Lightning Strike Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, The Indian Relocation Act of 1956 and our BookBrowse Review of Lightning Strike.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. The book begins with an older Cork O'Connor looking back on a childhood summer that changed his life. Do you have any similar experience of a pivotal moment when you were growing up that changed you, or an event that made you suddenly feel like more of an adult?
2. When Cork first sees Big John's body hanging from the tree, he begins to cry and says, "I'm sorry, Big John. I'm sorry." Why do you think he says that?
3. Why don't the people on the reservation trust Liam's conclusion that Big John's death is a suicide? What is the history between the people who live on the reservation and those in law enforcement in Aurora? How does Dilsey, Liam's mother-in-law, try to help connect Liam and the people on the reservation, and why does she get so frustrated with Liam?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Atria Books. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.