What is Melissa Grey reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Melissa Grey, author of The Girl at Midnight.

Her entry begins:

I like having several irons in the fire when it comes to reading. If I want to prolong one book or if I hit a spot that isn’t right for whatever mood I’m in, I can pick something else up and not lose my reading momentum. Here’s what I’m reading right now:

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman – This is a book I’ve tried to read several times but the timing was never quite right. It’s one of those books where I really needed to be in the right frame of mind for the story’s slowly building atmosphere. Gaiman’s prose is beautiful and I’m really enjoying how he’s slowly building the mythology around Anansi and...[read on]

About The Girl at Midnight, from the publisher:

For fans of Cassandra Clare’s City of Bones and Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke & Bone, The Girl at Midnight is the story of a modern girl caught in an ancient war.

Beneath the streets of New York City live the Avicen, an ancient race of people with feathers for hair and magic running through their veins. Age-old enchantments keep them hidden from humans. All but one. Echo is a runaway pickpocket who survives by selling stolen treasures on the black market, and the Avicen are the only family she’s ever known.

Echo is clever and daring, and at times she can be brash, but above all else she’s fiercely loyal. So when a centuries-old war crests on the borders of her home, she decides it’s time to act.

Legend has it that there is a way to end the conflict once and for all: find the Firebird, a mythical entity believed to possess power the likes of which the world has never seen. It will be no easy task, though if life as a thief has taught Echo anything, it’s how to hunt down what she wants ... and how to take it.

But some jobs aren’t as straightforward as they seem. And this one might just set the world on fire.

Visit Melissa Grey's website.

Writers Read: Melissa Grey.

--Marshal Zeringue

Charlotte Gordon's "Romantic Outlaws," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley by Charlotte Gordon.

The entry begins:

Jessica Chastain, of course. That’s who should play Mary Shelley. The character Chastain played in Zero, Dark, Thirty reminds me of Shelley: young, brilliant, hard-headed, self-disciplined, and yet somehow vulnerable. Plus, she has that great red hair and Mary Shelley was famous for her gorgeous red locks. The tricky thing about Shelley is capturing her wildness and, weirdly, her seriousness. At age sixteen, she’d run away with the already married Percy Shelley, scandalizing all of London society. But she was not just a rebellious teenager. She spent each day teaching herself ancient Greek and working on her writing. She was only nineteen when she wrote Frankenstein.

As for Mary Wollstonecraft, Kate...[read on]

Visit Charlotte Gordon's website.

My Book, The Movie: Romantic Outlaws.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nose in a book: Erin as "Sally"

Who: Erin as "Sally"

What: Catch a Falling Star by Kim Culbertson

When: May 2015

Where: Children's Theatre Ensemble production of Headin' for the Hills, Northern California

Visit Kim Culbertson's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Kim Culbertson and Maya.

The Page 69 Test: Catch a Falling Star.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Linda Grimes's "The Big Fix"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: The Big Fix by Linda Grimes.

About the book, from the publisher:

Linda Grimes's sexy and hilarious urban fantasy series that began with In a Fix and Quick Fix continues in The Big Fix.

Aura adaptor extraordinaire Ciel Halligan, who uses her chameleon-like abilities to fix her clients' problems--as them--is filling in on set for action superstar Jackson Gunn, whose snake phobia is standing in the way of his completing his latest mega-millions Hollywood blockbuster. There's only one thing Jack fears more than snakes, and that's the possibility of his fans finding out he screams at the sight of one. Going from hero to laughing stock isn't part of his career plan.

Seems like a simple enough job to Ciel, who doesn't particularly like snakes, but figures she can tolerate an afternoon with them, for the right price--which Jack is offering, and then some. What she doesn't count on is finding out that while she was busy wrangling snakes for him, his wife was busy getting killed. When Ciel goes to break the sad news to the star, she finds out Jack was AWOL from her client hideaway at the time of the murder.

Ciel begins to suspect Jack's phobia was phony, and that he only hired her to provide him with an alibi--but if she goes to the police, she'll have to explain how she knows he wasn't really on set. Up against a wall, Ciel calls on her best-friend-turned-love-interest Billy, and her not-so-ex-crush Mark, to help her set up the sting of a lifetime.

