With a Vengeance

“Because now that one of the passengers has been murdered—by someone else in that very car—she fears it’s only a matter of time before it happens again.”

The final lines of the unnumbered Prologue immediately heighten the narrative tension. Sager opens the novel with the murder of an unnamed character, establishing the novel as a murder mystery and creating intrigue from the very opening pages. The inevitability implied here—violence begetting further violence—anticipates the theme of Guilt, Redemption, and the Weight of the Past, showing how once violence is unleashed, it multiplies, uniting those who conceal their crimes with those who expose them.

“Plus, her father loved it, which is the main reason Anna chose it for the night’s journey. It serves as a reminder to the others of all that had been taken from her.”

Anna associates the Philadelphia Phoenix with her father, which makes the setting emotionally impactful for her and the conspirators. The Phoenix is also a symbol of power, and Anna wants the setting to serve as a reminder of the power taken from her and her family. Her choice dramatizes The Difference Between Revenge and Justice. Anna reshapes her father’s dream into a stage where past crimes demand present reckoning.

“Other than diamond studs in her ears, the only accessory she wears is a single lapel pin that belonged to her father.”

Sager introduces the symbol of the train pin in the first chapter. The pin is the only jewelry that Anna wears to prevent anyone grabbing onto her, but she insists on the pin as, like the train itself, it reminds her of her father.