Book Club

If your book club or reading group is interested in reading Brutal Silence, I’d be honored to join you — either in person, if it’s possible, or by speakerphone or Skype. Email me via the form to contact me with “Book Club” in the comments section, and let’s set a fun plan. Thanks!

Discussion Questions for Brutal Silence

1. What do we learn about Alex when she confronts unexpected danger in the opening scene of the book?
2. How do events in the opening scene change the way Alex looks at her world when she returns to Dalton?
3. How would you describe Alex’s relationship with her mother? Does that change as the story progresses?
4. What role does Alex’s father play in her life?
5. Why does Alex feel a special empathy toward Hispanic women and how does that influence her actions?
6. How does Alex feel about Mike in the early chapters of the book? Do events change their relationship?
7. What does Rafael Espinosa mean when he says, “[w]e can’t live in fear?”
8. Why does the American ambassador want Alex and Mike to leave Mexico?
9. What motivates Emilio Vargas?
10. When Alex and Mike stop in Opelika on the way back to Dalton what does she mean when she says, “[we] aren’t the same people we were when we stayed here before?”
11. Why does Alex leave Dalton? What is she seeking in New York?
12. What did you learn about human trafficking from reading Brutal Silence?
13. Do you think a novel is an effective mode for transmitting information about crucial social problems?