"Journey from Darkness"

Gareth Crocker, a former journalist, lives with his wife and two children in Johannesburg, South Africa. He wrote Finding Jack, his first novel, in the company of his three dogs, Jill, Rusty and Jack.

Crocker applied the Page 69 Test to his latest novel, Journey from Darkness, which was co-written with his father, Llewellyn Crocker, and reported the following:

Page 69 in Journey from Darkness is rather poignant. In it, the two main characters are sitting around a fire at night talking about how rampant poaching is placing elephants on the brink of oblivion in southern Africa. At the same time, Derek asks his brother, Edward (both British) if he will ever leave Africa now that he has a taste of it, to which Edward replies 'Sure. On my back and in a box'. This is a fitting foreshadow of what the brothers will soon face when they come up against a pair of highly dangerous French poachers who are almost Hannibal Lecter-esque in the way they murder and butcher with impunity. In many respects, Page 69 is the final breath of calm before the storm rolls in. To save a rare and almost mystical lone Desert Elephant, the brothers will soon journey into a darkness more black than the war they have left behind.

Learn more about the book and author at Gareth Crocker's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: Finding Jack.

Read--Coffee with a Canine: Gareth Crocker & Jill, Hannah, Rusty and Jack.

--Marshal Zeringue