"Crazed"

Jacob Stone is the byline chosen by award-winning author Dave Zeltserman for his new Morris Brick series of serial-killer thrillers. His crime, mystery and horror fiction has won top praise and has been translated into six languages.

His novels Small Crimes and Pariah were both named by the Washington Post as best books of the year. Small Crimes topped National Public Radio's list of best crime and mystery novels of 2008 and is being made into a feature film.

Stone applied the Page 69 Test to his new novel Crazed, the second Morris Black thriller, and reported the following:

Page 69 falls at the end of a chapter and only has 6 lines, so I'll make this a Page 68 test instead. Serial killer Griffin Bolling has traveled from Seattle to LA cutting a bloody path along the way. On page 68 he's alone with Sheila Proops, my wheelchair-bound serial killer from Deranged who escaped prosecution. Griffin has always killed in the shadows, and he has taken offense at the publicity Sheila has generated and he had traveled to LA to kill her. Now that he's alone with her, he's beginning to feel enough of an affinity to her that he plans to kill Sheila's caregiver when the woman returns before turning his attentions to Sheila so that Sheila can enjoy one final kill. But Sheila is able to convince Griffin that he had a very different reason for seeking her out. The twisted nature of this page, along with the hints of violence and suspense, make this highly representative of the rest of the book. I'd think a crime thriller reader would be hooked if they read this page.

Visit Dave Zeltserman's website.

My Book, The Movie: Deranged.

The Page 69 Test: Deranged.

My Book, The Movie: Crazed.

Writers Read: Jacob Stone.

--Marshal Zeringue