With a Vengeance

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. What did you think of With a Vengeance? What were your favorite elements of the novel? What were your least favorite?

2. Compare and contrast this book to another of Sager’s murder mysteries, identifying key similarities and differences.

3. Did you predict who the killers were? If so, what clues guided you?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Anna sacrifices years of her life plotting to get justice for her family. Would you do the same in her position? Why or why not?

2. Guilt and redemption are two key ideas in With a Vengeance. Describe a time you felt guilty for something and discuss how you sought redemption.

3. Anna has two romantic relationships, with Dante and Seamus, that don’t work out because of the pain of the past. Discuss a relationship in your life that you encountered difficulties with because of complications from the past.

4. Revenge plays an important role in many of the characters’ arcs. Have you ever been tempted to get revenge? Did you, and why or why not?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. How does Sager’s 1954 compare to today? What historical attitudes seem similar or different? What biases does he construct, and do they still exist today?

2. How does the history and politics of World War II influence the novel’s development?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. Sager utilizes third-person narration, but the narrator switches perspectives among the main characters. Is that effective narration, or do you think first-person would have worked better? Why?

2. How does Anna’s view of the future change as the novel progresses, and why is this crucial to her character development?

3. How does the Philadelphia Phoenix as a setting impact the novel? How is this novel similar or different from other claustrophobic mysteries, like Murder on the Orient Express?

4. Revenge and justice are sometimes two sides of the same coin, and this coin is thematically crucial to With a Vengeance. How do each of the main characters engage with the dichotomy between revenge and justice?

5. Sager opens with a Prologue describing Judd’s faked death, though he doesn’t name the dead person yet. How does starting with one chapter that describes a scene from the chronological middle before returning to the beginning of the events shape the structure of the novel?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. If this were to be adapted into a film, similar to the 2017 version of Murder on the Orient Express, who would you cast in the main roles?

2. Create a playlist with music from the time period (1942–1954) that matches the mood of the book, including a song that reminds you of each major character.

3. Imagine a sequel in which Seamus survived his fall from the train. What does his future look like? Does he find Anna again?