Pg. 69: Barbara Claypole White's "The Perfect Son"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: The Perfect Son by Barbara Claypole White.

About the book, from the publisher:

From a distance, Felix Fitzwilliam, the son of an old English family, is a good husband and father. But, obsessed with order and routine, he’s a prisoner to perfection. Disengaged from the emotional life of his North Carolina family, Felix has let his wife, Ella, deal with their special-needs son by herself.

A talented jewelry designer turned full-time mother, Ella is the family rock…until her heart attack shatters their carefully structured existence. Now Harry, a gifted teen grappling with the chaos of Tourette’s, confronts a world outside his parents’ control, one that tests his desire for independence.

As Harry searches for his future, and Ella adapts to the limits of her failing health, Felix struggles with his past and present roles. To prevent the family from being ripped apart, they must each bend with the inevitability of change and reinforce the ties that bind.

Learn more about the book and author at Barbara Claypole White's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

The Page 69 Test: The In-Between Hour.

The Page 69 Test: The Perfect Son.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Jane Lindskold reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Jane Lindskold, author of Artemis Invaded.

Her entry begins:

I read a lot… Sometimes it’s not all in print, though. Audiobooks make it possible for me to turn chore time into “reading time.”

My current audiobook is City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. So far, I’m enjoying it a great deal. The setting is richly detailed, so much so that it’s been easy to overlook that – at least to this point – the plot is comparatively skimpy, and the characters fall into very familiar types. It will be interesting to see if this changes once the...[read on]

About Artemis Invaded, from the publisher:

In Artemis Invaded, Jane Lindskold returns to the world of Artemis, a pleasure planet that was lost for millennia, a place that holds secrets that could give mankind back unimaginable powers.

Stranded archaeologist Griffin is determined to make his way back to his home world with news of the Artemis discovery. He and his gene-modified native companion, the huntress Adara, and her psyche-linked puma Sand Shadow, set out to find another repository of the ancient technology in the hope that somehow Griffin will be able to contact his orbiting ship.

In the midst of this, Adara wrestles with her complex feelings for Griffin-and with the consequences of her and Sand Shadow's new bond with the planet Artemis. Focused on his own goals, Griffin is unaware that his arrival on Artemis has created unexpected consequences for those he is coming to hold dear. Unwittingly, he has left a trail-and Artemis is about to be invaded.

Visit Jane Lindskold's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: Thirteen Orphans.

The Page 69 Test: Five Odd Honors.

The Page 69 Test: Artemis Awakening.

Writers Read: Jane Lindskold.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ted Kosmatka's "The Flicker Men," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: The Flicker Men by Ted Kosmatka.

The entry begins:

I grew up going to the movies all the time, so for me, now that I’m a writer, picking out actors to play the movie in my head is always a lot of fun. The main character of The Flicker Men is Eric Argus, a troubled scientist who soon finds himself out of his depth. I’m a huge fan of what James McAvoy did in The Last King of Scottland, so I’d love to see what McAvoy could do as Eric. For Satvik, one actor leapt to mind...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Ted Kosmatka's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Games.

My Book, the Movie: The Games.

My Book, the Movie: Prophet of Bones.

The Page 69 Test: Prophet of Bones.

Writers Read: Ted Kosmatka.

The Page 69 Test: The Flicker Men.

My Book, The Movie: The Flicker Men.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Irene S. Wu's "Forging Trust Communities"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Forging Trust Communities: How Technology Changes Politics by Irene S. Wu.

About the book, from the publisher:

Bloggers in India used social media and wikis to broadcast news and bring humanitarian aid to tsunami victims in South Asia. Terrorist groups like ISIS pour out messages and recruit new members on websites. The Internet is the new public square, bringing to politics a platform on which to create community at both the grassroots and bureaucratic level. Drawing on historical and contemporary case studies from more than ten countries, Irene S. Wu’s Forging Trust Communities argues that the Internet, and the technologies that predate it, catalyze political change by creating new opportunities for cooperation. The Internet does not simply enable faster and easier communication, but makes it possible for people around the world to interact closely, reciprocate favors, and build trust. The information and ideas exchanged by members of these cooperative communities become key sources of political power akin to military might and economic strength.

