DQs for Trios: Death, Deceit, and Politics
TRIOS: DEATH, DECEIT, AND POLITICS (2022)
By Carl Parsons
Wordwooze Publishing
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
SYNOPSIS: Rita Collins, a reporter and writer for a Washington, D.C., television station, faces unexplained rejection by her husband, Brian, who has suffered amputation of both legs as a result of an IED explosion near Fallujah during the Iraq War. He now refuses both her affection and any attempts at rehabilitation. Further complicating her life, Rita is investigating a radical political cell that periodically foments rioting on an elite college campus in the area.
With the help of Dr. Kinzer, Brian’s psychiatrist, she discovers that her marriage was doomed from the start because of its intricate ties to the career of her politically corrupt father-in-law and Pennsylvania state senator, Dolf Collins.
But once her grief gives way to anger, Rita uses her contacts within the news media to exact revenge on Dolf. Indeed, on the same night that she experiences her greatest professional success as a reporter, the revenge she fashions proves far more destructive than she could have imagined.
Discussion Questions:
1. The novel opens with Dr. Kinzer prompting Brian Collins to relate the episode during the first Gulf War in which he suffered the need for amputation of both legs. What is Brian’s attitude toward those events now? What was his attitude before the explosion? Why does he resist rehabilitation?
2. Chapter 2 allows us to see Brian in the presence of his wife Rita. How does he treat her? Why does he tell to find another partner? And what does this action say about their previous relationship?
3. What was Brian’s relationship with Vincent Gallia? Toward Dr. Kinzer? How does Dr. Kinzer well handle the interview? What is at stake in getting Brian to accept rehabilitation?
4. Now consider how Dr. Kinzer’s assistant, Roseanne Orr, conducts the interview with Marla Collins. Is her approach to the interview like that of Dr. Kinzer with Brian? What is different? What do we learn from this interview that is crucial to the story?
5. Then both Dr. Kinzer and Roseanne Orr interview Dolf Collins in the presence of Mark Garrett. How does this interview compare with the others? Explain the importance of Mark Garrett in the novel.
6. Trios features two very strong female characters—Rita and Marla Collins, daughter-in-law and mother-in-law. How are they alike and how do they differ? Explain the parallelism their actions bring to the plot.
7. Explain the novel’s title, Trios. What “trios” occur in the novel? How are they related, and what effect do they have on the novel’s resolution?
8. Trios depends heavily on dialogue, often conducted as formal interviews or telephone conversations. What advantages and disadvantages does this narrative method have for character portrayal, character development, and plot development?
9. Explore Rita’s work environment at Democratic Dimensions. What sort of person is her boss Marty Spear? What is the assignment he gives Rita and her cameraman Jim Kozlov? Compare Rita’s relationship with Marty to that with her parents, especially her father. Note, too, how much of the characterization in the novel relies on contrasting characters.
10. How does the plot deepen when Rita interviews Kurt Sillinger? Compare Kurt to Brian Collins. Why does Kurt take Rita to lunch at Purgatory? What do they see there?
11. How is the Eastminster University campus riot subplot related to the main plot centered on the Collins family?
12. Is the resolution to the novel satisfying? Is Rita to blame for the deaths of Dolf and Mark? Is Marla?
13. Which characters in the novel, if any, would you regard as truly virtuous? Is Rita? Marla? Kurt? Marty?