Thursday, October 28, 2021

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings

16


It's Friday . . . time to share book excerpts with:
  • Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.  
  • The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice, where you grab a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% of an eBook), find one or more interesting sentences (no spoilers), and post them.

Today I'm featuring an upcoming read, The Stranger Behind You by Carol Goodman. The excerpts shared are from a trade paperback borrowed from the library.

The Stranger Behind You

Beginning:  Prologue

I have noticed in my professional capacity that when someone makes a point of saying that they're not lying, that usually means they are.

********************  

Page 56: I pack up the notebooks and folders I've amassed over three years, stuffing them indiscriminately into boxes because I can't read my own handwritten labels. They fill two boxes, which I take, along with a few boxes of books and two suitcases, in an Uber up the West Side Highway on a rainy day in the first week of August.

********************  

My thoughts:  I am drawn to the description and plot synopsis of this novel, particularly the possible links between past and present. It's also an opportunity to try a new-to-me author.

********************  

From GoodReads: In the tradition of Daphne du Maurier, Michelle Richmond, and Shari Lapena, comes the newest mystery thriller from Edgar Award–winning, bestselling author Carol Goodmana twisty, chilling story set in a former Magdalen Laundry in Manhattan that explores today’s #MeToo complexities.

It’s taken Joan Lurie three years to write her article exposing a famous newspaper tycoon as a sexual predator. On the eve of its publication, she celebrates at a party thrown in her honor and is riding high…only to be brutally attacked as she is returning home late that night. Traumatized and suffering the effects of a concussion, she moves to a highly secure new apartment building in northern Manhattan called the Refuge. Safely sequestered away, she tries to begin writing a book that expands her much-lauded exposé.

At the Refuge, Joan encounters a frail 96-year-old woman who has been living in the building since the 1940s when it was a Magdalen Laundry and Refuge for Fallen Women. When Lillian first arrived, she was hiding out from the infamous Murder, Inc mobsters. As Lillian relates her story about the long-ago incriminating incident she witnessed that forced her into hiding, Joan recalls certain details of her own investigation.

The more Joan learns about Lillian and the fabled story of the Refuge, the more she realizes they may be linked to the book she is writing—and to her attacker that fateful night. As Joan starts to connect the clues and unravel decades worth of history, she must stay one step ahead of those who are desperate to make sure Joan never uncovers the final truth.




*******************

This Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution. 

© 2021 Book Club Librarian All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Book Club Librarian without attribution, know that this post has been stolen and was used without permission.

 

6 comments:

  1. This sounds very intriguing and like a perfect Halloween read, a little spooky and all about the past and present intermingling! I hope you enjoy this one and thanks for sharing :)
    Juli @ A Universe in Words

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ooh, putting the name Daphne du Maurier in a synopsis is very clever and tantalizing!
    Mine is a historical novel/bio set in France: https://francebooktours.com/2021/10/26/katherines-wish-first-chapter-first-paragraph-book-beginnings/
    Do you like it? Fee free to request your copy and review it in your own time.
    You can also enter the giveaway

    ReplyDelete
  3. I loved this book! Hope you enjoy it, too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. That beginning is too teu! Sounds like agreat read!! Happy Halloween weekend!

    ReplyDelete