0:01

The following is an excerpt from The Quiet

0:03

Room audiobook. The Quiet

0:05

Room is a brand new novel by

0:08

me, Terry Miles. It's the sequel

0:10

to my first novel, Rabbits. The

0:12

Quiet Room will be available wherever you

0:14

buy books on October 3rd.

0:24

The night was clear and cool, and

0:26

although the distant lights from a handful

0:29

of determined stars did their best to

0:31

cut through the dense urban haze of the city,

0:34

it was dark. The kind

0:36

of dark where all kinds of horrible shit

0:38

could happen. The tester

0:40

stepped from the passenger door of a black SUV

0:43

and instinctively pulled up the collar of

0:45

her gray jacket against a light rain

0:48

that hadn't started to fall, but would

0:50

do so presently. She

0:53

was on her way to administer the

0:55

test. She hadn't tested

0:57

anyone new in over a year. The

0:59

fact that she was doing so now was

1:02

none of her concern. She was

1:04

hired to administer the test. Nothing

1:08

more. Ask the questions. Record

1:11

the answers. Submit the card.

1:13

Glass of wine. That

1:16

last one wasn't part of the protocol, of course,

1:18

but it had been a long day and she hadn't

1:21

had a drink for weeks. She'd

1:23

asked for something on the plane, but they weren't

1:25

serving alcohol for some reason. The

1:28

lack of alcohol wasn't the end of the world.

1:31

It was a short flight, two hours

1:33

from San Francisco to Seattle, but

1:35

still, flying without drinking

1:38

felt almost uncivilized. She'd

1:41

been to Seattle once before, as a child.

1:44

It was the first time she'd seen an ocean. She

1:47

remembered picking up broken seashells

1:49

and flipping over rocks to chase the tiny

1:52

crabs that would appear from the sand beneath

1:54

the rocks, as if by magic.

1:57

She wondered, as she approached a wooden

1:59

door. in the middle of a low red brick

2:02

building if she'd have time to visit

2:04

the Pike Place Market or maybe

2:06

the Space Needle. She knocked

2:08

twice and waited for a response.

2:12

"'Come in,' said a low raspy

2:14

voice from the other side." She

2:17

opened the door and stepped into a small

2:19

waiting area. There

2:21

was a man standing there. He

2:24

was about 40 years old, tall

2:26

and athletic, with a thick frame

2:28

and curly black hair. He

2:30

looked like a generic government agent

2:33

straight out of central casting, except

2:35

for the fact that his dark gray suit fit

2:38

him a whole lot better than she'd ever seen on an

2:40

agent. There was something sharp

2:42

and dangerous about his eyes. He

2:45

handed her a clipboard that included a pen,

2:48

along with a Phase 4 testing

2:50

form, then turned and started

2:52

walking away. Phase 4.

2:56

They didn't get many of those. She

2:58

pressed the clipboard against her leg and

3:01

followed. The man led

3:03

her down a dark, narrow hallway

3:05

that eventually doglegged into another

3:07

slightly wider and much brighter hall.

3:10

There were a number of doors on either side,

3:13

each labeled with a wide strip of white

3:15

tape, featuring a collection of arcane

3:18

symbols written in black Sharpie. The

3:21

tester thought she may have recognized some

3:23

of the symbols, but she wasn't really

3:25

paying attention. She knew the

3:27

rooms were empty. That

3:29

wasn't why she was here. Not

3:32

this time. Her guide

3:34

stopped at the end of the hallway in front of a

3:36

wide gray metal door, knocked

3:39

and then nodded at the tester. How

3:42

long? She asked. As

3:45

long as it takes. He

3:47

turned and walked back down the hall. When

3:50

she could no longer hear the sound of his footsteps,

3:53

the tester took a slow, deep

3:56

breath

3:57

and opened the door. It

3:59

took her over. eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness,

4:02

but eventually everything slipped into

4:04

focus. The room

4:06

was about 25 feet square.

4:09

A small rectangular metal table with

4:12

two matching chairs sat in the center, and

4:14

the walls were covered with dark gray soundproofing

4:17

foam. Seated at the table

4:20

in the metal chair farthest from the door

4:22

was the subject of the test, a

4:25

woman wearing black-framed Ray-Ban

4:27

glasses, faded jeans, and

4:29

a loose-fitting cream-colored

4:31

long-sleeved shirt.

4:33

Her long auburn hair had been pulled

4:35

back into a thick ponytail, her

4:38

arms were crossed, and she looked pissed

4:40

off. The tester figured she had

4:42

to be somewhere between 35 and 40

4:45

years old. 37, she

4:48

thought. She could check the file,

4:50

of course, but she liked to guess.

4:59

Hey everyone, it's been

5:01

a minute and I wanted to reach out for a couple of reasons.

5:04

First things first, TAN-US season 6

5:07

and season 7 are coming. I apologize

5:10

for the delay, we're going as fast as

5:12

we can, I promise. We'll update

5:14

you as soon as we have a firm release date on TAN-US.

5:17

We're also working on the Rabbits podcast season 3

5:19

and the last movie season 3.

5:23

Now, the second thing is

5:25

the second book by my cousin Terry

5:27

Miles. The book is called The

5:29

Quiet Room. It's a sequel to Rabbits.

5:31

It's going to be released Tuesday, October 3rd.

5:35

If you dig TAN-US, the Rabbits podcast,

5:37

the black tapes, or the last movie, you'll

5:39

probably dig the Rabbits novels as well.

5:42

The Quiet Room and Rabbits are available

5:44

wherever fine books are sold. You

5:47

can find all the information on everything at TerryMiles.com.

5:51

Thank you so much for listening. Stay

5:53

subscribed. We'll be back soon. And,

5:56

of course, as always, keep

5:59

looking. identified

6:08

being way

6:13

war room