"The Missing Passenger"

Jack Heath is the author of several books, including the Danger series, the Fero Files, the Ashley Arthur series, the Agent Six of Hearts series, the Liars series, and The Mysterious World of Cosentino series. He lives in Darwin, Australia.

Heath applied the Page 69 Test to The Missing Passenger, the newly released sequel to The Truth App, and reported the following:

On page 69 of The Missing Passenger (the Australian edition of it, anyhow) - the teenage Jarli Durras is trying to work out how to help Doug, a school bully and also the victim of a lie-detector app Jarli created. Doug was in witness protection, until the app exposed him. Now his family may have been assassinated by the crime lord known as Viper. "You remember that Doug's a jerk, right?" says Jarli's friend Bess. "It's not your job to help him." Jarli thinks, It's not about who he is, it's about who I am.

I think people opening the book to this page may get a sense of the book's plot, but not its tone. The Missing Passenger (sequel to The Truth App) is an action thriller, through and through. It's unusual to find a page where the heroes aren't running for their lives. Still, it's a neat summary of who Jarli is. He's honest - too honest, sometimes - and he does the right thing, regardless of the consequences. You could argue that a moral act isn't a moral act if it's sure to have negative consequences, but Jarli wouldn't believe you.

Visit Jack Heath's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Truth App.

--Marshal Zeringue