2. Why does John become angry with Kate in Chapter 21 when he learns how she found out about the blanket and lens cap left on the beach the night after the crash of Flight 800?

3. What is the CIA's explanation for the hundreds of witness reports that claim to have seen the same thing?

4. What vice of John's becomes evident when he has lunch with Kate in Chapter 17?

5. What is significant about the relationship between the two lovers on the beach?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Kate being sent to Africa and why has she chosen Africa over an assignment in the United States?

2. Where does John go after calling in sick to work and for what purpose?

3. What does Kate tell John about how she came to know about the police finding the blanket from Bayview Hotel on the beach the night of the crash?

4. What kind of camera did Nash tell Kate the lens cap came from?

5. What theory of the CIA does Kate not support and John doubts?

6. What does Koenig imply about Kate's relationship with Ted Nash during his meeting with John to go over his assignment in Yemen?

7. What did the police find on a public beach within view of the plane crash that Kate now feels is significant to the investigation?

8. What is the CIA's theory as to the orange light many witnesses reported seeing coming from the ocean toward the plane?

9. What does Jill see in the sky just before the plane explodes?

10. How does Tom Spruck explain his theory when previous investigators have already ruled them out?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss John Corey. Who is John? What does he do for a living? How does John happen to attend the fifth anniversary memorial for the crash victims of TWA Flight 800? Why is John warned away from investigating TWA Flight 800 before he even considers the idea? Why would FBI special agent Liam Griffith think that John might want to investigate the crash? Who is John's wife? What is her involvement in the investigation of the crash?

Essay Topic 2

The author introduces several other incidences of terror attacks that took place after the crash of TWA Flight 800. Discuss these other terror acts. How do these acts give authenticity to the plot? Who was responsible for most of these acts of terror? What was their purpose? How might these attacks have been connected to the September 11 attacks? Could these attacks have been a warning as the author appears to suggest in this novel? Was TWA Flight 800 connected to any of these acts? If so, how?