Wu illustrates the rich world history of citizens and leaders exercising political power through communications technology. People in nineteenth-century China, for example, used the telegraph and newspapers to mobilize against the emperor. In 1970, Taiwanese cable television gave voice to a political opposition demanding democracy. Both Qatar (in the 1990s) and Great Britain (in the 1930s) relied on public broadcasters to enhance their influence abroad. Additional case studies from Brazil, Egypt, the United States, Russia, India, the Philippines, and Tunisia reveal how various technologies function to create new political energy, enabling activists to challenge institutions while allowing governments to increase their power at home and abroad.

Forging Trust Communities demonstrates that the way people receive and share information through network communities reveals as much about their political identity as their socioeconomic class, ethnicity, or religion. Scholars and students in political science, public administration, international studies, sociology, and the history of science and technology will find this to be an insightful and indispensable work.

Learn more about Forging Trust Communities at the the Johns Hopkins University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Forging Trust Communities.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten top books about migrants

Sunjeev Sahota is the author of Ours are the Streets and The Year of the Runaways. One of his top ten books about migrants, as shared at the Guardian:

Preparation for the Next Life by Atticus Lish

This is the story of Zou Lei, a Chinese-Muslim illegal immigrant, and Brad Skinner, a disillusioned soldier, “stop-lossed” from Iraq. Zou, whose name means “thunder”, shows great resilience; it’s Brad who struggles to cope. The book is full of detail, sometimes upsetting, often beautiful in the way it gives a scene life: “He came towards her, his arms whispering on the body of his parka.”

Read about another book on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Caroline B. Cooney reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Caroline B. Cooney, author of No Such Person.

Her entry begins:

I'm reading David McCullough's The Wright Brothers, a topic that did not interest me in the slightest, but I loved his other books, so I felt I owed it to him. Now I am completely into Orville and Wilbur. Of course they deserve such a fine author after all. Here's my favorite line so far: when asked for advice on how to get ahead in life, Wilbur remarked, "Pick out a good father and mother, and...[read on]

About No Such Person, from the publisher:

From the author of the multimillion-copy bestseller The Face on the Milk Carton, this riveting new thriller, set against the backdrop of a bucolic summer town on the Connecticut River, will have readers guessing until the very last page, as a seemingly innocent sibling rivalry and newfound young love turn into something much more devastating than anyone could ever have imagined.

Miranda and Lander Allerdon are sisters. Miranda is younger, a dreamer, and floating her way through life. Lander is older, focused, and determined to succeed. As the girls and their parents begin another summer at their cottage on the Connecticut River, Miranda and Lander’s sibling rivalry is in high gear. Lander plans to start medical school in the fall, and Miranda feels cast in her shadow.

When the Allerdons become entangled in an unimaginable tragedy, the playing field is suddenly leveled. As facts are revealed, the significance of what has happened weighs heavily on all. How can the family prepare for what the future may hold?

Learn more about the book and author at Caroline B. Cooney's website.

Writers Read: Caroline B. Cooney.

--Marshal Zeringue

Siobhan Roberts's "Genius At Play," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Genius At Play: The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway by Siobhan Roberts.

The entry begins:

The movie script for Genius At Play, which is in fact quickly writing itself in my head, bears the working title Let It All Hang Out, since that is Conway’s policy toward life in general, and in a sense toward mathematics as well. For the lead role, for young John, we’d need someone who can play the rogue, as well as smart and funny and deep, and with Mick Jagger’s performative charisma and sex appeal. Tom Hardy would do the trick (most recently in Mad Max: Fury Road). I also consulted Conway’s wife Diana on this, and for the older Conway she said there was no question: Jeff...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Siobhan Roberts' website.

The Page 69 Test: King of Infinite Space.

The Page 99 Test: Wind Wizard.

Writers Read: Siobhan Roberts.

The Page 99 Test: Genius At Play.

My Book, The Movie: Genius At Play.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Vanina Leschziner's "At the Chef's Table"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: At the Chef's Table: Culinary Creativity in Elite Restaurants by Vanina Leschziner.

About the book, from the publisher:

This book is about the creative work of chefs at top restaurants in New York and San Francisco. Based on interviews with chefs and observation in restaurant kitchens, the book explores the question of how and why chefs make choices about the dishes they put on their menus. It answers this question by examining a whole range of areas, including chefs' careers, restaurant ratings and reviews, social networks, how chefs think about food and go about creating new dishes, and how status influences their work and careers.

