Deathwatch by Robb White
Chapter Summaries
Chapter 1
 Ben is hired as a guide for an executive named Madec who has a permit to hunt big horn sheep in
the desert.
 Madec’s hunting style is to kill anything that moves and make sure he gets a perfect prize.
 Ben is a college student trying to raise money for school. He does not approve of Madec and his
hunting style, but needs the money.
 Madec shoots what he thinks is a big horn sheep, even though Ben told him to be sure that is what
he saw on the butte.
Chapter 2
 Madec checks to see what he actually shot on the butte and tries to pass it off as a missed shot at
first, but then changes to a ewe when Ben challenges him.
 Ben checks on the sheep himself and finds out that Madec actually shot an old prospector who was
on the cliff.
 Madec plays down the killing of the old man because he thinks the old man is someone no one
would miss.
 Ben wants to take the man back to the authorities, but Madec doesn’t want to bother. Madec
doesn’t want to take the time to deal with the police and a trial.
 Madec tries to bargain with Ben to keep the old man’s death a secret, but Ben will not concede.
Ben does not see Madec as a threat at this time.
 Ben gives Madec his gun when he climbs down the cliff to get a sheet to wrap up the old man.
Chapter 3
 Madec is afraid of a jury trial because he thinks the small town jury will be prejudiced against him
since he is successful.
 Ben was too preoccupied with getting the old man down from the cliff that he failed to protect
himself from what Madec would do.
 Madec makes Ben strip down, give up his belongings, and go out without food or water.
 Madec is sure no one in town will believe him because his story will sound crazy.
 Ben thinks Madec makes several mistakes which include leaving the old man’s body with his
clothes on, thinking that Ben had started across the desert instead of going to the old man’s camp;
leaving the water can in the prospector’s camp.
 Ben soon realized that Madec doesn’t make any mistakes when he finds the old man stripped of
clothing and removed all valuables from the camp.
 Madec shoots Ben in the toe which makes him realize that Madec is a threat.
Chapter 4
 Madec appears to be one step ahead of Ben in this chapter.
 Ben has no food, no clothes, no shelter, and no weapons. Madec stops any attempt at getting
supplies by shooting at Ben or taking the supplies first.
 Ben finds the old man’s camp but Madec has already taken any thing that would benefit Ben. For
example, Madec punctures the watering can so Ben won’t be able to get water.
 At the camp, Ben does find a hidden tin box that Madec misses. The tin box contains a tobacco
pouch with buckshot, a slingshot, and a picture.
 Ben only takes what he needs to survive and leaves everything else.
Deathwatch by Robb White
Chapter Summeries
Chapter 5
 Madec sits in Ben’s jeep with all of Ben’s supplies with a clear vantage point of the desert.
 The only part of the desert that Madec can’t see from the jeep is the North, but it is open desert
and not a way out for Ben.
 Instead of driving away and leaving Ben in the desert, Madec stays to watch him suffer.
Chapter 6
 Ben discoveries the catch basin where there is wet sand. The wet sand can be used to get water
and cool down. Madec keeps Ben from getting to the basin.
 Madec has the opportunity to kill Ben as he heads to the basin, but continues to shoot just to keep
Ben away as a form of torture.
 Ben begins to realize that he needs to figure out how to survive this game with Madec and that
there is no going back with Madec – at least not alive.
 Ben finds a saguaro cactus that he knows will contain a woodpecker nest made of leaves that he
can use for shoes.
Chapter 7
 Ben realizes that he is slowly dying and fears that he won’t recognize the stages of dehydration in
time to keep Madec from killing him.
 Ben finds an opening in the rock and tries to slide down into it for protection.
Chapter 8
 Madec shoots Ben in the arm and Ben realizes that Madec is aiming to kill him.
 Ben is so overcome by the pain of thirst that he doesn’t feel the pain of the bullet.
 Ben is able to overcome the chasm (opening) in the rock and finds dirty water at the bottom.
 Ben realizes that he has hit the final stage of dehydration when he begins to itch.
 He realizes that he doesn’t have the strength to return from the wedge-shaped crack in the rock
and that he can’t go forward.
Chapter 9
 The water at the end of the opening is a shallow dirty puddle. It is enough water to help replenish
Ben and helps return his strength.
 He is able to use pebbles to practice with the slingshot until he is proficient at using it.
 The slingshot helps Ben kill the birds so that he can have food to eat, even though it is raw.
Chapter 10
 Ben has more hope in this chapter because he has had water and food.
 Ben starts to hear voices (which are the desert wind) but it doesn’t scare him.
 Madec’s plan starts to unfold. He begins to climb up the butte to a ledge that will lead him to the
top which will trap Ben.
 Madec uses tools from Ben’s truck to help him climb the butte.
 Ben hears/sees a helicopter approaching.
Chapter 11
 When the helicopter lands, Ben knows that Denny O’Neil is the pilot because he always leaves the
helicopter running when he lands in the desert.
 Ben is excited about the helicopter, but is soon disappointed when he realizes they can’t see or
hear him.