Learn more about the book and author at Linda Grimes's website.

My Book, The Movie: In a Fix.

Writers Read: Linda Grimes.

The Page 69 Test: The Big Fix.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten top rural noir novels

Tom Bouman's Dry Bones in the Valley won the 2015 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller and the 2015 Edgar Award for Best First Novel.

For the Guardian Bouman tagged his top ten rural noir novels, including:

A Land More Kind Than Home (2012) by Wiley Cash

I have referred elsewhere to this novel as “bighearted”, and I have yet to think of a better word for it. Cash’s work shows how the line between gothic fiction and rural noir can blur, exemplified particularly in the person of Carson Chambliss, a snake-handling preacher disfigured by chemical burns sustained in the production of methamphetamine.

Read about another entry on the list.

My Book, The Movie: A Land More Kind Than Home.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Kristin Kobes Du Mez's "A New Gospel for Women"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: A New Gospel for Women: Katharine Bushnell and the Challenge of Christian Feminism by Kristin Kobes Du Mez.

About the book, from the publisher:

A New Gospel for Women tells the story of Katharine Bushnell (1855-1946), author of God's Word to Women, one of the most innovative and comprehensive feminist theologies ever written. An internationally-known social reformer and women's rights activist, Bushnell rose to prominence through her highly publicized campaigns against prostitution and the trafficking of women in America, in colonial India, and throughout East Asia. In each of these cases, the intrepid reformer struggled to come to terms with the fact that it was Christian men who were guilty of committing acts of appalling cruelty against women. Ultimately, Bushnell concluded that Christianity itself - or rather, the patriarchal distortion of true Christianity - must be to blame.

A work of history, biography, and historical theology, Kristin Kobes DuMez's book provides a vivid account of Bushnell's life. It maps a concise introduction to her fascinating theology, revealing, for example, Bushnell's belief that gender bias tainted both the King James and the Revised Versions of the English Bible. As Du Mez demonstrates, Bushnell insisted that God created women to be strong and independent, that Adam, not Eve, bore responsibility for the Fall, and that it was through Christ, "the great emancipator of women," that women would achieve spiritual and social redemption.

A New Gospel for Women restores Bushnell to her rightful place in history. It illuminates the dynamic and often thorny relationship between faith and feminism in modern America by mapping Bushnell's story and her subsequent disappearance from the historical record. Most pointedly, the book reveals the challenges confronting Christian feminists today who wish to construct a sexual ethic that is both Christian and feminist, one rooted not in the Victorian era, but rather one suited to the modern world.

Learn more about A New Gospel for Women at the Oxford University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: A New Gospel for Women.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Charlotte Jacobs reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Charlotte DeCroes Jacobs, author of Jonas Salk: A Life.

Her entry begins:

I tend to read and study nonfiction books. Two of my favorites are Candice Millard’s River of Doubt and more recently Daniel James Brown’s The Boys in the Boat. Both are master storytellers who have mastered...[read on]

About Jonas Salk: A Life, from the publisher:

When a waiting world learned on April 12, 1955, that Jonas Salk had successfully created a vaccine to prevent poliomyelitis, he became a hero overnight. Born in a New York tenement, humble in manner, Salk had all the makings of a twentieth-century icon-a knight in a white coat. In the wake of his achievement, he received a staggering number of awards and honors; for years his name ranked with Gandhi and Churchill on lists of the most revered people. And yet the one group whose adulation he craved--the scientific community--remained ominously silent. "The worst tragedy that could have befallen me was my success," Salk later said. "I knew right away that I was through-cast out."

In the first complete biography of Jonas Salk, Charlotte DeCroes Jacobs unravels Salk's story to reveal an unconventional scientist and a misunderstood and vulnerable man. Despite his incredible success in developing the polio vaccine, Salk was ostracized by his fellow scientists, who accused him of failing to give proper credit to other researchers and scorned his taste for media attention. Even before success catapulted him into the limelight, Salk was an inscrutable man disliked by many of his peers. Driven by an intense desire to aid mankind, he was initially oblivious and eventually resigned to the personal cost--as well as the costs suffered by his family and friends. And yet Salk remained, in the eyes of the public, an adored hero.

