Welcome to the Reading Group Guide for The 7th Victim. If you haven’t read The 7th Victim, save this until you have because there are spoilers below.
This guide is designed to provide a stimulating discussion (after you finish the novel!). Copy, paste, email, share, enjoy.
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?
11 After The 7th Victim was published, Alan heard from a reader who suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder. She said that The 7th Victim had accurately portrayed what she has dealt with for many years. While it’s a relatively rare condition in the general population, do you know anyone with this condition?
12 During an interview Alan did with FBI Profiler Mark Safarik, they were asked what steps a woman could take to stay out of the crosshairs of violent criminals. Afterwards, Alan and Mark decided to write Staying Safe, a personal safety book for everyone—women, men, children. Their idea was to teach you how these criminals think so that you can apply these principles to situations you find yourself in. Alan and Mark are giving the book away FREE when you sign up for Alan’s twice-yearly newsletter. Sign up and get the book here: www.AlanJacobson.com/newsletter-sign-up.
Have you read the safety book already? If so, what tip did you find most useful?