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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. At the beginning of Chapter 2, where is the narrator sitting?
(a) The narrator's office.
(b) At the counter of a Dunkin' Donuts.
(c) Outside an apartment building on Hammond Pond Parkway in Chestnut Hill.
(d) At police headquarters.

2. Which one of the men who enter Patty's house in Chapter 11 does Spenser know?
(a) Harold.
(b) Harry.
(c) Hawk.
(d) Buddy.

3. In Chapter 4, what does the passenger say about the narrator's profession?
(a) That it is totally great.
(b) That it is very interesting.
(c) That it is a rotten occupation.
(d) That it is awfully gross.

4. What does Paul ask Spenser about dinner the first night that Patty is away in New York?
(a) Whether they could go to the Chinese restarurant where he got the take-out.
(b) Where he got the pizza.
(c) Whether he cooked the meal.
(d) Whether he could have the tuna salad sandwich from the deli.

5. Where does the narrator follow the woman to in Chapter 3?
(a) Spenser's office.
(b) Hawk's gym.
(c) Harry Cotton's condominium.
(d) Mel Giacomin's house.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Spenser's response to Patty's "plan" in Chapter 7?

2. What new character is introduced in Chapter 6?

3. Who is Mel Giacomin?

4. How does the narrator enter the building in Chapter 3?

5. When they arrive at the house in Chapter 4, how does the passenger enter the house?

Short Essay Questions

1. What type of person does Mel Giacomin appear to be?

2. How does Spenser diffuse the situation between himself, Buddy, and Harold in Chapter 11?

3. When Paul arrives home, what is the reaction that mother and son both give and receive?

4. Based on what we read in Chapter 2, what types of personal qualities would be necessary to handle Spenser's job? Why?

5. In April, after Mel's thugs try to kidnap Paul, Patty Giacomin calls Spenser for help once again. This time, she asks Spenser to protect her and Paul. Why does Patty desperately call Spenser when she experiences trouble with her ex-husband in relation to her son?

6. Spenser reluctantly takes the job of protecting Patty and Paul from Mel and his thugs. What reservations does Spenser have about taking the job, and why does he take it?

7. If you were Spenser, what would you have done differently in Chapter 2?

8. Do you think that it was wise for Spenser to have entered Giacomin's house the way that he did?

9. What do Paul Giacomin's feelings for his parents appear to be?

10. In Chapter 12 we meet Hawk. What kind of a person does Hawk appear to be?

(see the answer keys)

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