She applied the Page 69 Test to Black Arts, Book 7 in the series, and reported the following:Page 69 of Black Arts:Learn more about the book and author at Faith Hunter's website.a driver called in sick. He wasn’t willing to give me any more info on the phone, so you might want to pay him a visit.” He pointed to one of the unknowns in the car. “I’m pretty sure she’s a chick and that she has long, straight red hair because it matches the shade of Rachael’s hair in this light.”I have to admit that the excerpt sounds oblique and obscure and confusing. That said, it may be the pivotal point in the novel when two different plot lines are first juxtaposed. And don’t juxtapose. Jane is a rogue-vamp hunter who was hired by the master of the city of New Orleans, to chase down and kill (true-dead) a vamp who had turned against his own. Then she stayed on to help keep the city safe from the monsters, even if it meant working for the monsters themselves. Welcome to the world of Jane Yellowrock.
I leaned in. Molly’s a redhead. She might have straightened her hair. And then I realized how stupid that was. Molly was not tied into my case. The timeline was impossible. I was reaching for straws. I was starting to panic about my best friend.
The Kid said, “The other one looks like a dude, with a nose ring.”
Once he pointed it out, I could make out the ring. It was an aggressive piece of jewelry.
“From what Alonzo didn’t say, I’m guessing the chick’s a vamp, and was turned when she was about fifteen. He implied that she was classy, like an old-world vamp, though the words he used were ‘like she was a movie star, like from the ’forties. You dig? Like, a real classy chick.’” I managed a partial smile, but I didn’t think it fooled Alex at his mimicry. “The other one he didn’t say anything about, but I’m guessing it’s the vamp’s blood-servant or primo or something.”
“How many redheaded vamps have lairs or homes in New Orleans?”
“A few. I pulled up six. If we could get a name—”
“Yeah.” I stood. “Anything on Mo—on the family case?”
“Nothing new. I made it into the hotel security footage, but it’s a lot of work to locate the right floor and right day without access to their dedicated system. I’ll text you the minute I get anything. The plates from the limo that the ‘family case’ got into were hard to trace because your source didn’t give you a state for the rental agency. The car was rented out of Galveston, Texas, seventy-two hours ago.”
My forehead crinkled in surprise. Texas? Leo didn’t rule Texas. I didn’t know who did, but it was in a database somewhere. The Kid went on. “Within an hour, but not on the same credit card, two buses were rented, all vamp-specific, which could have nothing to do with the limo rental. Or it could be related.” He shrugged. “I can’t rule it out, so I included it in my report.”
--Marshal Zeringue
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