Chefs at top restaurants face competing pressures to deliver complex and creative dishes, and navigate market forces to run a profitable business in an industry with exceptionally high costs and low profit margins. Creating a distinctive and original culinary style allows them to stand out in the market, but making the familiar food that many customers want ensures that they can stay in business. Chefs must make choices between these competing pressures. In explaining how they do so, this book uses the case study of high cuisine to analyze, more generally, how people in creative occupations navigate a context that is rife with uncertainty, high pressures, and contradicting forces.

Learn more about At the Chef's Table at the Stanford University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: At the Chef's Table.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Ted Kosmatka's "The Flicker Men"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: The Flicker Men: A Novel by Ted Kosmatka.

About the book, from the publisher:

A quantum physicist shocks the world with a startling experiment, igniting a struggle between science and theology, free will and fate, and antagonizing forces not known to exist

Eric Argus is a washout. His prodigious early work clouded his reputation and strained his sanity. But an old friend gives him another chance, an opportunity to step back into the light.

With three months to produce new research, Eric replicates the paradoxical double-slit experiment to see for himself the mysterious dual nature of light and matter. A simple but unprecedented inference blooms into a staggering discovery about human consciousness and the structure of the universe.

His findings are celebrated and condemned in equal measure. But no one can predict where the truth will lead. And as Eric seeks to understand the unfolding revelations, he must evade shadowy pursuers who believe he knows entirely too much already.

Learn more about the book and author at Ted Kosmatka's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Games.

My Book, the Movie: The Games.

My Book, the Movie: Prophet of Bones.

The Page 69 Test: Prophet of Bones.

Writers Read: Ted Kosmatka.

The Page 69 Test: The Flicker Men.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven YA novels where friendship trumps romance

At the B&N Teen Blog Natalie Zutter tagged seven Young Adult books "where friendship is more important than—or even entirely replaces—a love story," including:

Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein

The most important bond in this World War II novel is the trust between pilot Kittyhawk and spy Verity, which is put to the test after their plane crash-lands in France and Verity is captured by the Gestapo. With their code names stripped away, Queenie must protect Maddie and herself. With stakes that high, there’s no need for the story to include a romance plot—which would be superfluous, because, as Queenie writes, “It’s like being in love, discovering your best friend.”

Learn about another entry on the list.

Code Name Verity also appears on Arwen Elys Dayton's top five list od books about false identities, Melissa Albert's top five list of YA books that might make one cry, Sara Brady's list of six of the best spies in romance, Lenore Appelhans's top ten list of teen books featuring flashbacks and Lydia Syson's list of ten of the best historical novels for young readers.

Writers Read: Elizabeth Wein (May 2015).

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Kent Wascom reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Kent Wascom, author of Secessia.

His entry begins:

My reading habits tend toward a certain stratigraphy, with fiction and poetry forming the base and research material mounting as the day wears into afternoon. In the evenings I read strictly horror and weird fiction, which relaxes and pleasantly warps me so that I wake up the next morning with just a touch of the otherworldly to my perceptions.

So, moving from the beginning of the day, I’m reading DeLillo’s Underworld, which is formidable and mysterious—think walking through the desert and stumbling on a succession of sphinxes, each informing you slightly more about the riddle of the next, and an advance copy of Fallen Land by Taylor Brown, who is a hell of a writer, and...[read on]

About Secessia, from the publisher:

New Orleans, May 1862. The largest city in the ill-starred confederacy has fallen to Union troops under the soon-to-be-infamous General Benjamin “the Beast” Butler. The city is rife with madness and rage. When twelve-year-old Joseph Woolsack disappears from his home, he draws into the unrest his mother, Elise, a mixed-race woman passing for white, and his father, Angel, whose long and wicked life is drawing to a close. What follows forces mother and son into a dark new world: Joseph must come to grips with his father’s legacy of violence and his growing sentiment for Cuban exile Marina Fandal, the only survivor of a shipwreck that claimed the lives of her parents. Elise must struggle to maintain a hold on her sanity, her son and her own precarious station, but is threatened by the resurgence of a troubling figure from her past, Dr. Emile Sabatier, a fanatical physician who adores disease and is deeply mired in the conspiracy and intrigue surrounding the occupation of the city. Their paths all intersect with General Benjamin Butler of Massachusetts, a man who history will call a beast, but whose avarice and brutal acumen are ideally suited to the task of governing an “ungovernable city.”