Based on hundreds of personal interviews and unprecedented access to Salk's sealed archives, Jacobs' biography offers the most complete picture of this complicated figure. Salk's story has never been fully told; until now, his role in preventing polio has overshadowed his part in co-developing the first influenza vaccine, his effort to meld the sciences and humanities in the magnificent Salk Institute, and his pioneering work on AIDS. A vivid and intimate portrait, this will become the standard work on the remarkable life of Jonas Salk.

Visit Charlotte Jacobs's website.

My Book, The Movie: Jonas Salk: A Life.

The Page 99 Test: Jonas Salk: A Life.

Writers Read: Charlotte DeCroes Jacobs.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Nancy Thayer's "The Guest Cottage"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: The Guest Cottage: A Novel by Nancy Thayer.

About the book, from the publisher:

New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer whisks readers back to the beloved island of Nantucket in this delightful novel about two single parents who accidentally rent the same summer house—and must soon decide where their hearts truly lie.

Sensible thirty-six-year-old Sophie Anderson has always known what to do. She knows her role in life: supportive wife of a successful architect and calm, capable mother of two. But on a warm summer night, as the house grows quiet around her and her children fall asleep, she wonders what’s missing from her life. When her husband echoes that lonely question, announcing that he’s leaving her for another woman, Sophie realizes she has no idea what’s next. Impulsively renting a guest cottage on Nantucket from her friend Susie Swenson, Sophie rounds up her kids, Jonah and Lacey, and leaves Boston for a quiet family vacation, minus one.

Also minus one is Trevor Black, a software entrepreneur who has recently lost his wife. Trevor is the last person to imagine himself, age thirty and on his own, raising a little boy like Leo—smart and sweet, but grappling constantly with his mother’s death, growing more and more closed off. Hoping a quiet summer on the Nantucket coast will help him reconnect with Leo, Trevor rents a guest house on the beautiful island from his friend Ivan Swenson.

Best-laid plans run awry when Sophie and Trevor realize they’ve mistakenly rented the same house. Still, determined to make this a summer their kids will always remember, the two agree to share the Swensons’ Nantucket house. But as the summer unfolds and the families grow close, Sophie and Trevor must ask themselves if the guest cottage is all they want to share.

Inspiring and true to life, The Guest Cottage is Nancy Thayer at her finest, inscribing in graceful, knowing prose matters of the heart and the meaning of family.

Learn more about the book and author at Nancy Thayer's website.

The Page 69 Test: Summer House.

The Page 69 Test: Beachcombers.

My Book, The Movie: Beachcombers.

Writers Read: Nancy Thayer.

My Book, The Movie: The Guest Cottage.

The Page 69 Test: The Guest Cottage.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ed Ifkovic's "Café Europa," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Café Europa by Ed Ifkovic.

The entry begins:

In my Edna Ferber mysteries, my amateur sleuth/novelist solves murders over the course of her long lifetime, as early as 1904 when she is nineteen and a nosy small-town reporter, until the 1950s, when she is in her seventies and covered with fame and fortune. Early on, writing about Edna in her seventies in Lone Star, I actually envisioned veteran actor Elaine Stritch embodying the feisty, tart-tongued Ferber as she watched the movie production of her novel Giant in Hollywood, socializing with the likes of James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor. Stritch had, indeed, played the take-no-prisoners Parthy Hawks in Showboat, many years before. But Stritch died last year, and so went that idea.

Nevertheless, there is one actress who repeatedly comes to my mind as someone capable of embodying Ferber at different stages of her life:...[read on]

Visit Ed Ifkovic's website.

Writers Read: Ed Ifkovic.

My Book, The Movie: Café Europa.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Karen M. Paget's "Patriotic Betrayal"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Patriotic Betrayal: The Inside Story of the CIA’s Secret Campaign to Enroll American Students in the Crusade Against Communism by Karen M. Paget.

About the book, from the publisher:

In this revelatory book, Karen M. Paget shows how the CIA turned the National Student Association into an intelligence asset during the Cold War, with students used—often wittingly and sometimes unwittingly—as undercover agents inside America and abroad. In 1967, Ramparts magazine exposed the story, prompting the Agency into engineering a successful cover-up. Now Paget, drawing on archival sources, declassified documents, and more than 150 interviews, shows that the Ramparts story revealed only a small part of the plot.

