The Right Side
Page 29
“I’m moving on,” she said.
“I thought you might be staying,” said Coreen.
“Nope,” said LeAnne. “I hope I can trust you.”
Coreen stepped back. “With Mia? What an insulting thing to say!”
“Glad to hear it,” LeAnne said. “Where is she?”
“At school.”
“Give her these, maybe when she’s older.” She handed Coreen the pearl earrings. “I’ll send you a card when I’m settled somewhere.”
Coreen walked her to the door. “Oh goodness, almost forgot,” she said. “This came special delivery.” She handed LeAnne an envelope with the Walter Reed return address in the top left corner.
LeAnne opened it when she got outside: a letter from Dr. Machado. He was glad to hear she was doing all right—even had a dog, a good idea in his opinion—and asked her to drop by when she returned for her scheduled six-month checkup. “A reminder that you report to X-ray,” he wrote. “Normal protocol in these shrapnel remnant situations—watchful waiting, as I’m sure the surgeons explained.”
Shrapnel? Surgeons? Scheduled six-month checkup? She’d forgotten. And with any luck, would soon forget again. It was trash collection day in Bellville, and Coreen’s barrel stood at the end of the driveway. LeAnne crumpled up Dr. Machado’s letter and dropped it inside.
“All set?” she said, getting into the car. Goody lay on her back, paws in the air, tongue hanging out. She made no response that LeAnne was aware of. LeAnne drove down Apple Street, crossed the bridge, turned north on Main, headed for Canada.
After five or six miles, there was no one else on the road, a narrow, winding road through rolling country, sun and wind somehow changing the color of the forests, from yellow through all the shades of green to blue, and back again. On a short, straight stretch she came to a single-bar gate and stopped: Canada. Open 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
A uniformed customs and immigration officer came out of a small gatehouse.
“Be good,” LeAnne said. Goody, now sitting up, licked her muzzle. LeAnne lowered the window.
“Hello,” the officer said. “Destination?”
“Canada.”
“Somewhere specific?”
“We’re just driving around.”
He looked past her at Goody. “Vaccinations up to date?”
“As far as I know.”
“As far as you know?”
“Yes.”
“Passport.”
Passport. Hers was the red military kind. She remembered seeing it somewhere. LeAnne opened the glove box. Stuff fell out. She fished around in the glove box, found the passport, handed it to him.
“Military,” he said.
“Yes.”
“Meaning you’re traveling under orders. Orders to just drive around?”
LeAnne said nothing. Goody yawned one of her huge yawns. Did that mean she felt totally unthreatened? That was good to know.
Now the officer was examining her passport photo. “Turn to me, please.”
She turned her face to him. He saw what there was to see, hardly reacted at all. Then he looked past her again and pointed. “What’s that?”
The Bronze Star was hanging from the open glove box.
“A medal.”
“Can I see?”
LeAnne handed him the Bronze Star.
“What’s it for?”
LeAnne didn’t answer.
The officer turned the medal over and read aloud the inscription on the back. “ ’Heroic or Meritorious Achievement.’ ” He handed her the passport and medal, tapped the roof, and said, “Enjoy your visit.”
LeAnne drove north from the border.
“Dr. Machado thinks you’re a good idea.”
Goody hung a paw over the edge of the seat, got more comfortable. They hadn’t gone a mile before the names came to LeAnne, unbidden and insistent: Wrashmin, Durkhani, Hila, Muska, Laila (times 2).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am very grateful to two US Army veterans who read and critiqued the manuscript for this novel. To First Sergeant Chris Hochstetler, USA, retired, and to Anthony Saffier: many, many thanks. Any errors in the book are mine alone.
Readers Club Guide
The Right Side
This reading group guide for The Right Side includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.
Introduction
In this riveting new novel by New York Times bestselling author Spencer Quinn, a traumatized veteran becomes obsessed with finding a missing girl, gains an unlikely ally in a stray dog, and encounters new perils beyond the combat zone.
LeAnne Hogan went to Afghanistan as a rising star in the military, and came back a much lesser person, mentally and physically. Now missing an eye and with half her face badly scarred, she can barely remember the disastrous desert operation that almost killed her. She is confused, angry, and suspects the fault is hers, even though nobody will come out and say it.
Shattered by one last blow—the sudden death of her hospital roommate, Marci—LeAnne embarks on a fateful drive across the country, reflecting on her past and seeing no future. Her native land is now unfamiliar, recast in shadow by her one good eye, her damaged psyche, and her weakened body. Arriving in the rain-soaked small town in Washington State that Marci had called home, she makes a troubling discovery: Marci’s eight-year-old daughter has vanished. When a stray dog—a powerful, dark, unreadable creature, no one’s idea of a pet—seems to adopt LeAnne, a surprising connection is formed and something shifts inside her. Feeling a sense of duty to find Marci’s daughter, LeAnne and her inscrutable canine companion are drawn into danger as dark and menacing as her last Afghan mission. But this time she has a strange, loyal fellow traveler protecting her blind side.