Alternating between the perspectives of the five characters of Elise, Dr. Sabatier, Joseph, Marina, and Butler, Secessia weaves a tapestry of ravenous greed and malformed love, of slavery and desperation, set within the baroque melting-pot that is New Orleans. A Gothic tableaux vivant of epic scope and intimate horror, Secessia is the netherworld reflection of the conflict between north and south.

Visit Kent Wascom's website.

Writers Read: Kent Wascom.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Jane Dawson's "John Knox"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: John Knox by Jane Dawson.

About the book, from the publisher:

Jane Dawson has written the definitive life of John Knox, a leader of the Protestant Reformation in sixteenth-century Scotland. Based in large part on previously unavailable sources, including the recently discovered papers of Knox’s close friend and colleague Christopher Goodman, Dawson’s biography challenges the traditionally held stereotype of this founder of the Presbyterian denomination as a strident and misogynist religious reformer whose influence rarely extended beyond Scotland. She maintains instead that John Knox relied heavily on the support of his “godly sisters” and conferred as well as argued with Mary, Queen of Scots. He was a proud member of the European community of Reformed Churches and deeply involved in the religious Reformations within England, Ireland, France, Switzerland, and the Holy Roman Empire. Casting a surprising new light on the public and private personas of a highly complex, difficult, and hugely compelling individual, Dawson’s fascinating study offers a vivid, fully rounded portrait of this renowned Scottish preacher and prophet who had a seismic impact on religion and society.

Learn more about John Knox at the Yale University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: John Knox.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five top novels with gods as characters

Lou Anders is the author of Frostborn, the first book in the Thrones & Bones middle-grade series, and its sequel, Nightborn. For Tor.com he tagged five favorite books with gods as characters, including:

Elric: To Rescue Tanelorn by Michael Moorcock

One of my first fantasy loves was Michael Moorcock. I encountered his Eternal Champion series early on and never got over it. That moment when a young Elric of Melniboné summons Duke Arioch, Lord of the Seven Darks, is absolutely chilling. If memory serves, the god appears first as a fly, then as a beautiful male youth who drips power and seduction. The Elric series was the first time I encountered gods who actively participated in their stories, the way the gods and goddesses of Greek mythology did. But there was a specific story, the novella “The Singing Citadel” (which I encountered in the collection/fix-up novel The Weird of the White Wolf, and which appears most recently in Elric: To Rescue Tanelorn), that has never left me. The minor god Balo, Jester to the Court of Chaos, is up to no good, and after battling the god ineffectually, a desperate Elric summons Arioch to deal with him. Arioch crushes Balo’s head, then wads the god up into a ball and swallows him. He tells Elric, “I have not eaten him… It is merely the easiest way of transporting him back to the realms from which he came. He has transgressed and will be punished.” I was both disturbed and fascinated by that scene, which haunted me for years, but it set my young brain puzzling. I realized then that gods were not made of the same mortal clay as we humans and did not have to abide by our rules. And speaking of rules…

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Catherine Linka's "A Girl Undone," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: A Girl Undone by Catherine Linka.

The entry begins:

I’m violating the blog premise immediately, because A Girl Called Fearless and the sequel, A Girl Undone have been optioned for television by Universal Cable Productions.

That said, like a lot of writers, I work with concept boards, and grab pictures of actors and models as I develop the novel. Sometimes I begin with a feeling, possibly an attitude or facial expression that seems to capture the character. Then I often discover photo that captures that feeling/attitude/expression.

It can be very unexpected and weird when that happens. I was walking past an Abercrombie store when bam! There was a huge portrait of Yates. Canadian model Matt Aymar was the living incarnation of my protagonist’s sexy, wounded, social activist friend, and my breath was taken away. Literally.

Main character Avie Reveare? Avie’s will to survive was...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Catherine Linka’s website.

The Page 99 Test: A Girl Undone.

My Book, The Movie: A Girl Undone.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Ingrid Thoft reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Ingrid Thoft, author of Brutality.

