and has worked in British television for more than twenty years. As a writer, director and producer he’s made several award-winning shows, one of which won a BAFTA. He lives in England with his wife and family, where he is permanently at work on his next novel.
Toyne applied the Page 69 Test to The Clearing, the second suspense novel featuring forensic expert Laughton Rees, and reported the following:
From page 69:Learn more about the book and author at Simon Toyne's website, Facebook page, Twitter perch, and Instagram page.She feels the breeze and opens her eyes, blinks a few times to make sure they are actually open, then turns her head, feeling for the breath of moving air in the darkness. It had come from her left she thinks, away from the wall with the roots snaking out of it and deeper into the unknown dark.This extract is pretty bang on, actually, in terms of giving a flavour of the book. It comes from a chapter that takes us directly into the experience of the missing person at the heart of The Clearing. These short chapters intercut with the main investigation narrative, where my main character, Dr. Laughton Rees, works with the sister of the missing woman to try and find out what happened to her, and, by extension, what happened to all the women who have disappeared in the forest over the past twenty years.
She listens for a moment to the white-noise nothingness of the silence then reaches out with both hands and moves her arms in small circles as she feels the way ahead. It is too cold to stay still anyway, better to keep moving, keep exploring the space and looking for a way out. Besides, she learned a long time ago that the power of the dark to frighten lies not in the absence of light but in the fear of what it might contain. Knowledge is power, she read that somewhere too, so if she can discover what this darkness contains then she will remove its power to frighten.
Her hand touches something new and she fights the urge to snatch it away.
Knowledge is power, she murmurs.
Not knowing is where the fear leaks in.
She stands perfectly still for a moment, heart hammering in her chest, then slowly she flattens out her hand until her palm is pressing against the object. It is perfectly flat and smooth, and the warmth of her skin reflects back from its surface like it’s a plank or a wooden board.
Man-made, her mind whispers, and the realization that this dark place is not entirely natural makes the fear stir again in her chest.
The whole book is built around this search so this chapter gives a perfect snapshot of the central mystery and places the reader in the mind of the trapped victim. The woman in this chapter is in total darkness, which also reflects the position of the sister trying to find her. Both cannot see clearly, or at all at this early stage of the book, but both will gradually gain insight as the story progresses – as will we.
Writing chapters in the dark is also a great way to tap into our primordial fear of the darkness, and forces me to describe things through the other senses – taste, sound, touch, smell – making the victims chapters more of a tentative, sensory experience, adding to the texture and tension within the novel.
The Page 69 Test: Sanctus.
The Page 69 Test: The Tower.
The Page 69 Test: The Searcher.
--Marshal Zeringue
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