A cautionary tale, throwing sharp light on the persistent argument, heard even now, about whether America’s national-security interests can be advanced by skullduggery and deception, Patriotic Betrayal, says Karl E. Meyer, a former editorial board member of the New York Times and The Washington Post, evokes “the aura of a John le Carré novel with its self-serving rationalizations, its layers of duplicity, and its bureaucratic doubletalk.” And Hugh Wilford, author of The Mighty Wurlitzer: How the CIA Played America, calls Patriotic Betrayal “extremely valuable as a case study of relations between the CIA and one of its front groups, greatly extending and enriching our knowledge and understanding of the complex dynamics involved in such covert, state-private relationships; it offers a fascinating portrayal of post-World War II U.S. political culture in microcosm."

Visit Karen M. Paget's website.

The Page 99 Test: Patriotic Betrayal.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven top girl packs in YA fiction

At the B&N Teen Blog Natalie Zutter tagged seven of the best girl packs in YA fiction, including:

The Year of Secret Assignments, by Jaclyn Moriarty

While the Ashbury-Brookfield pen pal program is designed to bring together the aforementioned boys’ and girls’ schools, the events of that momentous school year actually strengthen Cassie, Lydia, and Emily’s friendship. At first, each girl seems to have found her match in her male pen pal—new partners in crime and potential love interests. But when Cassie’s pen pal does the unimaginable, Emily and Lydia realize they’ve become too wrapped up in their correspondences to pay attention to their friend. With some help from their new pen pals, they enact the ultimate revenge plot.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nose in a book: Ana (of California)

Who: Ana

What: Drive Me Crazy by Terra Elan McVoy

When: May 14, 2015

Where: Northern California

Photo credit: Kim Culbertson

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Ed Ifkovic reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Ed Ifkovic, author of Café Europa: An Edna Ferber Mystery.

His entry begins:

One of many delights I have in my occasional lunches with my friend Carole Shmurak, a follow mystery writer, is our discussion of books currently being read. Recently Carole mentioned a book—and, in fact, a writer—I was unfamiliar with. The book was L. A. Requiem, and the author Robert Crais. Somehow this well-regarded novel had gone unnoticed by me—but not for long. Carole’s praise and enthusiasm inspired me to purchase the paperback that very afternoon, and I am now in the middle of reading the novel.

And revelation it is: I know I’ll be devouring all of Crais’ works in short order. It’s a habit formed as a bookish teenager. Whenever I discovered any writer I liked, I’d haunt the public library in town until...[read on]

About Café Europa, from the publisher:

In 1914, as rumors of war float across Europe, Edna Ferber travels to Budapest with Winifred Moss, a famous London suffragette, to visit the homeland of her dead father and to see the sights. Author Edna is fascinated by ancient Emperor Franz Joseph and by the faltering Austro-Hungarian Empire, its pomp and circumstance so removed from the daily life of the people she meets. Sitting daily in the Café Europa at her hotel, she listens to unfettered Hearst reporter Harold Gibbon as he predicts the coming war and the end of feudalistic life in Europe while patrons chatter.

Then a shocking murder in a midnight garden changes everything.

Headstrong Cassandra Blaine is supposed to marry into the Austrian nobility in one of those arranged matches like Consuela Vanderbilt’s still popular with wealthy American parents eager for titles and impoverished European nobility who have them to offer. But Cassandra is murdered, and her former lover, the dashing Hungarian Endre Molnár, is the prime suspect. Taken with the young man and convinced of his innocence, Edna begins investigating with the help of Winifred and two avant-garde Hungarian artists. Meanwhile possible war with Serbia is the topic of the day as Archduke Franz Ferdinand prepares to head to Sarajevo. While the world braces for disaster, Edna uncovers the truth –and it scares her.

Visit Ed Ifkovic's website.

Writers Read: Ed Ifkovic.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Michael J. Martinez's "The Venusian Gambit"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: The Venusian Gambit: Book Three of the Daedalus Series by Michael J. Martinez.

About the book, from the publisher:

The last chapter of the dimension-spanning Daedalus series brings the nineteenth and twenty-second centuries together for an explosive finale in the jungles of Venus!

