The Waiting by Michael Connelly: 20-Question Book Quiz

About This Quiz

This 20-question quiz spans the entire sixth Renée Ballard novel, The Waiting (2024). Questions cover plot and sequence (8), character motivation (5), theme and symbol (4), and higher-level synthesis (3). The answer key with explanations follows the quiz.

Quiz Questions

Plot and Sequence (1–8)

1. (Multiple choice) What items are stolen from Renée Ballard's car at Staircases Beach in Chapter 1?

A) Her LAPD badge, gun, phone, and wallet
B) Her laptop, surfboard, and car keys
C) Her badge, handcuffs, and a case file
D) Her phone, a bag of evidence, and her backup handgun

2. (Short answer) Which app do the beach burglars use to target surfers?

3. (Multiple choice) What is the name of the fence who buys the stolen police badge and gun from the Delseys?

A) The Snake
B) The Lion
C) The Wolf
D) The Bear

4. (Multiple choice) Where does Ballard hide when she secretly enters the badge buyer's van?

A) Inside a sleeping bag
B) Behind a pile of bedding
C) In a hidden compartment
D) Under a tarp in the cargo area

5. (Short answer) What event do the two men in the van plan to attack on Presidents' Day?

6. (Multiple choice) What type of weapon does the badge buyer want to purchase from Harry Bosch during the FBI sting?

A) AR-15 rifles
B) SIG Sauer MPX mini machine guns
C) Glock pistols
D) Explosive vests

7. (Multiple choice) In Chapter 54, how does Ballard disarm Andrew Bennett at his open house?

A) She pretends to be a home buyer and removes the bullets from his gun
B) She calls in a SWAT team to surround the house
C) She tasers him from behind
D) She tricks him into locking himself outside

8. (Short answer) What is the name of the volunteer detective who is murdered by the Pillowcase Rapist in Chapter 51?

Character Motivation (9–13)

9. (Multiple choice) Why does Ballard initially refuse to report the theft of her badge and gun to her superiors?

A) She wants to solve the theft herself to prove her competence
B) She fears she will lose her job
C) She plans to use the stolen items as bait
D) She trusts the thief to return them

10. (Short answer) In Chapter 35, Dr. Elingburg suggests that Ballard’s insomnia may stem from what unresolved issue with her mother?

11. (Multiple choice) Why does Ballard confront Judge Purcell directly about Nicholas instead of waiting for official DNA results?

A) She wants to embarrass the judge publicly
B) She believes the judge is a flight risk
C) She feels she has no other option because the DNA evidence did not match the judge
D) She wants to offer the judge a plea deal

12. (Multiple choice) Why does Harry Bosch agree to pose as a gun seller in the FBI sting operation?

A) He needs the money
B) He wants to recover Ballard’s stolen badge and prevent a mass shooting
C) He is forced by the FBI
D) He enjoys undercover work

13. (Short answer) What does Ballard realize about her own mother when she learns from Dan Farley that her mother is alive in Maui?

Theme and Symbol (14–17)

14. (Multiple choice) In The Waiting, the ocean and surfing primarily symbolize what for Ballard?

A) A dangerous obsession
B) A way to compete with other surfers
C) A form of salvation and mental escape
D) A place to hide from her responsibilities

15. (Multiple choice) The “Dig Down” motto that Ballard uses with her team is taken from:

A) A poem by a cold-case victim
B) A Muse song
C) A speech by her mentor
D) A line from the LAPD manual

16. (Short answer) Dr. Elingburg introduces which psychological concept to describe how Ballard absorbs the trauma of the victims she investigates?

17. (Multiple choice) The title The Waiting resonates most strongly with which aspect of the novel?

A) The long hours Ballard spends on surveillance
B) The emotional paralysis Ballard feels about searching for her mother
C) The time it takes for DNA results to come back
D) The retired cold cases waiting to be solved

Synthesis (18–20)

18. (Multiple choice) How do the two main investigations—the Pillowcase Rapist case and the Black Dahlia case—connect thematically in the novel?

A) Both involve the same suspect
B) Both rely on modern forensic techniques to bring justice to long-ignored victims
C) Both are solved by the FBI
D) Both involve evidence hidden at Echo Park Storage

19. (Short answer) The novel ends with Ballard traveling to Maui to search for her mother. How does this personal mission mirror her professional work in cold cases?

20. (Multiple choice) Which ethical boundary does Ballard cross after Colleen Hatteras’s murder?

A) She withholds evidence from the district attorney
B) She asks Anders Persson to illegally hack Hatteras’s phone records
C) She destroys evidence that could implicate herself
D) She leaks case details to a reporter

Answer Key and Explanations

A) In Chapter 1, Ballard’s car is burglarized while she surfs; her badge, gun, phone, and wallet are stolen. It is the inciting incident.
Surf’s Up app. Ballard learns from Seth Dawson that the app was used to find the best surf breaks and target vehicles accordingly (Chapter 8).
B) The Lion. Lionel “the Lion” is the fence at the Eldorado Hotel to whom Bobby Delsey sells stolen goods (Chapter 12).
B) Behind a pile of bedding. In Chapter 16, Ballard hides on the mattress inside the van after finding the weapons cache, then must stay still when the men return.
Malibu pier. Overheard in the van conversation in Chapter 17: the two men plan an attack on Malibu pier during Presidents’ Day.
B) SIG Sauer MPX mini machine guns. Dehaven wants to buy four of these weapons from Bosch during the FBI sting (Chapter 17).
A) Ballard poses as a home buyer, finds Bennett’s briefcase, removes the bullets from his Glock, then arrests him (Chapter 55).
Colleen Hatteras. Hatteras is strangled with a computer cord in her closet after investigating Andrew Bennett (Chapter 51).
B) Ballard admits to Dr. Elingburg that she hasn’t reported the loss because she fears losing her job (Chapter 5).
Abandonment resentment / her mother not coming for her after her father’s death. Ballard feels her mother abandoned her, and this unresolved anger contributes to her insomnia (Chapter 35).
C) The DNA from the judge and his wife does not match Nicholas, forcing Ballard to confront the judge to find the biological father (Chapter 26).
B) Bosch tells Ballard he wants to help recover her badge and stop Dehaven’s planned mass shooting; he believes it goes beyond just the badge (Chapter 19).
That she had assumed her mother died in the Maui wildfires and is stunned to learn she is alive; she feels emotional numbness and a need to reconnect. This is a turning point in Ballard’s personal arc (Chapter 50).
C) Ballard tells Dr. Elingburg that the water is her salvation; surfing provides mental clarity and escape from trauma (Chapter 5).
B) Ballard ends team meetings with “Dig Down,” taken from a Muse song (Chapter 3).
Vicarious trauma. Dr. Elingburg explains that Ballard takes on the trauma of others, which masks her own (Chapter 5).
B) The title reflects Ballard’s own emotional paralysis—she knows she should search for her mother but remains in a state of waiting, as she discussed with her therapist (Chapter 35 and epilogue).
B) Both cases are solved using modern forensic methods (DNA genealogy/IGG and ear-identification analysis) to bring closure to decades-old crimes. The novel highlights the persistence of the Open-Unsolved Unit.
Ballard treats her mother’s disappearance like a cold case—she has been “waiting” for someone else to solve it, just as families of cold-case victims wait for answers. In the epilogue, she finally decides to take action herself, mirroring the “dig down” philosophy she applies to her work.
B) After Hatteras’s death, Ballard asks Anders to illegally hack Hatteras’s phone records because she believes the official investigation will be too slow (Chapter 52).

Return to the book page | Read questions and answers | Read the ending explained