The debut of her Jo Larsen series, Walk Into Silence, was a #1 Kindle bestseller in the US and the UK, and #3 in Australia.McBride applied the Page 69 Test to her new book, Walk A Crooked Line, the second Jo Larsen novel, and reported the following:
The set-up, as we reach page 69, is that Jo Larsen and her partner Hank Phelps are investigating the suicide of a 15-year-old girl named Kelly Amster. Kelly apparently took a dive from the old water tower in tiny Plainfield, Texas, just a few weeks after the new school year started. Though they have not recovered Kelly’s phone, the detectives have been given Kelly’s school-issued laptop, which they’re hoping will yield some clues as to why the girl committed suicide. Only, the laptop is beyond dead. The department has recently hired the captain’s niece, Bridget, who’s interning while she pursues an advanced degree in digital forensics. Jo is hoping Bridget can help them out.Learn more about the book and author at Susan McBride's website.
“I’ll see what I can do to get it running,” Bridget said and took the laptop from her. “It could have a corrupted memory or bootloader, or maybe it’s a virus.” She glanced at the Post-it note stuck to the lid, checking both sides of it. “Looks like I’ve got everything I need. I’ll let you know when I get in.”I love this snippet, because the brief levity is like taking a breath in a novel that touches on some very serious topics: namely, suicide, bullying, and abuse in various forms. I don’t think I could write anything without spots of humor, because it’s how I deal with dark stuff in my own life. And Jo Larsen definitely has a lot of darkness (and demons) to deal with as she turns over some nasty rocks to figure out what—or who—pushed Kelly Amster to her death.
When, not if. Jo liked her already.
“May the Force be with you,” she said.
Bridget smiled. “Thanks.”
Well, heck, she had a Death Star pencil holder, and she was wearing a T-shirt with Yoda and the phrase, Do or Do Not…There Is No Try.
Bridget pulled her headphones back on, and Jo left her to do her magic.
She had other fish to fry.
My Book, The Movie: Walk a Crooked Line.
Writers Read: Susan McBride.
--Marshal Zeringue