In the year 2135, dangerous alien life-forms freed in the destruction of Saturn’s moon Enceladus are making their way toward Earth. A task force spearheaded by Lieutenant Commander Shaila Jain is scrambling to beat them there while simultaneously trying to save crewmember Stephane Durand, who was infected during the mission to Saturn and is now controlled by a form of life intent on reopening a transdimensional rift and destroying the human race. But Jain doesn’t realize that the possessed Stephane has bigger plans, beaming critical data to other conspirators suspiciously heading not for Earth, but for Venus...

In 1809—a Napoleonic era far different from our own—the French have occupied England with their Corps Eternélle, undead soldiers risen through the darkest Alchemy. Only the actions of Lord Admiral Thomas Weatherby and the Royal Navy have kept the French contained to Earth. But the machinations of old enemies point to a bold and daring gambit: an ancient weapon, presumed lost in the jungles of Venus.

Now, Weatherby must choose whether to stay and fight to retake his homeland or pursue the French to the green planet. And Shaila must decide if it’s possible to save the man she loves, or if he must be sacrificed for the good of two dimensions. In the dark alien jungles of Venus, humanity’s fate in both dimensions hangs in the balance—forcing past and present to once again join forces against an ancient terror.

Visit Michael J. Martinez's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Venusian Gambit.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Ilana Feldman's "Police Encounters"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Police Encounters: Security and Surveillance in Gaza under Egyptian Rule by Ilana Feldman.

About the book, from the publisher:

Egypt came to govern Gaza as a result of a war, a failed effort to maintain Arab Palestine. Throughout the twenty years of its administration (1948–1967), Egyptian policing of Gaza concerned itself not only with crime and politics, but also with control of social and moral order. Through surveillance, interrogation, and a network of local informants, the police extended their reach across the public domain and into private life, seeing Palestinians as both security threats and vulnerable subjects who needed protection. Security practices produced suspicion and safety simultaneously.

Police Encounters explores the paradox of Egyptian rule. Drawing on a rich and detailed archive of daily police records, the book describes an extensive security apparatus guided by intersecting concerns about national interest, social propriety, and everyday illegality. In pursuit of security, Egyptian policing established a relatively safe society, but also one that blocked independent political activity. The repressive aspects of the security society that developed in Gaza under Egyptian rule are beyond dispute. But repression does not tell the entire story about its impact on Gaza. Policing also provided opportunities for people to make claims of government, influence their neighbors, and protect their families.

Learn more about Police Encounters at the Stanford University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Police Encounters.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten of the best (unconventional) ghosts in literature

Judith Claire Mitchell is the author of the novels The Last Day of the War and A Reunion of Ghosts. She teaches undergraduate and graduate fiction workshops at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she is a professor of English and the director of the MFA program in creative writing. She has received grants and fellowships from the Michener-Copernicus Society of America, the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, the Wisconsin Arts Board, and Bread Loaf, among others. She lives in Madison with her husband, the artist Don Friedlich, and Josie the West Highland White Terrier.

At the Guardian Mitchell tagged ten of the best (unconventional) ghosts--"they may not necessarily scare, but they manage to haunt, long after the pages have been turned"--in literature, including:

Holiday in Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones

When murder victim Susie Salmon, played by Saoirse Ronan in Peter Jackson’s film version, ascends to heaven, she spies a distant entity galloping towards her. The figure turns out to be Holiday, her long-deceased dog, joyfully greeting his newly deceased owner. Did I bawl like a baby on reading about this particular reunion of ghosts? You bet I did.

Read about another entry on the list.

The Lovely Bones is among Laura McHugh's ten favorite books about serial killers and Tamzin Outhwaite's six best books.

Coffee with a Canine: Judith Claire Mitchell & Josie.

The Page 69 Test: A Reunion of Ghosts.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Linda Grimes reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Linda Grimes, author of The Big Fix.

Her entry begins:

Reading? Hahahaha! I remember reading. It was fun. I miss it.

Okay, I'm in the middle of the craziness surrounding the release of book three (The Big Fix) of my series, so I haven't had as much time to devote to reading for pleasure as I'd like, but a recent read that I absolutely adored is Bright Before Sunrise, by Tiffany Schmidt. It's a young adult novel that takes place over the course of twenty-four hours. The story is told from the alternating points of view of Jonah, the new guy in school who has no desire to even try to fit in, and Brighton, the painfully perfect girl who...[read on]

About The Big Fix, from the publisher:

Linda Grimes's sexy and hilarious urban fantasy series that began with In a Fix and Quick Fix continues in The Big Fix.

