"Hiding Place"

Meghan Holloway found her first Nancy Drew mystery in a sun-dappled attic at the age of eight and subsequently fell in love with the grip and tautness of a well-told mystery. She flew an airplane before she learned how to drive a car, did her undergrad work in Creative Writing in the sweltering south, and finished a Masters of Library and Information Science in the blustery north. She spent a summer and fall in Maine picking peaches and apples, traveled the world for a few years, and did a stint fighting crime in the records section of a police department.

Holloway applied the Page 69 Test to her latest thriller, Hiding Place, and reported the following:

From page 69:

Looking back, I could not imagine being that painfully young and unaware of the world ever again. But at the time, it was our own Bacchanalia, and the laughter and highs—drug induced or not—we shared in those years were something I could still smile about, though now it was bittersweet. I had more fun with Mary in those years than I ever had.

Until the night I looked across the club. There was a gap in the writhing bodies glistening in the strobe lights. The pulse of the music was heavy and driving, and with the aid of the coke still singing in my system, it felt exciting and primal. I knew who he was. The highest level of society was a small set. He did not look away when I met his gaze, and I was caught in his stare as he placed his drink on the bar and cut through the crowd toward where Mary and I sat.

Someone bumped into him, but he never wavered from his path. When a girl danced in front of him, he grasped her shoulders and moved her aside. The entire time, I was snared by his eyes. At the time, I thought the heat of his gaze was the sexiest thing I had ever seen. Now, if someone stared at me with that amount of intensity, I would recognize him for what he was: a predator.

As he walked through the club, my breath caught in my throat. I did not have a sense of self-preservation at that point, but I remembered that moment with startling clarity. I stared at him and thought, This is it. This man changes everything.

And he did.

When I started writing Hunting Ground, I wondered who was this mysterious innkeeper who showed up on the page. She obviously had secrets. Her son was clearly traumatized. She has a small arsenal and a safe room tucked away in her home. Both my curiosity and Evelyn’s were piqued.

I was so excited to delve into Faye’s story in Hiding Place. Her tale is deeply introspective and filled with tension and twists. This scene from page 69 gives readers a flavor of her past and her struggles. She was far more damaged than I expected and far more ferocious. She surprised me, and I hope she will do the same to you.

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The Page 69 Test: Once More Unto the Breach.

The Page 69 Test: Hunting Ground.

--Marshal Zeringue