He applied the Page 69 Test to Sick, his first foray into the horror genre, and reported the following:Whoa, wow! Yeah, page 69 of Sick actually is pretty representative of the entire novel. It covers the confusion, carnage, and characters in one fell swoop. I think anyone looking for an action story, one that happens to involve zombie-esque creatures, would keep reading after flipping to p. 69.Learn more about the book and author at Tom Leveen's website.
One of my favorite lines on this page:“We need a plan,” Travis says as Kat starts hunting for a cell among the remaining—surviving—students.I love that these teens, who are just starting to understand the gravity of their situation of being stuck in the drama department while a horde of rampaging mutated students roams outside, are already putting things into such stark contrast. They’re not remainders, they are survivors. The only ones they know of who’ve made it this far. The realities of an apocalypse have begun working on their psyches. Fun!
And while there’s no actual action on this page, there is implied action via the protagonist’s call to his ex-girlfriend. All he gets is a voicemail which turns out to be a real-time audio recording of the beginning of the attack. I love the powerlessness of that moment. It’s one we can all identify with. That moment where you get “the call,” whatever it may be regarding, where you know life will never be the same. It’s such a chilling sensation. Otherworldly, really, and that’s all the more true in a novel about virus-ridden human monsters.
My Book, The Movie: Sick.
--Marshal Zeringue
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