The Spy Coast

For many of the characters in the novel, like Phillip Hardwicke, control is important on both a personal and professional level. Choose two characters and discuss the role that control plays in their lives. How does Gerritsen explore the issue of control through these two characters?

Analyze Gerritsen’s exploration of ageism in The Spy Coast. How does she depict the issues surrounding ageism through the characters in the novel? Use specific examples from the text to support your argument.

In The Spy Coast, Gerritsen uses points of view from four different women, as well as chapters that return to an earlier timeline. What are the pros and cons of this narrative choice from a structural point of view? How do these craft decisions affect the meaning of the novel?

Discuss the ways in which The Spy Coast fulfills or subverts the conventions of the spy thriller genre.

Compare and contrast the ethically questionable choices Maggie makes for her profession, such as her marriage to Danny, with accounts of real-life ex-agents who faced similar choices. How do Maggie’s moral quandaries align with the choices real-life CIA agents must make? In what ways are they different?

The spy thriller genre was dominated by male authors and protagonists for much of the 20th century. In what ways does Maggie correspond with the tropes of traditional detective protagonists in a spy thriller? In what ways is she different?

How does Maggie’s story develop over the course of the Martini Club novels? In what ways has she changed as a character by the end of the last novel in the trilogy? Use examples from all three texts to support your response.

The Spy Coast moves around the world from Istanbul to Bangkok to Purity, Maine. How does Gerritsen use these various settings in the novel to deepen thematic meaning?