Enthralling, suspenseful, and psychologically astute, The Right Side introduces one of the most unforgettable protagonists in modern fiction: isolated, broken, disillusioned—yet still seeking redemption and purpose—LeAnne takes hold of the reader and never lets go.
Topics & Questions for Discussion
1. From the opening pages, LeAnne is introduced as a tough woman who has some very real demons. Did your opinion of LeAnne change as the book progressed and you learned more about her past? If so, why?
2. It comes up more than once that LeAnne is not a “dog person.” What is it about this particular dog that makes LeAnne feel differently? How does their relationship progress over time?
3. What are the reasons for LeAnne to impulsively drive across the country to Bellville, Washington?
4. Do you think Marci and LeAnne would have been friends outside the hospital? Why or why not? Describe their relationship. In what ways does Marci influence LeAnne throughout the novel?
5. Although LeAnne is initially dismissive of her PTSD condition, she begins to come to terms with this diagnosis. What causes LeAnne to change her mind?
6. Describe LeAnne’s relationship with her family and how it affects her general outlook on the world. How did her father’s death shape her character?
7. Describe the book’s narrative style. How would you characterize it? How does it play into your perception of LeAnne, or influence your understanding of events?
8. How is LeAnne’s character revealed by her interactions with the people in Bellville? In what ways do Bellville’s citizens change LeAnne? Use specific examples to demonstrate your point.
9. Explain the significance of the title of the book. What is “the right side”? Why do you think the author decided on that as the title?
10. Why is LeAnne drawn to the missing child investigation? Do you think she would have stayed to investigate if it hadn’t been Marci’s child who was missing?
11. How do LeAnne’s literal battle scars affect the way she sees herself and her self-esteem
?
12. What role does PTSD play in this book?
13. Discuss the structure of this book. What is the effect of alternating between LeAnne’s current life and her childhood? Did learning about LeAnne’s past help you better understand her current actions?
14. What did you make of LeAnne’s reunion with Katie at the end of the book? Were you surprised at her attitude toward Katie? Do you think justice was served or thwarted?
Enhance Your Book Club
1. Author Spencer Quinn is the New York Times bestselling author of the Chet and Bernie series. Read one of his other novels, then compare and contrast the two books? In what ways are they similar? How has Quinn’s writing style evolved?
2. Write an epilogue about what happens next for LeAnne. Share with the group, and explain why you came up with this specific set of events.
3. Read up on PTSD. How accurately do you think PTSD was portrayed in the novel? Discuss with the group.
4. Visit Spencer Quinn’s website at www.spencequinn.com to learn more about him and his books.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Spencer Quinn is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the ongoing Chet and Bernie mystery series, as well as the bestselling Bowser and Birdie series for middle-grade readers. Keep up with him by visiting spencequinn.com or his blog chetthedog.com. Spencer Quinn (pen name for Peter Abrahams) lives on Cape Cod with his wife, Diana, and their dogs Audrey and Pearl.
MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT
SimonandSchuster.com
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Spencer-Quinn
Facebook.com/AtriaBooks
@AtriaBooks
ALSO BY SPENCER QUINN
Dog on It
Thereby Hangs a Tail
To Fetch a Thief
The Dog Who Knew Too Much
A Fistful of Collars
The Sound and the Furry
Paw and Order
Scents and Sensibility
Don't miss Spencer Quinn's New York Times bestselling Chet & Bernie mystery series that makes "even cat lovers . . .howl with delight" (USA TODAY).
Dog on It
* * *
Thereby Hangs a Tail
* * *
To Fetch a Thief
* * *
The Dog Who Knew Too Much
* * *
A Fistful of Collars
* * *
The Sound and the Furry
* * *
Paw and Order
* * *
Scents and Sensibility
* * *
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Interior design by Devan Norman
Jacket design by Anna Dorfman
Jacket photographs © Mark Owen/Arcangel (woman and road), Artsilense/Shutterstock (dog), Joe Belanger/Shutterstock (mountains and sky), © Early Spring/Shutterstock (boots), © Sunti/Shutterstock (pants)
Author photograph by Randi Baird
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data.
Names: Quinn, Spencer, author.
Title: The right side : a novel / Spencer Quinn.
Description: First Atria Books hardcover edition. | New York : Atria Books, 2017.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017001680 (print) | LCCN 2017007438 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501118401 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781501118425 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501118425 (eBook)
Subjects: | BISAC: FICTION / Mystery & Detective / General. | FICTION / Suspense. | FICTION / General. | GSAFD: Mystery fiction. | Suspense fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3617.U584 R54 2017 (print) | LCC PS3617.U584 (ebook) | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017001680
ISBN 978-1-5011-1840-1
ISBN 978-1-5011-1842-5 (ebook)