2-3-4 Challenge Book Discussions #1 discussion

Given what we learned about John LePere, were you surprised at his complicity with the kidnapping scheme?

Yes. It just goes to show how easily you can manipulate someone though. Bridger worked on him for I think it was a year to get LePere into the position he was to undertake the kidnapping scheme.

Karl was just an awful man to have the patience to set this plan up so far in advance. I still was surprised that LePere would stoop to kidnapping women and children. Given his devotion to his brother, this was a bridge too far.

Do you think maybe LePere was so lonely that he latched onto Bridger. Bridger seemed to know exactly what to say to get LePere on side.

Agree Karl was a terrible person. It showed how deliberate his plans were don't you think? To start with he actually seemed like an okay guy when dealing with the Grandfathers situation.

Yes, I do believe LePere was lonely and Bridger leveraged that. John felt a certain kinship with Wesley after a time. It was all so distasteful.

Oh, Karl's deliberation told me just how cold and cruel a man he was and that's what Grace ultimately experienced. Yes, he seemed so sincere when addressing the Our Grandfathers situation. What a reptile. I thought it so fitting that he set off the explosion at the end and ended up going down in Lake Superior, never to resurface.

I was surprised given how much LaPere's own family meant to him. It just shows how desperate he was and how mired he was in his own despair. He had a lot of tragedy and loss in his life but instead of choosing to live his own life to the fullest - which would have been the best way to honor the memory of his family - he wasted it. He chose to make despair his companion, like Henry said.

I like how you put that, Veronica. He chose to waste his life. What a shame because he seemed like a good man.