Her entry begins:

It’s a treat when a book satisfies me as both a writer and a reader, and that’s been my experience reading The Gift of Fear, by Gavin De Becker. Given to me by a friend at the Seattle Police Department, its premise is that fear is an essential part of our wiring and that, too often, we ignore the signals that could keep us safe. As a reader and an urban dweller, I’m finding the practical solutions in the book to be illuminating. As a writer, the case studies that De Becker provides offer insight into the criminal mind, which will undoubtedly inform my writing.

One of De Becker’s most important points is that we value logic over intuition—otherwise known as the unease you feel when something or someone in your environment doesn’t seem quite right. Our erroneous assumption is that intuition isn’t based on data when, in fact, it is. The problem is that our...[read on]

About Brutality, from the publisher:

Gutsy, relentless, wisecracking Boston P.I. Fina Ludlow is back with her most hard-hitting case yet in the critically acclaimed series by Ingrid Thoft.

When soccer mom Liz Barone is attacked in her kitchen and left with a life-threatening injury, Fina Ludlow is hired by Liz’s mother to identify her attacker. It’s unusual for Fina to take a case that isn’t connected to the family firm, Ludlow and Associates, but Liz was in the process of suing her alma mater, New England University—a suit that could be a legal gold mine.

Twenty years earlier, Liz was an NEU soccer star known for her physical toughness; however, a serious cognitive decline has soured her soccer memories. She’s convinced that her aggressive style of play—and the university’s willingness to ignore head injuries in favor of a win—has put her health and her future in jeopardy, and someone needs to be held responsible.

Was Liz attacked to stop her lawsuit, or were there other secrets in the seemingly innocent woman’s life? Fina convinces her father and boss, Carl, to take the case, and discovers that wading into the financially lucrative and emotionally charged world of collegiate sports requires nerves of steel. As the list of suspects grows and hidden agendas are revealed, Fina wonders if any game is worth the price.

Visit Ingrid Thoft's website.

The Page 69 Test: Brutality.

Writers Read: Ingrid Thoft.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eight books every father should read

The Telegraph tagged eight books every dad should read, including:

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (Virago, 2004)

“A little too much anger, too often or at the wrong time, can destroy more than you would ever imagine.” Just one of the wise thoughts the Reverend John Ames shares with his seven-year old son in a letter that he writes on finding out he won’t live long enough to say them face to face. Tender, searching, sad, but ultimately full of hope, Marilynne Robinson’s novel is a beautifully crafted work which doubles as a commentary on our troubled times.

Read about another entry on the list.

Gilead is on Allegra Frazier's top five list of diary novels, Michael Arditti's ten best list of fictional clerics, Ayad Akhtar's list of three notable books on faith in the US, Michael Crummey's top ten list of literary feuds and Geraldine Brooks's five most important books list; it is a book Dalia Sofer would like to share with her children.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Siobhan Roberts's "Genius At Play"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Genius At Play: The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway by Siobhan Roberts.

About the book, from the publisher:

An unabashed original, John Horton Conway is Archimedes, Mick Jagger, Salvador Dali, and Richard Feynman all rolled into one--a singular mathematician, with a rock star's charisma, a sly sense of humor, a polymath's promiscuous curiosity, and a burning desire to explain everything about the world to everyone in it.

Born in Liverpool in 1937, Conway found fame as a barefoot Cambridge professor. He discovered the Conway groups in mathematical symmetry, and invented the aptly named surreal numbers, as well as the cult classic Game of Life--more than a cool fad, Life demonstrates how simplicity generates complexity and the game provides an analogy for all mathematics and the entire universe. Moving to Princeton in 1987, as a mathemagician he deployed cards, ropes, dice, coat hangers, and even the odd Slinky as props to extend his winning imagination and share his mathy obsessions with signature contagion. He is a jet-setting ambassador-at-large for the beauties of all things mathematical.

Genius At Play is an intimate investigation into the mind of an endearing genius, laying bare Conway's personal and professional idiosyncrasies. The intimacy comes courtesy of the man himself. He generously granted Roberts full access, though not without the occasional grudge and grumble: "Oh hell," he'd say. "You're not going to put that in the book. Are you?!?"

Learn more about the book and author at Siobhan Roberts' website.

