6. Throughout this book, Sam breaks several rules and ultimately escapes from her captors. Would you have done things differently? Is it ever okay to break the rules? How do you know when it's 'right' to break rules and when it's 'wrong'?
7. Sam and Drake meet telepathically before they ever meet in person, but she comes to trust him quickly. If you and your friends all had paranormal powers, would you be freaked out if someone started communicating with you mentally? Would you trust them? Would you tell your friends and try to get them to help you figure out what is happening?
8. Do you think people have to meet in person before they can really fall in love? Did you find the romance between Drake and Sam believable? Why or why not? Would it change your opinion if you knew the author met her husband online and they fell in love before they ever met in person?
9. In the book, Sam is impregnated against her will and without her knowledge in order to breed stronger paranormal babies. Some have likened this to rape. Do you think the two are the same? Why or why not? If not rape, how would you describe this kind of violation?
10. Sam and Drake both have very strong powers. Sam can read minds and Drake can control minds. Which power would you prefer? Do you think it's unethical to read or control minds? Would you feel violated if someone did that to you?
11. Sam and her friends believed they needed Rent-A-Kid to keep them safe from a world that wouldn't understand their gift. What do you think? Do you think our society and world would accept people with different abilities, or do think mass fear would put those with special powers in danger? Can you think of other examples of how people who are different than the status quo are treated?
12. When Sam is released from the hospital, she is expected to attend her going away party. She acts like she doesn't know what's happening while trying to plan what to do with her friends. Would you have been able to keep up pretense, or would you have challenged your captors before they took you away? What else could Sam and her friends have done to try and escape?
13. Sam confides in her guard, Gar, as they are leaving Rent-A-Kid and he becomes an ally in trying to help her escape. Would you have trusted him in that moment? Would you have been wiling to put his life at risk in asking him to help you? When he dies, Sam feels guilty, like it's her fault. Do you think his death is her fault, or is the fact that he made his own choice enough to absolve her? How much should we try to protect or control others in order to keep them safe?
14. When Sam realizes that Ana is Luke and Lucy's mom, she works out a way to reconnect them. When Ana dies, once again Sam feels guilty. How do you think she handles her guilt? What do you think this will change in her as she moves forward?
15. When Sam and Drake are escaping, Sam refuses to leave Ana, even though she's already dead. Drake uses mind control on her so that he doesn't have to physically move her and risk hurting her or the baby. Sam has a hard time forgiving Drake for this. How would you feel if the same thing had happened to you? Do you think it was wrong of Drake to control her in that way, or were his actions justified because she could have died otherwise?
FORBIDDEN FIRE
1. At the beginning of Forbidden Fire, Sam becomes very sick and finds out she's been drugged her entire life in order for Rent-A-Kid to control her more easily. How would you react if you found out you'd been drugged against your will on top of everything else? Would you still feel guilty for your actions, even if you had no control of them because of the drugs? (I.e. not questioning your circumstances… )
2. Drake never had a family, and the only father figure he had was the old priest. With Sam pregnant, Drake struggles with his responsibilities of fatherhood, afraid that he won't be the man his child needs. What do you think makes a good father, or healthy family? What could Drake do to prepare for life as a father? Do you think his para-powers help him or hurt him in this regard?
3. Back at Rent-A-Kid, Luke and Lucy must adjust to a whole new regime as familiar faces are replaced by impersonal guards. Still, they refuse to tell Mr. Black anything about Sam. How would you have handled being questioned by authority in this manner? Do you agree with the revolt that started because of these changes?
4. Sam can sense someone is following them, and when they discover their apartment has been broken into, Drake leaves her to attack the man inside. Do you think Drake used too much force in subduing this man? What about when he killed the man who was about to kill Sam? Were Drake's actions justified, or do you think he should be held responsible for that death? Is it ever okay to take another person's life? If so, when?
5. Sam can control minds now, but she doesn't like to do it. Do you think she should be using her powers more, regardless of her personal ethics, in order to keep herself and her family safe? Or do you agree that those powers shouldn’t be messed with?
6. There are several villains in this book: The men who are after Sam and Drake, Mr. Black, at the Rent-A-Kid school, and ultimately the Seeker, who is controlling everything. At first, they all seem evil to the core, but Mr. Black and the Seeker have their own stories that have made them who they are. Did discovering more about their past change your feelings about them? Did it allow you to relate to them better?
7. Were you surprised to discover that Sam and the Seeker were related? How do you think this changes Sam's role in Rent-A-Kid and the bigger picture? Would that information have inspired you to think differently about your situation, if you'd been her?
8. When Sam, Drake and Brad are with Professor Shaw, he reveals his own involvement in trying to discover the secrets behind this organization. Does his desire to drop out of the public eye and become a reclusive make sense to you? Would you have responded differently had that happened to you?
9. At Rent-A-Kid, Mr. Black kills one young man when he discovers them dueling with their para-powers, and he beats up Lucy for failing at her mission. Given how powerful these teens are, and how dangerous their powers could be if they ever lost control, do you think there was any justification to his behavior? How else could he have handled the situation and still kept control of the school?
