Lee Child's "Nothing To Lose" Trivia Quiz

Answer: Eastern Colorado

Hope supposedly got its name from settlers on their way to the West Coast. An optical illusion resulting from the topography made the Rockies seem very close, promising a shorter journey. However, after a few more miles, the illusion vanished, and the mountains once again appeared to be impossibly far away. Some of the pioneers apaprently threw in the towel then and there, bitterly naming their settlement Despair.

The two towns are polar opposites in appearance as well as attitude: Hope represents small-town friendliness and is well-maintained, while Despair is ugly and run down, and its residents are as hostile and secretive as can be.

Answer: A dead body

As it is pitch dark at the time, Reacher must rely on senses other than his eyesight to try to identify the body, which turns out to be that of the young Raphael Ramirez, a military deserter trying to escape to Canada. He chose death over exposing his fellow deserters to the authorities.

The "smuggling" of human cargo into Canada is just one of many of Despair's secrets. Lucy "Lucky" Anderson, whom Reacher meets in Hope's restaurant, is the wife of one of the deserters.

The Military Police FOB (forward operating base) just outside of Despair plays an important part in the story - not so much regarding the deserters, but more in the way of guarding the sensitive material being processed in Despair's metal recycling plant.

Answer: An officer of the Hope Police Department

Wherever he goes, Reacher always seems to find a beautiful and intelligent woman. A recurring theme in the series is that of Reacher referring to his lady friends (in many cases) by their last names only.

Answer: In a facility for veterans with traumatic brain injury

David Robert Vaughan, while a member of the National Guard, was seriously injured in Iraq when an IED (improvised explosive device) destroyed his Humvee. The doctors expected the swelling in his brain to abate, leading to at least a partial recovery, but it never did, and he is still confined to bed, unable to move, speak, breathe without a respirator, or respond to stimuli.

Her husband's tragic state has caused a great deal of pain for Vaughan, and her emotional struggle is a dominant theme in the book. Once we learn about David, we understand why she has hidden so much. We also come to understand her rage at the military deserters moving through Despair, and sympathize with her as she makes a crucial decision at the story's climax.

A particularly compelling scene is the one in which Reacher intimidates the staff at David's facility into cleaning up their act, explaining to them that veterans and their families deserve respect.

Answer: Preparation of relief supplies for victims of war in Afghanistan

Despair's metal recycling plant - the major industry in town - is owned and run by a businessman and preacher who goes by the name of Thurman. Thurman also happens to own and run the entire town itself - it's a company town, angrily referred to by Reacher and Vaughan as a "feudal system."

A sad side effect of dismantling vehicles wrecked in the war is the recovery of the remains of their occupants (now essentially soot). Thurman spends many of his nights flying his little Piper Cherokee to Fort Shaw, Oklahoma, where he presents the ashes to the military for proper handling.

Initially, Reacher and Vaughan hypothesized that the TCE that Thurman's employees were using was causing the illness among Despair's residents, but this turned out not to be the case.

As for the relief supplies for Afghanistan, this is a story Thurman makes up in an attempt to hide what he's really up to.

Answer: He breaks into the electrical substation and cuts off the town's power supply

As Vaughan gradually learns of all the havoc that Reacher has been causing in Despair, she refers to him as a "maniac" and a "one-man wrecking crew." Despite her mild disapproval, she does little to punish him or stop him from causing further damage.

The "unfair" fight scenario is another familiar (and always thrilling) motif in the Reacher series. Despite facing two, three, four, or more opponents at a time, Reacher always seems to emerge the victor, barely breathing hard and not having broken a sweat. He learned to fight young, and his experience and sharp wits rarely fail him.

Answer: To assume makes an "ass" out of "u" and "me"

The major mystery of the book is the depleted uranium and TNT that Thurman is using to make a dirty bomb. Through some rather convoluted means, he hopes to fan the flames of war in the Middle East and speed the arrival of the Apocalypse and Rapture. A character named Underwood, one of Thurman's thugs, is suffering from what turns out to be radiation sickness. While in his sick bed, he tells Reacher "You did this to me." Reacher eventually figures out that it was not an accusation, but that Underwood meant "U did this to me" - U as in uranium. Apparently his work at the plant dismantling tank shielding exposed Underwood to enough radiation to make him fatally ill.

Another recurring proverb is "Dum spero speri," which loosely translates as "Where there is breath there is hope."

Answer: Night vision equipment

What is a small town police force in Colorado doing with night vision thermal imaging equipment in its cruisers? Vaughan explains that they had to spend their Homeland Security funding on something.

The night vision technology comes into play several times in the book: Vaughan is able to see Reacher fumbling through the dark on his way back to Hope, the two are able to stealthily drive into Despair without headlights, they discover a military deserter concealed in a truck trailer leaving Despair, and they learn that the metal recycling plant's walls are glowing not with heat, but with radiation.

If you chose the criminal fingerprint database answer, you might have been thinking about another book in the series: "Without Fail."

The low-tech element in this story is a very cunning multi-position ladder (purchased from Hope's hardware store) that helps Reacher defeat the recycling plant's perimeter wall. Reacher's commentary: "I love hardware stores."

Answer: He is an excellent marksman, able to make very difficult shots with amazing accuracy

Reacher effectively demonstrates his almost superhuman marksmanship and superior expertise with weaponry in other books in the series, but there is very little gunplay in this book.

A few specific examples of Reacher's knowledge from this story: he apparently has a good knowledge of how cell calls are transmitted, processed, and received, having read about it in a trade magazine. He knows exactly when and how TNT was invented. He can rattle off the land area in square miles for the state of Colorado, as well as its rank in area and population. Also, he finds inspiration in the Stoic philosopher Zeno of Cittium, who believed in the unquestioning acceptance of one's destiny.

Answer: Vaughan

And what a tremendous explosion it is! Child uses more than a page to describe the mighty blast. Thurman and two of his minions, trapped within the plant's walls at ground zero, perished instantly.

Everyone in Hope and Despair "assumed" that the explosion was the result of an accident at the plant, and the Pentagon wasn't anxious to reveal its business in Despair, so no serious investigation took place. Reacher, as usual, quietly slips away to look for his next adventure.