before spending nearly a decade in New York City as a marketing executive for technology companies. An avid traveler, Peterson now splits her time between Manhattan and the Midwest, where she lives with her husband, Ken; their dog, Olive; and horse, Hope.
She applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Killing Sadie, with the following results:
While the Page 69 Test is new to me as an author and reader, I think it holds a lot of truth for Killing Sadie. My writing style is very stream of conscious, with our cast of unreliable teen narrators constantly surprising me! That means I was honestly curious where page 69 might take us in this twisty thriller … okay, here we go!Visit Rachel Peterson's website.
Flipping to page 69 of Killing Sadie, we find ourselves in the middle of a flashback before the murder from bestie Liz. The page features an exchange between Sadie and her twin sister Jayne talking about the upcoming McClain family barn party – the party where everything happens – and Liz hints (via internal dialogue) at the biggest mistake she ever made from her party girl days. Murder? Maybe.
Jayne shares a haunting, deliciously foreboding line just after agreeing to cover for Sadie and Liz so they can go to the party:“What are sisters for? I swear to God, though, you’d better not do anything too crazy tonight. I don’t mind covering for you, but it’s a lot easier if things stay chill at Trevor’s.”I will say, giving credit to Marshall McLuhan and his Page 69 Test, that this page does give readers a good idea of Killing Sadie, but I think moreover, makes us crave the page turn to 70, which is even better!
I let out a short laugh.
“Something funny?” Jayne asks.
“No, it just … Come on, when has anything about Trevor’s ever been chill?”
My Book, The Movie: Killing Sadie.
Writers Read: Rachel Peterson.
Q&A with Rachel Peterson.
--Marshal Zeringue