The Page 69 Test: King of Infinite Space.

The Page 99 Test: Wind Wizard.

Writers Read: Siobhan Roberts.

The Page 99 Test: Genius At Play.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Stephen Jarvis's "Death and Mr Pickwick"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Death and Mr. Pickwick: A Novel by Stephen Jarvis.

About the book, from the publisher:

Death and Mr. Pickwick is a vast, richly imagined, Dickensian work about the rough-and-tumble world that produced an author who defined an age. Like Charles Dickens did in his immortal novels, Stephen Jarvis has spun a tale full of preposterous characters, shaggy-dog stories, improbable reversals, skulduggery, betrayal, and valor-all true, and all brilliantly brought to life in his unputdownable book.

The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, featuring the fat and lovable Mr. Pickwick and his Cockney manservant, Sam Weller, began as a series of whimsical sketches, the brainchild of the brilliant, erratic, misanthropic illustrator named Robert Seymour, a denizen of the back alleys and grimy courtyards where early nineteenth-century London's printers and booksellers plied their cutthroat trade. When Seymour's publishers, after trying to match his magical etchings with a number of writers, settled on a young storyteller using the pen name Boz, The Pickwick Papers went on to become a worldwide phenomenon, outselling every other book besides the Bible and Shakespeare's plays. And Boz, as the young Charles Dickens signed his work, became, in the eyes of many, the most important writer of his time. The fate of Robert Seymour, Mr. Pickwick's creator, a very different story-one untold before now.

Few novels deserve to be called magnificent. Death and Mr. Pickwick is one of them.

Visit Stephen Jarvis's website.

The Page 69 Test: Death and Mr. Pickwick.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five of the best road trips in sci-fi & fantasy

Jeff Somers is the author of Lifers, the Avery Cates series from Orbit Books, Chum from Tyrus Books, and We Are Not Good People from Pocket/Gallery. He has published over thirty short stories as well.

At B & N Reads Somers tagged five of the greatest road trips in sci-fi & fantasy, including:

Find Me, by Laura van den Berg

Key to a road trip novel are the characters taking the trip—not the events experienced, but how those events affect the people we’re traveling with. In her debut, van den Berg starts off with a premise that might seem too familiar: a disease that causes memory loss and then, quickly, death, sweeps the world. Joy, an immune teenager suppressing her own bad memories, is rounded up into a hospital in Kansas with other immune teenagers and subjected to experiments, ostensibly to find a cure. When order breaks down, Joy escapes into a post-plague America in search of her mother, and that’s where the novel finds its footing, and becomes amazing. Joy’s road trip leads to a series of unexpected, imaginative encounters as it explores what people might do (or become) when stripped of society’s constraints.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Ted Kosmatka reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Ted Kosmatka, author of The Flicker Men: A Novel.

His entry begins:

One of the great things about being a writer, and hanging out with writers, is that you sometimes get to read stuff before anyone else, so I’m currently roaring through a late draft of Patrick Swenson’s second novel, The Ultra Big Sleep, which I’m really enjoying. I’m also reading the Digital Rapture anthology, edited by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel, which I suspect is going to be a classic resource for decades to come. If you are interested in the Singularity, you have to read this book. On the top of my bedside right now is...[read on]

About The Flicker Men, from the publisher:

A quantum physicist shocks the world with a startling experiment, igniting a struggle between science and theology, free will and fate, and antagonizing forces not known to exist

Eric Argus is a washout. His prodigious early work clouded his reputation and strained his sanity. But an old friend gives him another chance, an opportunity to step back into the light.

With three months to produce new research, Eric replicates the paradoxical double-slit experiment to see for himself the mysterious dual nature of light and matter. A simple but unprecedented inference blooms into a staggering discovery about human consciousness and the structure of the universe.

His findings are celebrated and condemned in equal measure. But no one can predict where the truth will lead. And as Eric seeks to understand the unfolding revelations, he must evade shadowy pursuers who believe he knows entirely too much already.

Learn more about the book and author at Ted Kosmatka's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Games.

My Book, the Movie: The Games.

My Book, the Movie: Prophet of Bones.

The Page 69 Test: Prophet of Bones.

Writers Read: Ted Kosmatka.

--Marshal Zeringue