Wednesday, December 16, 2009

"Flesh Circus"

Lilith Saintcrow's books include The Dante Valentine Series, which was featured a couple of years ago at My Book, The Movie.

She applied the Page 69 Test to Flesh Circus, the 4th book in the Jill Kismet series, and reported the following:
"Drop the other shoe. And get me some more ammo. I've got a bad feeling about this."

Page 69 of Flesh Circus is the end of a chapter, right after the first big plot twist. Jill Kismet has just faced down two angry hellbreed and learned that someone is killing Cirque de Charnu performers — something that could end up being very bad for Jill's city. While she doesn't mind if hellbreed kill each other, she does take a very dim view of a great crowd of them exploding out into her helpless city and killing civilians.

I think page 69 is pretty representative of the book, and it's a great introduction to Jill. She's smartmouth, fast, and very lethal, and she uses bleak humor and big ammunition equally well. I enjoy her a great deal as a character, and I loved seeing her interact with a circus full of hellbreed.

Because really, circuses, even Cirque du Soleil, freak me out a little. I find them creepy. It's a good thing I didn't put any clowns in this book, because I think I might have slept even less while finishing it....
Learn more about the author and her work at Lilith Saintcrow's website.

The Page 99 Test: Night Shift, #1 in the Jill Kismet series.

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

--Marshal Zeringue