10. While in Russia, Luke and Lucy discovered a secret lab with some mutated creatures. Lucy befriended Adam and he saved her life and gave her a gift of the sphere. How do you feel about this friendship? Would you have trusted him in her position? What do you think Adam's motivation for helping her was?
11. When Sam and Drake are captured, Drake wants to push to break the Seeker's control over Mary. When he puts Mary at risk, Sam fights him and breaks the link, but also destroys Drake's powers in the process. Would you have risked your relationship to save someone who had spent years torturing you at school? Do you agree with Drake, that it was worth the risk to push Mary like that?
12. In the end, Drake disappears and leaves Sam and the unborn baby. What do you think his motivations were for leaving? Could you relate to him and his loss, or did you feel more strongly for Sam?
13. In the process of breaking free of Rent-A-Kid's control, Sam and her friends lose everything: their home, their belongings, other friends who perished in the fight. Was their fight for freedom worth so much loss? Why or why not?
FORBIDDEN LIFE
1. Each character in this book is put into a situation where they have to make some tough decisions that test their own moral compass. Which choices did you agree with? Which did you disagree with? Discuss (or consider) some examples of these choices.
2. In Forbidden Life, some 'bad' guys become 'good' guys, and some 'good' guys become 'bad' guys. What does this say about the nature of evil? Does this make morality ambiguous? Can you relate to the motivations behind the choices of Mr. Steele, Agent Simmons and Beleth? Who did you relate to the most?
3. Beleth didn't have a choice when Steele took control of him. Drake also found himself controlled by Steele at one point, and sabotaged Sam's attempt to kill her father. Should they be held responsible for their actions under these circumstances? Why or why not?
4. Lucy used her pow
ers to keep Mr. K from telling her friends about the sphere. IPI used their influence to keep the truth of paranormals from the public. Were these choices right or wrong? Is it ever okay to censor others or prevent people from learning the truth about something? Did Mr. K have the right to tell Luke and Hunter about the sphere? Does IPI have the right to decide who knows about paranormals and who doesn't?
5. Sam is ready to give up on Drake. He betrayed her too deeply and she didn't know if she could trust him again. Susie offers her wisdom that people deserve second chances to win back trust. Do you agree with this? Do you think Sam was right in ultimately forgiving Drake and marrying him? Can people change and redeem themselves?
6. Hunter's past is not revealed much in this book. He doesn't believe it's relevant to who he is now, and he encourages Lucy to judge him by the man he is today, not who he was. Do you agree with him? Do you think the past is only useful in regards to how it shaped us, but isn't worth talking about beyond that?
7. Lucy used the sphere to calm herself down and ultimately it became a crutch that disallowed her from facing her own problems. Is it better to avoid problems or face them head on? What are some ways other characters in this series avoided their own problems? Was it affective for them to do this? What were some consequences of their behavior in this regard?
8. Steele has been set up throughout the series as the big bad guy behind Rent-A-Kid. What did you imagine his motivation would be before reading the final book? Were you surprised by the truth of his past and why he made the choices he did?
9. Many character in this series are seduced by the lure of power. Steele began this whole enterprise so he wouldn’t feel weak and bullied. Simmons betrayed her people and her mission for the chance to get the para-powers she'd always wanted. Drake made a deal with the devil and used untested drugs to reclaim his own power. Why do you think people are so motivated by power? What is the lure? What does this power gain them? What do they lose by pursuing power at all costs?
10. There are some young kids in this book who are given a heavy burden. Toby is a young boy who was thrust into the streets at an early age and forced to survive. Tommy lost his parents and had his innocence stolen from him. Serena also lost her parents and had to face real life monsters. All three kids fought Rent-A-Kid in their own way. Were they too young to be involved in this war? Was there a way they could have avoided it? What does it say about society that at such a young age children are used, abused and abandoned so regularly?
11. When Drake lost his ability to use his para-powers he felt useless and incomplete as a human being. What makes a human valuable and worthy? Is it what they can do or who they are? Is who we are determined by how 'useful' we are?
12. Drake transforms quite a bit in this book as he faces himself without powers and comes to grips with never having them again. When he meets his real father, Beleth, at the end of the book, Beleth gives Drake new powers. What kind of person do you think Drake will be with his new powers? How might these very different, and more passive powers, shape who he is and who he becomes?
13. Steele believes he won't be respected or found valuable without his powers. He and Drake have a similar arch, but they handle it much differently. How do you feel about the choices Steele made? If he'd succeeded in getting the level of power he wanted, do you think he would have finally been truly happy? Why or why not?
14. Sam changes as she faces the loss of her daughter. She must become the kind of person who isn't afraid to make hard choices and do what must be done to save Ana. Do you see these changes in her as positive or negative? Are there times when it's justified and morally acceptable to break the rules? How are her choices different from the choices Simmons or Steele made?
