Reading Guide for Cursed by S.J Harper

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INTRODUCTION

Meet FBI Agents Emma Monroe and Zack Armstrong.

She’s cursed. He’s damned. Together, they make one hell of a team.

Emma Monroe is a Siren, cursed by the gods and bound to earth to atone for an ancient failure. She’s had many names and many lives, but only one mission: redemption. Now that she works missing persons cases for the FBI, it could be just a rescue away. Unless her new partner leads her astray.

Special Agent Zack Armstrong just transferred into the San Diego Field Office. He’s a werewolf, doing his best to beat back the demons from his dark and dangerous past. As a former Black Ops sniper, he’s taken enough lives. Now he’s doing penance by saving them.

Emma and Zack’s very first case draws them deep into the realm of the paranormal, and forces them to use their own supernatural abilities. But that leaves each of them vulnerable, and there are lines partners should not cross. As secrets are revealed and more women go missing, one thing becomes clear: as they race to save the victims, Emma and Zack risk losing themselves.

FIRST IN A NEW SERIES!

 

ABOUT SJ HARPER

 

Sommersby_Stein_600S.J. Harper is the pen name for the writing team of Samantha Sommersby and Jeanne C. Stein, two friends who met at Comic-Con in San Diego and quickly bonded over a mutual love of good wine, edgy urban fantasy, and everything Joss Whedon.

Samantha Sommersby left what she used to call her “real life” day job in the psychiatric field to pursue writing full-time in 2007. She is the author of more than ten novels and novellas including the critically acclaimed Forbidden series. She currently lives with her husband and cocker spaniel, Buck, in a century old Southern California Craftsman. Sam happily spends her days immersed in a world where vampires, werewolves, and demons are real, myths and legends are revered, magic is possible, and love still conquers all.

Jeanne Stein is the national bestselling author of The Anna Strong Vampire Chronicles. She also has numerous short story credits, including most recently the novella, Blood Debt, from the New York Times bestselling anthology, Hexed. Her series has been picked up in three foreign countries and her short stories published in collections here in the US and the UK. She lives in Denver, CO where she finds gardening a challenge more daunting than navigating the world of mythical creatures.

 

AN INTERVIEW WITH SAM AND JEANNE

 

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. Justified or not, Demeter blames the sirens for the capture and rape of Persephone. How is this an echo of  society’s propensity to hold women responsible for the exploitation of women?
  2. From ancient times, young men have sought to become accepted, valued, and to prove their manhood by becoming warriors. Yet modern sensibilities are more ambivalent about war, naked aggression, and the role young men should play in our society. Discuss Zack’s exploitation.
  3. Discuss the mystique of the anti-hero. In what ways is Kallistos a foil for Zack?
  4. Talk about the parallel drawn between substance abuse and the inability of some vampires to control their bloodlust. One key difference is that vampires can’t abstain from drinking blood. What other similarities and differences can you identify?
  5. How do you feel about having blood supplied through Emporiums: Is it a massive misuse of humans for profit? Or a brilliant solution to ensure a consistent, safe, and non-violent food source for vampires?
  6. Who are the villains and who are the victims in terms of the organ-harvesting plot?