The 7th Victim: Reading Group Guide

1   Based on what you learned about behavioral analysis (profiling), do you feel it is a valuable law enforcement tool for helping to catch serial offenders?

2  Were you emotionally engaged in the characters—did you care what happened to Vail? To Jonathan? To Robby and Bledsoe?

3  What was your favorite scene?

4  Describe your feelings about the scene in which Vail confronts her biological mother, Senator Eleanor Linwood, about her past.

5  Is Vail’s reaction appropriate and reasonable when she discovers her gun is missing after leaving Deacon’s house? What about when Vail goes to Deacon’s to pick up Jonathan’s book?

6  Did you like Karen Vail as a character, and would you like to read another novel featuring Karen Vail?

7  Why do you think the author chose to make Karen Vail a victim of abuse?

8  What did that tell us about her character in terms of how she deals with other events that happen in the story?

9   Did the killer’s diary entries, written in the first person, put you closer to him?

10  The film rights to The 7th Victim have been purchased by an A-list Hollywood producer, and a screenwriter has been attached. What actors/actresses would you cast for the main characters in the movie—Vail; Robby; Bledsoe?