"A Conspiracy of Ravens"

Terrence P. McCauley is an award-winning writer of crime fiction and thrillers.

He applied the Page 69 Test to the third novel in his University Series, A Conspiracy of Ravens, and reported the following:

From page 69:

“But I thought you said Scott would spell him if—”

“I’ve got other plans for Scott. And I need you here while I’m in the field.”

“Understood,” Jason said. “In the meantime, the Trustee contacted me a few minutes ago. She said she needs to speak to you. It’s urgent.”

Of course it is.

He groaned as he ran his hand over his face. The hand was rock-steady now.

Normally, he could picture his Carousel of Concern spinning at an orderly pace, each priority clearly presenting itself to be dealt with in an orderly fashion.

Now the goddamned thing had been blown to bits and he didn’t have the time to try to put it back together again. Now wasn’t the time for contemplation. It was the time for action.

But contemplation edged its way in anyway. He’d only been concerned about the attack. He hadn’t the time to think about why it happened until that very moment.

The facts began coming into focus on their own.

Roger had given him a lead on a Russian thug who called himself Boris.

OMNI showed Boris was tied to a mysterious thug named Wilhelm/Willus Tessmer.

Hicks had called Tayeb to start digging into Tessmer.

Tayeb’s facility went CROATOAN hours after that.

Then someone dropped a missile on his facility. A Russian squad had lased his building for it.

All of it was related. Only question was if the Vanguard or Russian contractors were working for Demerest.

Jason snapped him out of it. “Are you still there? The Trustee is waiting.”

“I’ll call her in a minute. In the meantime, find out what happened to Tayeb and his men. Look at media accounts, police channels, everything. I know OMNI’s reach is weak in that part of the world, but try it anyway. Call me if you get something definitive. Send me a report in an hour no matter what.”

“God,” Jason said. “You think all of this is related, don’t you?”

“I don’t know, and that’s what bothers me. And by the way, sorry for snapping at you just now. You saved my ass today.”

“No need to thank me. It’s my job.”

I think this test is a good representation of my novel, A Conspiracy of Ravens. It shows the constant turmoil Hicks faces as the University attempts to recover from a devastating surprise attack.

Visit Terrence McCauley's website.

My Book, The Movie: A Conspiracy of Ravens.

--Marshal Zeringue