Question A

[Jonetta]

The book opens with Miranda's escape from the Butcher. How well did that set the stage for understanding her guilt and obsessions?

[Charlene]

Very well, I think. To have her good friend taken out and to continue to fight to survive put Miranda in a very vulnerable spot. That explains the survivor's guilt; the continued toll of similar killings in the area contributed greatly to her obsession with trying to find the killer. What a sad ten or more years Miranda lived through ...

[Jonetta]

I agree, Charlene. It was bad enough that she went through this but to have watched her friend die and have to leave her just added another layer of trauma.

[Anita]

It was a profound, life altering event that changed the course of her entire life. Miranda did everything she could have possibly done and Sharon still died. As the murders continued through the years her guilt for living never decreased and her obsession just grew.

[Jonetta]

And she had no way of making it stop.

[Anita]

She also had to live with the fear that he could come after her. A lot of stress to continually live with. I would have left the area.

[Karen ♐]

I agree with all of you. I think this scene set the stage for our watching Miranda deal with not only survivor's guilt but the fear that he would come after her again. I don't think I could have continued to live in the same area either, Anita.

[Melissa]

The action and the suspense in the scene definitely set the tone for the book. I agree that it made the reader understand Miranda and her feels better.