The Pangaea Solution

A cryptic note sends former FBI agent turned wealth advisor David Blum on a journey to discover the truth behind his father’s recent death.

All clues point to Otto Feldmann, a world-renowned professor of genetics. Further digging leads Blum to Kay Westfield, a charming bank executive who once witnessed a bizarre explosion on Feldmann’s experimental farm.

As Blum and Westfield begin to unravel the labyrinth of funding behind the professor’s research center, a picture emerges of a monstrous plot by a shadowy international think tank to infect millions of people.

Meanwhile, Feldmann’s assistant, a math prodigy with past ties to a violent, white-supremacist movement is busy optimizing the virus’s distribution—fulfilling the Pangaea Solution.

Book club questions for The Pangaea Solution by Charles Jacobs

Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.

Religion and morality are key topics throughout The Pangaea Solution. How do they help to define the lead characters? What do you think this says about the author’s view on the relationship between religion and morality?

David Blum is different from Kay Westfield, and Victor Lawson is different from Otto Feldmann. How do each of the two pairs approach their differences, and how does that affect whether the characters ultimately fail or succeed in their main goals?

Are Feldmann and Lawson evil, or just misguided? Do you think the difference matters in the end?

Did reading this novel this change your understanding or opinion of religious extremism? How so?

Jason tells Blum that even well-meaning governments can’t be relied on to do the right things. Do you agree? Why or why not?

How does the setting (a college town in the Midwest) shape the story? Would things have been different if Feldmann were a professor at Cal Tech or Columbia? Why or why not?

If David Blum hadn’t learned the truth about his mother’s death and the impact it had on his father, do you believe he would have still pushed forward with his personal investigation, or would he have turned it all over to the FBI? Why do you think so?

For those with some calculus knowledge, how does the equation on the front cover summarize the key aspects of Operation Pangaea?

If Feldmann and the Global Future Alliance had succeeded in their plan, how do you think it would have worked out for humanity? What lasting changes could you predict about the way people would live and interact with one another—locally and internationally?

The book is titled The Pangaea Solution—the origins of the modern earth. Can we “go back to the beginning” to solve any of the world’s current problems? If so, which ones? Which ones can only be addressed by moving forward?

The Pangaea Solution Book Club Questions PDF

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