"Blackbird, Farewell"

Robert Greer is a practicing surgical pathologist and professor of pathology and medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. His previous CJ Floyd mysteries include The Fourth Perspective and The Mongoose Deception.

He applied the Page 69 Test to the seventh and latest CJ Floyd mystery, Blackbird, Farewell, and reported the following:

Page 69 of Blackbird, Farewell turns out to be pivotal to the narrative. On that page, the central character Damion Madrid, is engaged in a conversation with Rodney “Sandy” Sands, head trainer for the University of Colorado State basketball team. Damion is querying Sandy about a possible suspect in the murder of Damion’s best friend and All-American basketball star, Shandell Bird; and Damion is trying to get Sandy to set up a meeting between him (Damion) and Denver drug pusher, Leotis Hawkins. The scene is certainly pivotal to the book because when Hawkins tries to kill Damion later in Denver, Sandy is also pushed to the top of Damion’s suspects list.

The scene on page 69 turns out to be a relatively complex set-up scene in that it offers a possible set up for the end of the novel. It gives readers insight into at least two possible suspects in Shandell Bird’s murder. It also gives them the chance to see novice investigator, Damion Madrid, involved in something that’s not his forte (since he is actually a student heading off to medical school), and it sets up a future confrontation between Damion and Hawkins. I would say that page 69 of the novel, which is in the mid portion of chapter 7 of a 338 page book, is clearly representative of the rest of the book and I hope that any reader skimming that page would be inclined to read on.

Read an excerpt from Blackbird, Farewell, and learn more about the book and author at Robert Greer's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Fourth Perspective.

The Page 69 Test: The Fourth Perspective.

Check out the complete list of books in the Page 69 Test Series.

--Marshal Zeringue