"Titan’s Day"

Dan Stout lives in Columbus, Ohio, where he writes about fever dreams and half-glimpsed shapes in the shadows. His prize-winning fiction draws on his travels throughout Europe, Asia, and the Pacific Rim, as well as an employment history spanning everything from subpoena server to assistant well driller.

Stout applied the Page 69 Test to his new novel, Titan’s Day, and reported the following:

The page itself sets the scene for the chapter, then moves into dialogue between three of the book's major characters: Detective Carter, his partner Ajax, and Divination Officer Guyer. Here's an excerpt:

I figured I’d be better off saying something charming, to break the ice. “You putting in some serious hours? You look terrible.”

She gave me a befuddled smile. “Seriously?”

Jax slipped into one of open seats and propped his chin on his hands. “I think he means that you look like someone who’s so far gone past exhaustion that you’ve come back round the other side.”

Her smile grew more steady, and I decided to push my luck.

“You know,” I said, “we’ve got this Jane Doe case that could really use some of your expertise.”

“Ask me later.” Her eyes tracked the fall of my shoulders and she conceded slightly. “Look, I’ll review the murder book, but you know I can’t do any kind of divination without authorization.”

Page 69 of Titan's Day is a curious case. It's the start of Chapter Six, and focuses on a quiet moment in the wake of a particularly tense moment in Chapter Five. So page 69 doesn't have any of the noir sleuthing or fabulous 70s themed magic found in the rest of Titan's Day. That said, the book as a whole is about how the city of Titanshade is reacting to the events of the last book, and how those reactions echo an individual's path through the grieving process. So it's actually kind of fitting that this is a calm reaction beat.

Visit Dan Stout's website.

The Page 69 Test: Titanshade.

--Marshal Zeringue