Saturday, December 02, 2006

Alex Beam tries out the page 69 test

Last month Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam gave the "page 69 test" a workout.

One book he applied it to:
The most gripping novel I've read in recent weeks is T. Jefferson Parker's "California Girl," a "Mystic River"-like coming-of-age tale set in Orange County.

The murder story spans 50 years, during which time the protagonists hear a cabaret act performed by a not- too-talented folk singer named Charlie Manson, and one of them even shakes the hand of the up-and-coming congressman Richard Nixon.

On page 69, Nick, one of the four Becker brothers, discovers the headless body of beauty queen Janelle Vonn in an abandoned orange-packing house. And therein lies a tale.
Click here to read the rest of Beam's article.

--Marshal Zeringue