"Pretty Wanted"

Elisa Ludwig enjoys writing about teen outlaws, even though she herself has never been one. Pretty Wanted is the final novel in the Pretty Crooked trilogy.

Ludwig applied the Page 69 Test to Pretty Wanted and reported the following:

From page 69:

“So what are you doing in St. Louis? Playing Sherlock? You should leave this to the cops.”

A woman with a plastic shopping basket stuffed with makeup and maxi pads pushed past me to look at the floss section. I moved away, turning my back to her and lowering my voice to a whisper. “No, no, no. I’m not trying to solve the case.”

“What then?”

Somehow it was getting harder to explain this when it should have been easier. “I just want to know who she was. And I can only find that out here.”

He was silent for a beat. “Either way, I wish you’d give it up. You’re putting yourself in serious danger, you know that?”

“I know. But this is something I have to do.”

“Look, all I’m saying is there are people who care about you, who don’t want to see you hurt.” His voice wavered a bit. “Don't forget about those people.”

Wow, I have to say that this book really nails it with the page 69 test! In this scene Willa is talking to Tre on the phone—he’s back home in Arizona and she’s on the run from police and FBI, looking to find out about her real mother, who was killed in St. Louis. This is the moment in the book when Willa starts to realize that her goals are not exactly clear, even to herself. Willa says she only wants to know who her mother is, but that question is becoming increasingly entangled with how and why she was murdered. At the same time she’s starting to understand that Tre may be one of the few people who truly has her best interests at heart and that their relationship may be a tad more complicated than she thought. It’s a real turning point in the book because as soon as Willa is honest with herself she can fully pursue her mission, for better or worse, and she can also figure out what she really wants from the guys in her life. In the arc of the whole series this scene really puts Willa on the cusp of actually growing up and confronting the truth.

Visit Elisa Ludwig's website.

The Page 69 Test: Pretty Sly.

My Book, The Movie: Pretty Sly.

--Marshal Zeringue