Tuesday, September 20, 2016

"Three Truths and a Lie"

Brent Hartinger is the award-winning author of a number of novels, mostly for and about teens, including Geography Club (2003) and five companion books, The Last Chance Texaco (2004); Grand & Humble (2006); Project Sweet Life (2008); and Shadow Walkers (2011).

He applied the Page 69 Test to his latest book, Three Truths and a Lie, and reported the following:
Three Truths and a Lie is a young adult novel -- part horror novel, part twisty puzzle box thriller. It's the story of four teenagers who spend a weekend in a remote cabin in the rainforests of Washington State, and soon find themselves terrorized by some locals. Or is it the locals? It soon becomes clear that nothing in the rainforest is exactly what it appears, and none of the teens is telling the whole truth about anything.

Page 69 is right in the middle of the spot in the book when the characters play the party game Three Truths and a Lie, the night they first arrive at the cabin. The whole point of the game is for the players to see how good a liar they are, and also judge the lying abilities of the other players. I like this scene a lot, because there's a lot more going on than meets the eye -- not just between the players themselves, but also between me and the reader. Suffice to say that there is a hell of a lot of lying going on in this scene! But what exactly is going on won't be clear until you finish the novel.
Visit Brent Hartinger's website.

--Marshal Zeringue