Sample of literary figures
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Jason Bourne
Male
David Webb was a professional killer and spy when he suffers a total loss of memory after a mission. The CIA quickly changed his name to Jason Bourne, and have used him for several missions of a not particularly honourable nature. His wife was killed in a bombing, but his sons survived – which he didn’t know at first. Robert Ludlum wrote the first books about him, after which he was taken over by other writers.
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Erlendur
Male
A detective inspector in Reykjavík, and the main character in a row of police novels by Arnaldur Indriðason. Erlendur – his surname, Sveinsson, is rarely named as is customary in Iceland – is a skilful and empathetic police officer, but rather tired and sometimes anxiety-ridden. One reason is that he left his family when the children were small, for reasons that he can’t himself remember. His ex-wife still hates him for this, and both his son and his daughter ended up abusing drugs.
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Maisie Dobbs
Female
Young, brave and intelligent private detective who started to work as a domestic when she was only 13 years old. Maisie Dobbs had a benevolent female employer, and got to study nursing and psychology. She fell in love with a doctor who was killed in the First World War, and in 1929 she started her own detective agency. Jacqueline Winspear has written more than a dozen books about her.
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Harry Bosch
Male
He is actually called Hieronymus Bosch, but calls himself – for understandable reasons – Harry. His mother was a prostitute and was murdered; his father is a well-known lawyer whom he first met as an adult. Harry Bosch was a soldier and then became a police officer, mainly in Los Angeles. And he was also the main character in a whole row of detective stories by Michael Connelly.