Quiz With a Vengeance Riley Sager

With a Vengeance Quiz – 20 Questions to Test Your Knowledge

This quiz covers the entire novel With a Vengeance by Riley Sager. Use the book overview or the questions and answers page if you need a refresher. For a deeper dive into the ending, see the ending explained.

Part 1: Plot and Sequence (8 Questions)

Questions 1–4 are multiple-choice; questions 5–8 are short-answer.

  1. What is Anna Matheson’s primary goal when she boards the Philadelphia Phoenix?

    • A) To run away from her past
    • B) To lure six people who destroyed her family onto the train and bring them to justice
    • C) To meet Dante Wentworth for a romantic reunion
    • D) To sabotage the train’s engine

  2. Who appears to be the first victim of poisoning on the train?

    • A) Edith Gerhardt
    • B) Judd Dodge
    • C) Herb Pulaski
    • D) Jack Lapsford

  3. How does Anna initially plan to expose the conspirators?

    • A) By killing them one by one
    • B) By handing evidence to the FBI in Chicago
    • C) By making them confess on the train
    • D) By tricking them into crashing the train

  4. What does Reggie Davis reveal about his true identity in Chapter Twenty‑Two?

    • A) He is a former train engineer
    • B) He is an FBI special agent
    • C) He is Anna’s long‑lost brother
    • D) He is a journalist investigating the conspiracy

  5. Short answer: Who is the actual killer of Edith Gerhardt?
    (based on the later reveal)
    Your answer: _______________

  6. Short answer: How does Judd Dodge fake his death?
    Your answer: _______________

  7. Short answer: What happens to Seamus Callahan at the end of the novel?
    Your answer: _______________

  8. Short answer: Which character turns out to be the mastermind behind the train explosion that killed Anna’s brother?
    Your answer: _______________

Part 2: Character Motivation (5 Questions)

  1. Why does Anna ultimately decide to shoot Kenneth Wentworth?

    • A) She is forced to by Reggie
    • B) She succumbs to vengeance after Seamus’s death and Reggie’s manipulation
    • C) She wants to protect Dante
    • D) She believes Wentworth will escape otherwise

  2. Why does Seamus Callahan agree to help Anna?

    • A) He is hired by Aunt Retta
    • B) His brother died in the train explosion and he seeks vengeance
    • C) He is in love with Anna
    • D) He wants the reward money

  3. Why does Sally Lawrence (Sal) betray Anna’s father?

    • A) She is jealous of the Matheson family
    • B) She is blackmailed by Kenneth Wentworth with photographs of a lesbian affair
    • C) She needs money to pay debts
    • D) She wants revenge for a personal slight

  4. Why does Dante Wentworth send the evidence to Aunt Retta?

    • A) He wants to destroy his father
    • B) He hopes to win Anna’s love
    • C) He investigated his father and discovered the truth about the sabotage
    • D) He is blackmailed by Anna

  5. Why does Reggie Davis become a killer on the train?

    • A) He is secretly working for Kenneth Wentworth
    • B) His father died in the same train accident and he wants revenge against all the conspirators
    • C) He is insane
    • D) He wants to steal the evidence

Part 3: Theme and Symbol (4 Questions)

  1. What does the snowstorm outside the train most clearly symbolize?

    • A) The characters’ hope for a fresh start
    • B) Isolation, confinement, and the inability to escape the past
    • C) The purity of Anna’s mission
    • D) The approaching help

  2. What does the “Grauer Geist” (Gray Ghost) represent for Edith Gerhardt?

    • A) A harmless childhood memory
    • B) The inescapable guilt and shame of her past actions
    • C) A friendly spirit that guides her
    • D) The train itself

  3. How does the train function as a symbol throughout the novel?

    • A) As a symbol of progress and technology
    • B) As a trap, a setting for reckoning, and a microcosm of society
    • C) As a means of escape for the conspirators
    • D) As a religious metaphor

  4. What does Anna’s father’s lapel pin represent?

    • A) Her mother’s love
    • B) Family legacy, her connection to her father, and a token of her mission
    • C) A clue to the conspiracy
    • D) A romantic gift from Dante

Part 4: Synthesis (3 Questions)

Answer each in 2–4 sentences.

  1. How does the theme of “justice versus vengeance” evolve over the course of the novel?
    Your answer: _______________

  2. In what ways does the novel use deception and disguise to drive the plot?
    Your answer: _______________

  3. What is the author’s message about the cost of revenge?
    Your answer: _______________

Answer Key

Part 1: Plot and Sequence

  1. B – Anna lures six people aboard the Philadelphia Phoenix to bring them to justice for destroying her family (Chapters 1, 8–9).
  2. B – Judd Dodge collapses and foams at the mouth after drinking, though it is later revealed he faked his death (Chapter 12, 34).
  3. B – She plans to deliver the conspirators and her evidence to the FBI in Chicago (Chapter 9).
  4. B – Reggie reveals he is an FBI special agent assigned to ensure the six suspects reach Chicago (Chapter 23).
  5. Reggie Davis – He strangles Edith to further his own revenge plan (Chapter 48).
  6. He uses rat poison hidden in his pocket watch and sleight of hand to simulate poisoning; red food coloring and vinegar create the bloody foam (Chapter 34).
  7. He jumps off the train trestle bridge to his death (Chapter 44).
  8. Kenneth Wentworth – He orchestrated the sabotage out of revenge after Anna’s mother left him (Chapters 28, 53).

Part 2: Character Motivation

  1. B – After Seamus’s death and Reggie’s urging, Anna gives in to vengeance and shoots Kenneth Wentworth (Chapter 53).
  2. B – Seamus’s brother Sean died in the explosion; he joins Anna to avenge him (Chapter 16).
  3. B – Kenneth Wentworth blackmailed Sally with photos of a lesbian encounter (Chapter 30).
  4. C – Dante investigated his father for years and found proof of his guilt; he sent the evidence to Aunt Retta (Chapter 28).
  5. B – Reggie’s father died in the same accident caused by the conspirators; he infiltrated the train to kill them all (Chapter 48).

Part 3: Theme and Symbol

  1. B – The snowstorm isolates the passengers and reflects their trapped psychological states (Chapters 2, 21, 51).
  2. B – The Gray Ghost legend haunts Edith, symbolising her Nazi past and the guilt she cannot escape (Chapters 5, 21).
  3. B – The train becomes a prison, a stage for confrontation, and a mirror of class divisions among the characters (Chapters 2, 8, 11).
  4. B – The pin connects Anna to her father’s legacy and is used as evidence against her, then returned by Seamus (Chapters 1, 32, 44).

Part 4: Synthesis

  1. Answer – Anna begins determined to deliver the conspirators to public justice, but after Seamus’s death and Reggie’s manipulation, she shoots Kenneth Wentworth, embracing vengeance. The novel suggests the line between justice and revenge blurs under extreme trauma.
  2. Answer – Characters constantly disguise themselves: Anna hides a knife and her true intent; Reggie poses as a salesman; Judd fakes his death; Sal changes her name and appearance; Dante takes his father’s place. Each deception escalates tension and misdirection.
  3. Answer – Revenge destroys the avenger as much as the target. Anna loses Seamus, her moral clarity, and ultimately becomes a killer. The final chapters show her alone, her mission complete but at immense personal cost.