The following is an excerpt from The Quiet Room audiobook. The Quiet Room is a brand new novel by me, Terry Miles. It's the sequel to my first novel, Rabbits. The Quiet Room will be available wherever you buy books on October 3rd. The night was clear and cool, And although the distant lights from a handful of determined stars did their best to cut through the dense urban haze of the city, it was dark. The kind of dark where all kinds of horrible shit could happen. The tester stepped from the passenger door of a black SUV and instinctively pulled up the collar of her gray jacket against a light rain that hadn't started to fall, but would do so presently. She was on her way to administer the test. She hadn't tested anyone new in over a year. The fact that she was doing so now was none of her concern. She was hired to administer the test. Nothing more. Ask the questions. Record the answers. Submit the card. Glass of wine. That last one wasn't part of the protocol, of course, but it had been a long day and she hadn't had a drink for weeks. She'd asked for something on the plane, but they weren't serving alcohol for some reason. The lack of alcohol wasn the end of the world It was a short flight two hours from San Francisco to Seattle But still flying without drinking felt almost uncivilized She'd been to Seattle once before, as a child. It was the first time she'd seen an ocean. She remembered picking up broken seashells and flipping over rocks to chase the tiny crabs that would appear from the sand beneath the rocks, as if by magic. She wondered, as she approached a wooden door in the middle of a low, red brick building, if she'd have time to visit the Pike Place Market, or maybe the Space Needle. She knocked twice and waited for a response. Come in, said a low, raspy voice from the other side. She opened the door and stepped into a small waiting area. There was a man standing there. He was about 40 years old, tall and athletic, with a thick frame and curly black hair. He looked like a generic government agent straight out of central casting, except for the fact that his dark gray suit fit him a whole lot better than she'd ever seen on an agent. There was something sharp and dangerous about his eyes. He handed her a clipboard that included a pen, along with a phase four testing form, then turned and started walking away. Phase four. They didn't get many of those. She pressed the clipboard against her leg and followed The man led her down a dark narrow hallway that eventually dog into another slightly wider and much brighter hall There were a number of doors on either side each labeled with a wide strip of white tape featuring a collection of arcane symbols written in black sharpie. The tester thought she may have recognized some of the symbols, but she wasn't really paying attention. She knew the rooms were empty. That wasn't why she was here. Not this time. Her guide stopped at the end of the hallway in front of a wide gray metal door, knocked, and then nodded at the tester. How long? She asked. As long as it takes. He turned and walked back down the hall. When she could no longer hear the sound of his footsteps, the tester took a slow, deep breath and opened the door. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness, but eventually everything slipped into focus. The room was about 25 feet square. A small rectangular metal table with two matching chairs sat in the center, and the walls were covered with dark gray soundproofing foam. Seated at the table in the metal chair farthest from the door was the subject of the test. A woman wearing black framed Ray-Ban glasses, faded jeans, and a loose fitting cream colored long sleeved shirt. Her long auburn hair had been pulled back into a thick ponytail. Her arms were crossed and she looked pissed off The tester figured she had to be somewhere between 35 and 40 years old 37 she thought She could check the file of course but she liked to guess Hey everyone, it's been a minute and I wanted to reach out for a couple of reasons. First things first, Tana Season 6 and Season 7 are coming. I apologize for the delay. We're going as fast as we can, I promise. We'll update you as soon as we have a firm release date on Tannis. We're also working on The Rabbits Podcast Season 3 and The Last Movie Season 3. Now, the second thing is the second book by my cousin, Terry Miles. The book is called The Quiet Room. It's a sequel to Rabbits. It's going to be released Tuesday, October 3rd. If you dig Tannis, The Rabbit's Podcast, The Black Tapes, or The Last Movie, you'll probably dig the Rabbit's novels as well. The Quiet Room and Rabbits are available wherever fine books are sold. You can find all the information on everything at TerryMiles.com. Thank you so much for listening. Stay subscribed. We'll be back soon. And, of course, as always, keep looking. Thank you.
