He applied the Page 69 Test to his debut novel, The Metropolis Case, and reported the following: On Page 69 of the book, one of the main characters (Martin) is a teenager who's torn between pleasing his mother (who's more interested in "high art" such as opera and ballet) and his father, who's more interested in Martin's development as a hockey player. Although Martin ends up siding with his father on this particular day (he's playing with his team at a tournament in Buffalo and because the team is doing better than expected, Martin has to miss going to a performance his mother wants to take him to), he feels badly about disappointing his mother. A quote: "While it pained Martin to picture his mother on the other end of the line, he also didn't want to leave, and he appreciated his father's ability to deal with a thorny situation." I think this kind of conflict between our ideals and the practical difficulties in achieving them is very representative of the book as a whole, along with the idea that the inevitable disappointments and turmoil in our lives can help us to empathize with others. So yes, my hope is that someone for whom these themes resonate would be interested in finding out more about the particular fate of Martin and the other characters in the book.Read an excerpt from The Metropolis Case, and learn more about the book and author at Matthew Gallaway's website.
Visit the complete list of books in the Page 69 Test Series.
--Marshal Zeringue