False Witness
by Randy Singer
List Price: $13.99
Pages: 432
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781414335698
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
Clark Shealy is a bail bondsman with the ultimate bounty on the line: his wife’s life. He has 48 hours to find an Indian professor in possession of the Abacus Algorithm --- an equation so powerful it could crack all Internet encryption.
Four years later, law student Jamie Brock is working in legal aid when a routine case takes a vicious twist: she and two colleagues learn that their clients, members of the witness protection program, are accused of defrauding the government and have the encrypted algorithm in their possession. After a life-changing trip to the professor’s church in India, the couple also has the key to decode it.
Now they’re on the run from federal agents and the Chinese mafia, who will do anything to get the algorithm. Caught in the middle, Jamie and her friends must protect their clients if they want to survive long enough to graduate.
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1. At the beginning of the story, Clark Shealy vows to do whatever it takes to save his wife’s life --- even if it means torturing someone to get information --- but it soon becomes clear he has his limits. What holds him back? Would the Clark we see at the end of the story have done anything differently?
2. Are there ever instances in which the ends justify the means? Can you think of any biblical examples to support either or both positions? Have you ever done something hurtful because you thought it was truly in someone’s best interest? Looking back, do you think you were justified to do so?
3. Even though they only spend a short time together, Clark is tremendously impacted by Professor Kumari, so much so that he is almost reluctant to trade him for Jessica’s life. Why do you think that is?
4. Near the end of Part I, Clark feels remorse over not following through on the plan he and Professor Kumari had agreed upon. Did he make the right decision? What would you have done in that situation?
5. Jamie is a woman with a high sense of justice --- she sees the world in black and white. Does this ever backfire on her throughout the story? Isaiah, in contrast, seems to thrive in shades of gray. Are you more like Jamie or Isaiah in the way you approach dilemmas and solve problems?
6. Jamie says that after her mother’s death, she lost a certain innocence --- “the belief that things happen for a purpose, that the world was generally just, that bad things don’t happen to good people.” Do you agree with what Jamie used to believe? Why or why not?
7. Both David and Stacie were profoundly impacted by their visit to Professor Kumari’s church in India, though it takes David a little longer to believe God will forgive him after all he’s done. Is any sin too big for God to forgive? If we believe that God’s grace is sufficient, what holds us back from fully surrendering to him?
8. How important is our right to privacy? Do you think the government ever has the right to invade that privacy if doing so will protect lives? Was what they did to Jamie justified?
9. In chapter 85, Wellington feels overwhelmed by the responsibility that is placed in his hands, comparing his situation to several biblical greats like Paul and David. Is Wellington right that the algorithm needs to be kept under wraps? Are there some tools that are too powerful for humans to handle responsibly? What should we do with such situations?
10. What are the ethical difficulties that come with buying, selling, and using a powerful tool like the Abacus Algorithm? What if it were something more altruistic, like the cure for cancer or a way to end world hunger? Should such advances be shared with everyone, or is it okay to sell them only to the highest bidder?
11. How did you feel about David and Stacie’s final plan regarding the algorithm? How would Professor Kumari would have felt about it?
12. What did you think about the deal Jamie cuts at the end of Part IV? Did she compromise her beliefs?
13. Do you think Jamie will make a good prosecutor? Why or why not?
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