Discussion Questions For Book Clubs and Groups for Satan’s Chamber

1. In the world of the spy thriller, nothing is exactly as it seems.  Which characters in SATAN’S CHAMBER illustrate that rule?  Which do not?  Which characters surprised you the most?  Which the least?  Do you draw any conclusions from this difference?

2. Despite her CIA training and all her good intentions, Tory has issues—“personal need,” Maud calls it.  Her decisions are often driven less by reason and practicality than by emotion.  Discuss some of the instances where this happens.  Do you consider these instances mistakes on her part?  Does she learn from them?  If so, what does she learn?

3. Maud Olson, the CIA Director of Intelligence, serves as Tory’s self-appointed mentor.  But Tory resents the older women’s intrusions into her life.  Do you think Tory’s resentment is justified?  Is it understandable?  In either case, why?  How and why does it change over the course of the story?

4. Kendacke hopes to bring her ancient mystical heritage to bear on the brutal tyranny of the Sudanese government.  What are her strategies and resources?  Do you think they can they be effective weapons against violence?   Why or why not?

5. SATAN’S CHAMBER offers a number of well-developed female characters?  Do any stand out as positive role models?  Why or why not?  Are the men in the story equally developed?  What models of male-female relationships shape the story?

6. When you’ve finished reading SATAN’S CHAMBER, take a second look at the Prologue.  How much of the later story do you find embedded or implicit in this four-part beginning?

7. SATAN’S CHAMBER belongs to the spy-thriller genre.  Beneath its action-based formula, can you detect an underlying theme?  What vision of the world does the novel project?  Do you find it optimistic or pessimistic?