15. Mr. K was presumed dead until Lucy, Luke and Hunter found him in Hawaii. Had he not perished in the fire, he would have spent his life trapped as a tree. Was his death a blessing for him? Would you have wanted to live as a tree?
16. Everyone in this trilogy was at one point or another forced to break the rules to do what they thought needed to be done. Some of these choices we'd consider 'right' and others 'wrong.' When was it right for a character to break the rules? When was it wrong? How do you determine when it's right or wrong? Does that make morality subjective? If so, how can society function if so much is left to individual discernment?
TOP SECRET: IPI Paranormal Profiles
SAM SMITH
Real Name Sam (no last name)
Aliases Sam Smith
Height 5'6"
Weight 120
Eyes blue
Hair brown
Age 18
Threat Level Least Concern
Para-Level (1-10)
7-A strong, powerful para-power with influence over others. (Ex. Mind reading, memory shaping)
Classified: Forbidden Mind:
8-A very strong, very powerful para-power or ability. (Ex. Mind control.)
Para-power(s) Mind reading, mind control
Occupation Rent-A-Kid spy/artist
Place of Birth test-tube experiment manufactured in Rent-A-Kid lab
Relationship Status Married to Drake Davis
Known Relatives The Seeker, Mr. Steele
Group Affiliations Rent-A-Kid
Base of Operation Hawaii/Washington
History Reads minds. Was raised in a secret schools for paranormals and rented out as a spy. Artist of note.
First Appearance: Forbidden Mind (Forbidden Trilogy, #1)
Resources on this paranormal: Learn more about Sam and the Rent-A-Kid organization with Forbidden Mind, Forbidden Fire and Forbidden Life, by Agent Kimberly Kinrade. Pathways, Christmas Lites II
OTHER RESEARCH AND FILES:
From Sam:
This is what my official profile at IPI (International Paranormal Investigations at http://IPIAcademy.com) says. Like that's all that matters about me, how powerful I am, what's my threat level, what can I do.
This is all that mattered to Rent-A-Kid too, though I didn't know it at the time. They used me as a spy, rich people spying on other rich people so they could all get richer. Whatever. You want to know the real me? Look at my best friends, Luke and Lucy. Look at my art work. Talk to my boyfriend. They can tell you the important stuff.
Like, I love art more than anything. I love painting and drawing and going to museums. I'm a total geek about it and could spend days and days in a studio or museum just absorbing colors and shapes and images. My favorite movie is X-Men, for obvious reasons. (Come on, you know it's funny!) I totally hate Palm Trees. Seriously, they're the ugliest trees in the world and I don’t know why people like them.
I'm sometimes shy and often end up on the wrong side of a bully's attention—mostly Mary, she's such a witch. (Not a real witch, just, you know, witch with a 'b'.) I'm working on standing up for myself more though.
I'm really loyal to the people I love and would do anything for them, and I can't wait to go to Sarah Lawrence and study art.
So this is just a little about me, but you'll never really know me if you don’t spend some time with me.
And sadly, you'll never know me as well as I will know you. I can read minds after all, and I know what you're thinking right now!
~Sam
DRAKE DAVIS
Real Name Drake Davis
Height 6'1"
Weight 200
Eyes blue
Hair blonde
Age 19
Threat Level Moderate Threat
Para-Level (1-10)
8-A very strong, very powerful para-power or ability. (Ex. Mind control.)
Para-power(s) mind control, super strength
Aliases NA
Occupation surfer/surfing instructor
Place of Birth unknown/Classified
Relationship Status Married to Sam Smith
Known Relatives Beleth, father/Agent Simmons, mother
Group Affiliations
Base of Operation Hawaii/Washington
History The prod
uct of an affair between powerful paranormal and human, put in the child welfare system and raised in foster homes. Abused.
First Appearance: Forbidden Mind
Resources on this paranormal The Forbidden Trilogy
LUCY RIVERA
Real Name Lucy Rivera
Height 5'4"
Weight 110
Eyes brown
Hair brown
Age 19
Threat Level Minimal Threat
Para-Level (1-10)
4-A more highly advance para-power above human power, useful and active, can sometimes affect others, but in limited ways (lie detecting, seduction, walking through walls)
Para-power(s) Lie detecting, compulsion to lie
Aliases too many to name
Occupation IPI Agent and student at IPI Academy, former Rent-A-Kid spy
Place of Birth unknown
Relationship Status dating Agent Hunter Riley
Known Relatives Luke Rivera, twin brother
Group Affiliations Rent-A-Kid, IPI
Base of Operation Washington, D.C.
History born to a doctor at Rent-A-Kid and raised in the facility whole life. Hacker and martial artist.
First Appearance: Forbidden Mind
Resources on this paranormal: Forbidden Mind, Forbidden Fire, Forbidden Life, Blood of the Fallen, Tears of the Fallen, Flight of the Fallen, Pathways, Christmas Lites II
The Forbidden Trilogy Page 77