Lee Child's "Gone Tomorrow" Trivia Quiz

Answer: Human Resources Command at the Pentagon

Even though she worked for an agency that handled no secret information, Susan was "good with computers," and a network security bug allowed her to acquire an extremely sensitive photograph. Loading it onto a computer memory stick, she tries to take it to her blackmailers, but a traffic jam makes her late for her rendezvous. Having tossed the memory stick and her cell phone out her car window in frustration, she decides to get on a subway train to go confront the blackmailers, who have killed her adult son due to her tardiness. Reacher mistakes her for a suicide bomber on the train, and his interference leads to her suicide.

The memory stick rapidly becomes the objective of everyone in the book - no one knows yet that Susan threw it out her car window. Reacher learns that it holds a photograph of Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan in 1983, meeting with U.S. Delta Force soldiers (Congressman Sansom and his aide Springfield among them) on a secret "friendship" mission - the theory being that any enemy of the Soviets was a friend of the United States. This turns out to be an important theme in the story: "Sometimes our friends become our enemies, and our enemies become our friends." The photo might have been incriminating to a congressman campaigning for the Senate, but we never do find out why the bad guys wanted it so much.

Answer: Afghani terrorists

Originally posing as a Russian mother and daughter wanting to meet with a U.S. serviceman who had "once been kind" to the mother, they turn out to be the "most dangerous people" Reacher has ever met. They and their "crew" of 20 men will stop at nothing to obtain Susan Mark's photograph.

Answer: A DVD

The DVD is a video made by the Hoths of them cruelly torturing two men to death. Child's depiction of the video was actually quite difficult for me to read due to its graphic nature. Reacher even threw up after viewing it, but he blamed it on being physically overwhelmed by rage at these two heinous killers, not on his being squeamish about the torture. The first victim on the video was an Afghani man who offended the Hoths by helping an American journalist, and the second victim was Peter Molina, Susan Mark's son.

The other three answer choices - memory stick, cell phone, and the VAL rifle - were also important items in the story.

Answer: Bribing the night porter

He employs this tactic several times during the story.

I wonder how many people went out and tried this after reading the book...

Answer: Browning

Springfield served alongside Sansom in the Delta Force and is now his right-hand man. Reacher and Browning work together (after a fashion) throughout the story. A very intelligent man, Springfield understands Reacher's hints and subtexts, and even drops a few hints of his own.

Answer: He left a note at Sansom's workplace

Reacher took a train from New York to Washington to meet with Sansom. After receiving Reacher's note at the Cannon Building, Sansom, a shrewd and calculating (but not malevolent) individual, sends his aide and wife to deal with Reacher. After several more false starts and a bit of a wild goose chase, Reacher is finally able to meet in person with Sansom and earn a little of his trust.

Answer: Tranquilizer darts

As the agents brandish the gun and shoot him with it, Reacher quickly realizes what is happening, remembering a nature show where scientists used a tranquilizer gun on a silverback gorilla. Of course, he is eventually able to overpower his captors, take their tranquilizer gun, and use it against them to get a little payback.

Answer: Subway surfing (clinging to the outside of a subway car)

The subway is a recurring theme throughout the book. The story begins there, but only much later do we find out that all of the "other passengers" riding with Reacher on that first subway car were watching Susan Mark: one was working for Sansom, one was working for the Hoths, and the rest were government agents. Reacher is able to identify the various models of subway cars and their technical specifications, thanks to a "crazy person" he once met on the subway, so he knew which ones had roof lips and running boards that could be used for surfing.

Another harrowing scene has Reacher running across the tracks, dodging two speeding trains - when he makes it safely to the other side, an appreciative crowd cheers him and helps pull him up to the platform. ("Only in New York," he thinks.)

One of the final scenes is a chilling visit back to the first scene, except for this ride Reacher performs the suicide bomber checklist on himself as he carries a silenced submachine gun to take care of the bad guys.

The other answer choices did not occur in this book, but if you're taking this quiz, Mr. Child, I hope you're taking notes as well - I would love to read about Reacher hiding in the sewer or flying down a zip line!

Answer: Theresa Lee

Reacher's involvement with Lee felt like almost an afterthought to the story. The attraction and tension were both at fairly low levels. Perhaps as Reacher advances through life, his style of love affair is changing.

Answer: Knife

He had taped the knife to the small of his back. Even though he claims to hate knives as weapons, this one saved his life. In this heart-pounding scene, we find out about the "twentieth man" on the Hoths' crew, and discover that the supposedly oblivious Svetlana can speak English.

Later, as Reacher recovers in the hospital from a knife wound, Springfield delivers some very poignant lines about Reacher almost being beaten by two girls. He says that the "triple taps" Reacher fired from his gun were a waste of ammunition and almost got him killed. In effect, Reacher's anger led to sloppy work. We are left wondering if Reacher is losing his touch, but we also realize that being a tough man like Reacher is not only about being the smartest and the best, but it also takes a lot of luck.