1. There is a scene toward the beginning of the novel where the director is warned about salacious footage that was shot on a closed set. Later, we learn of some details about filming on closed sets such as occurred in Eyes Wide Shut. Do you believe that stars are capable of controlling their emotions in scenes of this nature? Do these types of scenes lead to celebrity divorces? If so, isn’t the filming of these scenes something any spouse or significant other must accept as “normal course of business?” How would you feel if you found out your actor or actress spouse or significant other was engaging in lascivious behavior, but strictly on a professional basis? Could your relationship survive such a revelation?
2. Do you believe that DeLauro was straight with Cal about DeLauro’s objectives in the investigation? What hidden agendas might have defined DeLauro’s true motives? What was your impression of DeLauro after his initial meeting with Cal?
3. In your opinion, is the U.S. movie industry going to become the global behemoth that DeLauro seems to be pushing for? Why or why not? If it doesn’t, will piracy be the cause or something else? What are the other major challenges facing the movie industry?
4. If the film outtakes were composed using CG, what will prevent anyone from using CG to customize a film to their own liking? Are intellectual property protections up to this challenge? If not, what would you want to see develop in the way of new protections if you headed up a major studio?
5. Cal’s relationship with Sasha evokes some moral dilemmas that aren’t easily resolved. Do you think Cal contributed to the moral dilemmas by getting too close to Sasha? If you were in the situation that Cal found himself in, how would you have dealt with Sasha and kept her “at arm’s length?” Why would you want to?
6. Sasha and Marcie represent in many respects an ideal, but with their beauty, career success and financial means come some baggage. Are successful, wealthy and intelligent women a threat to men? Do you believe “superwomen” like Sasha and Marcie are capable of “normal” (whatever those are) relationships with men? If Cal had been single, do you think a relationship between him and Sasha could have worked? What would be the obstacles to such a relationship lasting more than a few months?
7. The city inhabited by Reggie is the same as Cal’s, but their backgrounds and experiences are worlds apart. How would you characterize their differences? If Cal and Reggie didn’t work together, do you think they would be friends, or do they lack sufficient commonalities to create a bond?
8. In contrast to rappers like Red Doc, Ice-T has rapped that African-Americans should be encouraged to leave the ghetto. How do you think Reggie would react to that? Do you think Reggie’s already done so?
9. One of the criticisms leveled against Barak Obama is that he is not “representative” of the African-American experience in America. How do you think Reggie is representative of that experience, and how does his experience differ from that of most African-Americans? How does Reggie’s mixed heritage play into this, if at all?
10. Ron Shapiro becomes an instant suspect when events transpire toward the end of the novel. Is the presumption of innocence just a fantasy when a family member is a possible suspect in a crime? When you read about a murder, how much are you influenced by the well-known premise that most murders are committed by someone who knows the victim, often quite well?
11. The use of dap-ma in smaller Macau casinos appears to offer a prime opportunity for the Triads to penetrate legitimate businesses. What other methods might the Triads use to manage an entry into the gaming business? Do you believe that U.S. gaming businesses are immune to efforts to subvert their operations for criminal purposes? Are their certain aspects of U.S. and Chinese societies that may make criminal syndicates more or less able to operate in those societies?
12. The race to discover the identity of 01,059,969 shows how cybertracking, Trojan horses and similar programs pose very real risks to privacy in today’s cyber-environment. How familiar are you with what search engines and others know of your browsing habits? Are you comfortable with the degree to which search engines and others can track your web behaviors? Where is the right balance between developing marketing information and privacy? Is there even such a thing as privacy anymore?

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