Aura adaptor extraordinaire Ciel Halligan, who uses her chameleon-like abilities to fix her clients' problems--as them--is filling in on set for action superstar Jackson Gunn, whose snake phobia is standing in the way of his completing his latest mega-millions Hollywood blockbuster. There's only one thing Jack fears more than snakes, and that's the possibility of his fans finding out he screams at the sight of one. Going from hero to laughing stock isn't part of his career plan.

Seems like a simple enough job to Ciel, who doesn't particularly like snakes, but figures she can tolerate an afternoon with them, for the right price--which Jack is offering, and then some. What she doesn't count on is finding out that while she was busy wrangling snakes for him, his wife was busy getting killed. When Ciel goes to break the sad news to the star, she finds out Jack was AWOL from her client hideaway at the time of the murder.

Ciel begins to suspect Jack's phobia was phony, and that he only hired her to provide him with an alibi--but if she goes to the police, she'll have to explain how she knows he wasn't really on set. Up against a wall, Ciel calls on her best-friend-turned-love-interest Billy, and her not-so-ex-crush Mark, to help her set up the sting of a lifetime.

Learn more about the book and author at Linda Grimes's website.

My Book, The Movie: In a Fix.

Writers Read: Linda Grimes.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top 10 books about Brighton

Peter James, born in Brighton, is the #1 international bestselling author of the Roy Grace series, with more than 15 million copies sold all over the world. His novels have been translated into thirty-six languages; three have been filmed and three are currently in development. All of his novels reflect his deep interest in the world of the police, with whom he does in-depth research.

At the Guardian, James tagged his ten favorite works of fiction set in or around Brighton, including:

Brighton Rock by Graham Greene

This book, written in 1937, is hands down not just the best book ever written about Brighton, but in my view one of the top five crime novels of all time. It has surely one of the most arresting opening sentences ever: “Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to kill him.” The detective is no longer the key character, it’s the villain himself – Pinky, a 17-year-old killer in charge of a bunch of middle-aged misfits, and a devout Catholic terrified of eternal damnation. There is no cosy puzzle to be solved, no happy ending. You put the book down with your emotions floored, your imagination soaring.

Read about another entry on the list.

Brighton Rock is among Lucy Worsley's ten best fictional detectives, Alex Barclay's top ten psychological thrillers, and Linda Grant's five best books with novel approaches to kindness.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nancy Thayer's "The Guest Cottage," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: The Guest Cottage by Nancy Thayer.

The entry begins:

If The Guest Cottage were made into a movie, I’d cast Rosamund Pike as the lead woman, Sophie. I’ve watched Rosamund Pike act in many BBC series, and not only is she absolutely lovely, she has a sweetness about her in all her movements. I know she was wicked in Gone Girl, but that just proves what a great actress she is. Check her out in Pride and Prejudice.

For the lead actor, Trevor, I’d cast James Norton, who stars in the Grantchester series. He’s a tall hunk of a man, with the face of a slightly confused angel. Or I’d cast...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Nancy Thayer's website.

The Page 69 Test: Summer House.

The Page 69 Test: Beachcombers.

My Book, The Movie: Beachcombers.

Writers Read: Nancy Thayer.

My Book, The Movie: The Guest Cottage.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Sarah Fine & Walter Jury's "Burn"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Burn by Sarah Fine and Walter Jury.

About the book, from the publisher:

At the cliffhanger ending of Scan, Tate loses the very thing he was fighting to protect, what his father had called the key to human survival. Tate doesn’t have much time to worry about it because he needs to get away, to ensure he and Christina are safe. His father left him one last thing that can do just that—a safe house, which turns out to be a clue to what’s really threatening the planet. As Tate follows the clues his father left behind, he starts to uncover the truth, realizing he’s up against an enemy he’s only beginning to understand.

A riveting, fast-paced “we are not alone” adventure, Burn thrills to the very end.

Visit Sarah Fine's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch, and Walter Jury's Twitter perch.

The Page 69 Test: Burn.

--Marshal Zeringue