The Pact

Prior to Chris’s full explanation of his role in Emily’s death, what does the novel suggest about his culpability? To what extent were you certain or doubtful that Emily’s death was a murder, rather than a suicide?

Each of the four parents deals with Emily’s death and Chris’s imprisonment in different ways. Choose one parent and examine his or her behavior and thoughts in the “then” chapters. How might his/her past dictate the way this character acts in the “now” chapters?

What role do minor characters—like Chris’s sister, Kate, and Jordan McAfee’s son, Thomas—play in the novel? How do these teens manifest (or counter) some of the novel’s key messages?