READING  GROUP  GUIDE  About  the  book:   She  helps  people  put  their  demons  to  rest.      But  she  has  a  few  of  her  own…    In  the  lockdown  ward  of  a  psychiatric  hospital,  Dr.  Nadine  Lavoie  is  in  her  element.  She  has  the  tools  to  help  people,  and  she  has  the  desire—healing  broken  families  is  what  she  lives  for.  But  Nadine  doesn’t  want  to  look  too  closely  at  her  own  past  because  there  are  whole  chunks  of  her  life  that  are  black  holes.  It  takes  all  her  willpower  to  tamp  down  her  recurrent  claustrophobia,  and  her  daughter,  Lisa,  is  a  runaway  who  has  been  on  the  streets  for  seven  years.    When  a  distraught  woman,  Heather  Simeon,  is  brought  into  the  Psychiatric  Intensive  Care  Unit  after  a  suicide  attempt,  Nadine  gently  coaxes  her  story  out  of  her—and  learns  of  some  troubling  parallels  with  her  own  life.  Digging  deeper,  Nadine  is  forced  to  confront  her  traumatic  childhood,  and  the  damage  that  began  when  she  and  her  brother  were  brought  by  their  mother  to  a  remote  commune  on  Vancouver  Island.  What  happened  to  Nadine?  Why  was  their  family  destroyed?  And  why  does  the  name  Aaron  Quinn,  the  group’s  leader,  bring  complex  feelings  of  terror  to  Nadine  even  today?    And  then,  the  unthinkable  happens,  and  Nadine  realizes  that  danger  is  closer  to  home  than  she  ever  imagined.  She  has  no  choice  but  to  face  what  terrifies  her  the  most…and  fight  back,  in  Always  Watching  by  Chevy  Stevens.    Sometimes  you  can  leave  the  past,  but  you  can  never  escape.      "This  was  one  tough  book  to  put  down…Highly  recommended."  —Suspense  Magazine      

Always  Watching  Chevy  Stevens  

 

ISBN:  978-­‐1-­‐250-­‐04900-­‐1*  Paperback  *  St.  Martin’s  Press  *  May  2014  

Discussion  Questions  

1. Nadine  says,  in  regards  to  Aaron  Quinn,  “But  back  then,  I  believed.    We  all  believed.”    What  about  Aaron  Quinn’s  personality  and  the  circumstances  of  their  situation  made  it  possible  for  people  who  lived  at  the  commune,  specifically  Nadine  and  her  brother  and  mother,  to  believe  in  Aaron  Quinn?  

2. What  are  some  of  the  manipulative  techniques,  such  as  “love  bombing”  and  “alertness-­‐stopping”,  that  Aaron  Quinn  used?  

3.  As  a  psychiatrist  Nadine  is  able  to  examine  her  own  feelings  from  a  clinical  perspective.    What  are  some  instances  where  you  see  her  do  this?    How  does  Nadine’s  analysis  of  her  own  feelings  compare  and  relate  to  her  analysis  of  Heather?  

4. How  does  Nadine’s  training  as  a  psychiatrist  influence  her  interactions  with  Lisa?  

5. Heather  appeared  to  be  doing  better  right  before  her  suicide.    As  a  reader  were  you  shocked  by  the  turn  of  events,  or  did  you  anticipate  it?    What  had  you  expected  to  happen  with  Heather?  

6. Nadine  describes  how  an  instance  of  using  the  backhoe  at  her  brother’s  business  after  Paul’s  death  gave  her  a  sense  of  peace.    Has  there  been  an  instance  in  your  own  life  when  an  unexpected  and/or  seemingly  random  activity  or  place  gave  you  a  sense  of  peace  during  a  difficult  time?  

7. Were  you  surprised  by  Robbie’s  initial  reaction  when  Nadine  told  him  that  Aaron  Quinn  had  abused  her?    How  did  you  expect  him  to  react?  

8. Robbie  tells  Nadine  that  while  he  was  unconscious  in  the  ambulance  he  could  see  her  as  if  he  was  above  her,  and  he  felt  peaceful  and  calm.    Nadine  is  skeptical.    What  do  you  think?  

9. On  page  314  Nadine  says,  “I  saw  now  that  his  fear  of  rejection  had  shaped  everything  he’d  done  all  along…”  Explain  what  she  means  by  this.  

10. What  significance  does  Glenda  the  stray  cat  have  throughout  the  story?  

11. The  reader  discovers  what  happened  in  the  past  at  the  common  along  with  Nadine  as  she  recovers  her  memories  throughout  the  novel.    Were  any  revelations  surprising  to  you?    Which  ones?    Were  there  others  that  you  had  suspected?  

12. The  months  that  Nadine  and  Robbie  spent  at  the  commune  during  their  youth  shaped  the  way  they  live  their  lives  as  adults.    In  what  ways  do  you  see  the  impact  of  their  experience  on  the  choices  they  make  and  the  way  they  react  to  events  and  people?  

About  the  author:  

CHEVY  STEVENS  grew  up  on  a  ranch  on  Vancouver  Island  and  still  lives  on  the  island  with  her  husband  and  daughter.  When  she’s  not  working  on  her  next  book,  she’s  camping  and  canoeing  with  her  family  in  the  local  mountains.  Her  debut  novel,  Still  Missing,  won  the  International  Thriller  Writers  Award  for  Best  First  Novel.    

 

 

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