"Playing with Fire"

A graduate of Yale, Gerald Elias has been a Boston Symphony violinist, Associate Concertmaster of the Utah Symphony since 1988, Adjunct Professor of Music at the University of Utah, first violinist of the Abramyan String Quartet, and Music Director of the Vivaldi Candlelight concert series.

His novels include Devil's Trill, Danse Macabre, Death and the Maiden, and the newly released Playing With Fire.

Elias applied the Page 69 Test to Playing With Fire and reported the following:

From page 69:

Jacobus recalled the Abbott and Costello routine where the street-smart Abbott tried to explain the intricacies of the track to Costello. Much to the naïve Costello’s horror and chagrin, Abbott insisted that “the mudder ate the fodder.” Now Jacobus had something to eat, too. Crow.

“I guess I’ve been kicking a dead horse,” he said.

“Not at all,” Benson replied. “It was a long shot.”

On Page 69, Daniel Jacobus played one of his famous hunches. Evidential clues had led him to believe that Amadeo Borlotti’s mysterious disappearance and the burning down of his house were the result entanglement with criminal elements at the Saratoga Race Track. It seemed certain Borlotti visited the track to bet on the horses, including My Little Flower Child. How else could such a modest violin repairman have come upon a fortune so quickly…and lose it even faster?

Never had Jacobus been so wrong.

The Page 69 Test: Devil's Trill.

The Page 69 Test: Danse Macabre.

The Page 69 Test: Death and the Maiden.

My Book, The Movie: Playing With Fire.

--Marshal Zeringue