Quiz The House of Cross James Patterson

The House of Cross Quiz: Test Your Knowledge

Plot and Sequence Questions (1–8)

  1. What ambiguous event opens the prologue?
    A) Justice Blevins is attacked by a jogger
    B) Justice Blevins suffers a possible transient ischemic attack
    C) Justice Blevins resigns from the Supreme Court
    D) Justice Blevins meets with President-Elect Winter

  2. Who is the first federal judge murdered in the novel?
    A) Justice Margaret Blevins
    B) Judge Bitgaram Pak
    C) Judge Emma Franklin
    D) Professor Nathan Carver

  3. What key discovery does Bree make at Ryan Malcomb’s private funeral in Ohio?
    A) That Malcomb had been cremated
    B) That Malcomb has a twin brother
    C) That the funeral is a decoy
    D) That Malcomb’s mother is still alive

  4. How does Alex Cross manage to leave a traceable signal while surrendering to Maestro in the wilderness?
    A) He drops his cell phone in the snow
    B) He activates Willow’s Jiobit GPS fob and hides it on a tree
    C) He sends a text to Mahoney
    D) He leaves the snowmobile’s headlights on

  5. Which character kills Justice Mayweather in the hospital?
    A) Ryan Malcomb
    B) Lucas Bean
    C) Katrina White (the Sparrow)
    D) Professor Willa Whelan

  6. How does the final confrontation with Katrina White end?
    A) She is shot by Bree
    B) She is arrested by RCMP
    C) She commits suicide by biting a triggering device
    D) She escapes into the woods

  7. What is Ryan Malcomb’s final fate as described in Chapter 109?
    A) He is captured by the FBI
    B) He dies in the mine explosion
    C) He calls Alex Cross, claims he is dying, and is never found
    D) He surrenders and testifies before Congress

  8. What seemingly minor item links Lucille Danvers to a visit from Ryan Malcomb?
    A) A jar of huckleberry jam
    B) A handmade quilt
    C) A fishing rod
    D) A bag of coffee beans

Character Motivation Questions (9–13)

  1. Why does Bree Stone decide to travel alone to Ohio for Malcomb’s funeral?
    A) She wants to confront Steven Vance
    B) She hopes to speak with Malcomb’s wealthy mother and investigate the missing twin
    C) She is ordered by the FBI to attend
    D) She plans to steal evidence from the funeral home

  2. Why does Ryan Malcomb kidnap Cross, Stone, and Sampson instead of killing them immediately?
    A) He wants to use them as hostages
    B) He wants their help fixing what he sees as a broken society
    C) He plans to put them on trial in his underground base
    D) He intends to trade them for his brother Sean

  3. What motivates Professor Willa Whelan’s animosity toward Judge Emma Franklin?
    A) Franklin stole a Supreme Court clerkship from her
    B) Franklin had an affair with Whelan’s husband
    C) Whelan blames Franklin for a bad grade in law school
    D) Franklin testified against Whelan in a tenure dispute

  4. Why is John Sampson personally driven to investigate Maestro?
    A) He was once a member of the group
    B) His wife Billie was murdered by Maestro
    C) He wants to prove himself to Bree
    D) He is undercover for the FBI

  5. What drives Katrina White (the Sparrow) to continue assassinating judges even after her invisibility filter is found?
    A) A personal grudge against the Supreme Court
    B) Payment from a foreign government
    C) Loyalty to Ryan Malcomb and the Maestro cause
    D) A delusion that the judges are responsible for her family’s death

Theme and Symbol Questions (14–17)

  1. What does Willow Sampson’s Jiobit fob symbolize throughout the story?
    A) The danger of modern surveillance
    B) The bond between father and daughter and the hope of rescue
    C) The wealth of the Sampson family
    D) The weakness of GPS technology

  2. How does the novel explore the idea of being “invisible”?
    A) Through a character who can become invisible
    B) Through Paladin’s algorithms that erase people from databases
    C) Through a secret underground city
    D) Through the use of cloaking devices on helicopters

  3. What does Malcomb’s escape by helicopter in the blue moonlight represent?
    A) The triumph of justice
    B) The arrogance and elusive power of the wealthy
    C) The failure of modern technology
    D) The beginning of a sequel

  4. What does Malcomb mean when he says the “balance of power in the judiciary” will change cataclysmically?
    A) He plans to bomb the Supreme Court building
    B) He has manipulated the nominee list to shift the Court’s ideology
    C) He intends to appoint new justices himself
    D) He wants to abolish the Supreme Court

Synthesis Questions (18–20)

  1. How does the novel contrast vigilante justice (Maestro) with the legal system represented by Alex Cross and the FBI?
    (Short answer – 2–3 sentences)

  2. Compare and contrast the motivations of Ryan Malcomb and his twin brother Sean. How do their differences affect the plot?
    (Short answer – 3–4 sentences)

  3. What is the narrative purpose of the prologue featuring Justice Margaret Blevins’s health scare?
    (Short answer – 2–3 sentences)

Answer Key

  1. B – The prologue describes her dizziness, nausea, and symptoms consistent with a TIA.
  2. C – Judge Emma Franklin is shot outside her home in Chapter 2.
  3. B – Bree learns from Theresa May Alcott that Ryan had a twin brother named Sean.
  4. B – Alex hides Willow’s Jiobit on a tree while pretending to disarm (Chapter 66).
  5. C – Katrina White infiltrates the hospital and uses a sonic weapon to kill Mayweather (Chapter 102).
  6. C – She places a triggering device in her mouth and bites down when surrounded (Chapter 108).
  7. C – Malcomb calls Alex on Valentine’s Day, says he is dying, and remains at large (Chapter 109).
  8. A – Lucille Danvers remembers Ryan buying all her huckleberry jam on a recent visit (Chapter 45).
  9. B – Bree wants to interview Theresa May Alcott and follow the clue about the twin.
  10. B – Malcomb believes society is broken and wants their help to “fix” it (Chapter 70).
  11. A – Whelan resents that Franklin became editor of the Harvard Law Review and a Supreme Court clerk while she was passed over.
  12. B – Sampson’s wife Billie was killed by Maestro, giving him a personal vendetta.
  13. C – Even when Malcomb tells her to abort, she insists on completing the mission for him and Maestro.
  14. B – The fob represents family love and provides the clue that leads to their rescue.
  15. B – Paladin’s exclusionary filters make people undetectable; the characters talk about being “invisible” to satellites and databases.
  16. B – Malcomb’s escape shows his wealth and ability to evade capture, reinforcing his arrogance.
  17. B – Malcomb explains that the killings of potential Supreme Court nominees were designed to reshape the Court for decades.
  18. Answer: The novel shows Maestro using extrajudicial killings and algorithms to “fix” corruption, while Alex Cross and the FBI rely on investigation, warrants, and due process. The story ultimately questions whether ends justify means, as Malcomb’s methods mirror the evil he claims to fight.
  19. Answer: Ryan Malcomb is a calculating visionary who believes in a controlled, algorithmic restoration of order. Sean Malcomb (Ian Duncanson) is mentally unstable and motivated by cruelty—he taunted Sampson after Billie’s death and helped write the algorithms but later died in Ryan’s vehicle. Ryan used Sean as an alias and a fall guy, while Sean’s violent impulses created moral chaos that Ryan tries to distance himself from.
  20. Answer: The prologue establishes Blevins as a potential target and creates dramatic irony—readers know something is wrong with her health before she does. It also introduces themes of denial and vulnerability, setting the stage for her later near-assassination and connecting her story to the larger Maestro plot against Supreme Court justices.