The Thanatos Syndrome is an ambitious, profound, topical, and thrilling book that is written in Percy's typically resonant and yet erudite prose. In your discussion of this novel, you may wish to consider the following questions: 1. Did you find that the use of the crimethriller genre detracted from the novel's philosophical dimensions? Did you find that the philosophical dimensions detracted from your enjoyment of the suspense and mystery of the thriller?

2. What points of similarity do you see between the real-life historical figure Sir Thomas More and Percy's Tom More? Between Utopia and The Thanatos Syndrome?

3. Given his many failings and a checkered past, did you find Tom More a likeable character? Why or why not?

4. Do More and Lucy Lipscomb conform to the detective-sidekick model familiar from the classics of detective fiction?

5. Why would the author raise one of the more important themes in the...