines in this chart show some kind of growth or volatility.
  16. bona fide
    not counterfeit or copied
    So the Angel kids are bona fide characters in a science-fiction story?
  17. teeter
    move unsteadily, with a rocking motion
    Harry had been teetering on the brink of a meltdown for days, and at Matthew’s words, he finally lost it.
  18. daunting
    discouraging through fear
    Angel Pharmaceuticals occupies a daunting, slate-gray, nine-story building on Eleventh Avenue and Forty-eighth Street, in the heart of New York’s Hell’s Kitchen district.
  19. encapsulate
    enclose in or as if in a small container
    “You encapsulated a poison and put it into a bottle of something, and my parents innocently—”
  20. ingrate
    a person who shows no thankfulness or appreciation
    “I’m your guardian!" our uncle shouted. “I can turn some of you over to the state, understand me? Without me, you three underage ingrates are wards of the state.”
  21. instrumental
    serving or acting as a means or aid
    Uncle Peter had been instrumental in drugging his own family.
  22. heinous
    extremely wicked or deeply criminal
    That was heinous. That was criminal.
  23. incriminating
    charging or suggestive of guilt or blame
    After sending the incriminating photos to Caputo, I clicked off my phone and looked out the window as we sped up the West Side Highway.
  24. mayhem
    violent and needless disturbance
    If it hadn’t been so unnerving to be in the thick of such mayhem, I would have laughed out loud at the idea of the NFL suspending my brother.
  25. suspension
    a temporary debarment from a privilege or position
    “I’m well aware of the suspension,” Matthew said to her, “but it’s bogus. My reputation has been harmed by this illegal action, and my lawyers are drawing up a lawsuit against the NFL as we speak.”
  26. criticism
    disapproval expressed by pointing out faults or shortcomings
    Mr. Thibodaux is a smart man, generous with his praise and crystal clear in his criticism.
  27. compulsive
    strongly motivated to succeed
    He is exactly the kind of teacher compulsive overachievers like the Angels appreciate.
  28. stunned
    filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise
    “Bhutan, actually,” I said, stunned to be meeting a guy who knew even the first thing about Southeast Asian art.
  29. dysfunctional
    impaired in function; especially of a bodily system or organ
    Just when I was starting to think that our dysfunctional little family was making some progress, my big brother once again became the number-one suspect.
  30. disoriented
    having lost your bearings
    I could make out the shadow of another figure behind Uncle Peter, which disturbed and disoriented me more.
  31. paramedic
    a person trained to give emergency medical treatment
    Hugo and I huddled together as the paramedics came and went.
  32. trove
    a valuable collection or treasure found hidden
    This was the treasure trove of information I’d been looking for.
  33. skim
    reading or glancing through quickly
    I skimmed and absorbed and comprehended charts and lab notes and monographs describing the pills.
  34. visionary
    not practical or realizable; speculative
    Had my father really been a morally driven, visionary genius with a superior intellect?
  35. exploit
    use or manipulate to one's advantage
    Or had he been a crass capitalist exploiting his own children for profit?
  36. ad hoc
    often improvised or impromptu
    I quickly woke up my brothers, and we congregated for an ad hoc meeting on Harry’s bed.
  37. flail
    thrash about
    I tried to quiet my panicked mind, but it was flailing like an animal caught in a trap.
  38. effusive
    uttered with unrestrained enthusiasm
    I remembered how effusive Maud had been when she described the great things I would do someday, including running the family business.
  39. decimate
    kill in large numbers
    All reminders of Angel wealth and perfection were quickly being decimated.
  40. mesmerized
    having your attention fixated as though witchcraft
    Even Hugo was mesmerized into silence by the luminous, bobbing bags.
Created on Wed Jul 13 21:09:48 EDT 2016 (updated Mon Sep 24 13:49:06 EDT 2018)

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