2-3-4 Challenge Book Discussions #2 discussion

Steve Brenner is caught breaking into Laurant’s home when he believed they’d gone out. Lonnie was also with him and set the house on fire, escaping capture because Wesson had released the other agents. Wesson convinced the FBI, including Pete Morganstern, that Steve was the Heartbreaker but Nick was unconvinced. Did you share his misgivings? Why or why not?

I really didn't see this egotistical creep as capable of playing the psychological games that Heartbreaker so enjoyed.

By this point, I questioned if Steve was the murderer. I trusted Nick's instincts and I didn't like Wesson enough to trust him for a minute.

I had a problem with Morganstern accepting Wesson's methodology so quickly. He is supposed to be their top psychiatrist / profiler. How did Wesson get away with being so arrogant, and all his stupid decisions. Mira wouldn't have fallen for Wesson's maneuvers.

LOL! Don't you wish we could blend characters from other books?

Anita wrote: "LOL! Don't you wish we could blend characters from other books?"

LOL. Sometimes I can't help but compare characters.

Brenner was caught too easily. so, at this point I didn't think he was Heartbreaker.

Sharon, I agree with your point about Morganstern accepting Wesson's methodology so quickly. What was he thinking?

Robin, I didn't get a good explanation about why Morganstern allowed Wesson to pull the wool over his eyes. It made me question the character.

I'm playing Devil's advocate here: Wesson is a highly respected (by leaders, not his team) FBI agent and talked up as Morganstern's replacement. He must have some degree of competence to get so far. You have to admit that Morganstern could have believed that Nick was too close to Laurent and maybe his judgement was clouded.

I shared Nick's misgivings and wondered why his boss agreed with Weston. Also, didn't like that all Morgenstern said to Nick was the Wesson had other facts Nick wasn't privy to (because Wesson wasn't sharing anything). At this point we had seen a couple of times Brenner flying off the handle. Our glimpses of the killer when he got upset it was more internal upset and then planning.

Anita wrote: "I'm playing Devil's advocate here: Wesson is a highly respected (by leaders, not his team) FBI agent and talked up as Morganstern's replacement. He must have some degree of competence to get so far..."

That's exactly what I think.

What a great discussion! I had the same concern about Morganstern, which is a question asked later.

I couldn’t believe that Wesson pulled agents and didn’t tell Nick. I don’t care if he wasn’t on the official team and that point was irrelevant considering he was protecting Laurant. That alone would make me question his assessment. Nick has great instincts and they should have been better respected. He was dismissed out of hand, which made me angry at Pete. Wesson, I expected as he was all about himself.