Question K

[Jonetta]

Karin Standler pulled together this entire murderous scheme in order to abduct and torture Megan for her role in getting her relieved of her job. She convinced Ethan he need to get retribution for the team abandoning him in Afghanistan. Do you believe he ever felt the need for vengeance or was it completely contrived and suggested by Karin? Did you foresee her killing him?

[Robin]

First off, I knew one of them would kill the other before the end of the book. I just wasn't sure which it would be.

I thought this whole murder scheme was overblown. I can't imagine anyone (even a Sociopath like Karin) feeling that she needed to convince Ethan to pull off this big murder spree in order to learn his torture techniques. There had to be another way. To begin with, he was too unstable to wait for her to find all of the victims and where they were now located. Then it took months after killing the first victim to go for the second.

[Jonetta]

I thought Ethan would end up killing Karin until I realized she had orchestrated the whole thing. I knew she had an agenda but nothing like what it turned out to be. I didn’t realize she was done with him after he killed the General.

I don’t believe Ethan ever blamed the members of that unit and it was all planted in his head by Karin. Her goal was to be able to abduct Megan without ever having the finger pointed in her direction, which it might have been if she’d just taken her. But I also think that part of this plan was just her psychopathy. She liked killing and enjoyed fooling people as she did the Rubins in Orlando.

[Charlene]

I thought Ethan did have the motive to kill those in the unit because he blamed them for his capture and torture by the enemy.

Karin just helped him channel his rage and persuaded him he would be better after he took out all his revenge on them.

I knew she would kill him because we had not yet seen her motive for learning all the "acupuncture" torture techniques that Ethan had done to him. He truly did suffer for his mistakes in the field.

[Anita]

Ethan blamed the troop for leaving him behind, but in his saner moments he realized it was his own fault that he got Thornton killed and himself captured.

She was absolutely always going to kill him. I'm just sorry he didn't kill her first.

[Melissa]

Without Karin none of it would have happened. Ethan would have continued to get help and possibly, at some point, succeed in killing himself. He didn't have the thought process to pull it off. I knew from the start that she would kill him.

[Jonetta]

You guys are so smart for picking up on Karin’s intention to kill him all along.