First Chapter ~ First Paragraph

It's Tuesday . . . time for . . .

                                                      

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea, where bloggers post the first paragraph(s) of a book they are currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.

Today I'm featuring my current read, Every Breath You Take by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke, borrowed from the library.  

 

Prologue

Three Years Ago

 

On an unusually cold and wintery Monday evening, sixty-eight-year-old Virginia Wakeling was making her way slowly through the costume gallery of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  As she wandered through the exhibitions, she had no premonition that the glamorous evening would end in tragedy.

 

Or that she had only four hours to live.

 

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?
I'm a huge Mary Higgins Clark fan, and this book follows her signature style of drawing readers in immediately.  The New York City setting is an added bonus for me.


This First Chapter ~ First Paragraph post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution.  Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph

It's Tuesday . . . time for . . .

                                                      

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea, where bloggers post the first paragraph(s) of a book they are currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.  

Today I'm featuring my current read, All By Myself, Alone by Mary Higgins Clark, borrowed from the library.

 

 

Day One

1

The magnificent cruise liner Queen Charlotte was about to leave on her maiden voyage from  her berth on the Hudson River.  Promised to be the epitome of luxury, she was compared to both the first Queen Mary and even the Titanic, which had been the height of luxury one hundred years earlier.  

One by one the passengers filed aboard, checked in and were invited to the Grand Lounge, where they were met by white-gloved waiters offering champagne.  When the last guest had come aboard, Captain Fairfax gave a speech of welcome.  

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?

In this story, an interesting cast of characters populates the cabins of an ultra-luxurious cruise ship bound for Southampton, England.  Each passenger has their own secrets and a reason to benefit if a certain passenger doesn't survive the week-long trans-Atlantic passage.  When the murder of that passenger is discovered, the quest to find the killer begins.  

 I am thoroughly enjoying this murder mystery--the latest in a long line of novels from one of the U.S.'s most popular and never disappointing author. 

This First Chapter ~ First Paragraph post was originally written and published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution.  Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.

First Paragraph ~ First Chapter

It's Tuesday . . . time for . . .

                                                      

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea, where bloggers post the first paragraph(s) of a book they are currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.

Today I'm featuring my current read, As Time Goes By, the latest mystery from bestselling author Mary Higgins Clark, borrowed from the library.

 

 Goodreads Page 

Prologue

The first wail of the infant was so penetrating that the two couples outside the birthing room of midwife Cora Banks gasped in unison.  James and Jennifer Wright's eyes lit up with joy.  Relief and resignation formed the expression on the faces of Rose and Martin Ryan, whose seventeen-year-old daughter had just given birth.

The couples knew each other as the Smiths and the Joneses.  Neither one had any desire to know the true identity of the other.  A full fifteen minutes later they were still waiting anxiously to see the newborn child.

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?   

Having been a fan of hers for years, I never miss the chance to read the latest MHC mystery.  In this new novel, the search for a birth mother intersects a murder trial, with the author's trademark fast-paced plot revealing other mysteries to be solved along the way.  Clark's quirky characters Alvirah Meehan and her husband Willy are featured prominently in the story.

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution. Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.

 

Waiting on Wednesday: Little Pretty Things

   

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature of the Breaking the Spine blog.  It's a great way to share information about forthcoming books with other readers.  Today I'm featuring Little Pretty Things by Lori Rader-Day, author of The Black Hour.

  

Publisher:  Prometheus Books

Publication Date:  July 7, 2015

From barnesandnoble.com:  OLD RIVALRIES NEVER DIE. BUT SOME RIVALS DO. 

Juliet Townsend is used to losing. Back in high school, she lost every track team race to her best friend, Madeleine Bell. Ten years later, she’s still running behind, stuck in a dead-end job cleaning rooms at the Mid-Night Inn, a one-star motel that attracts only the cheap or the desperate. But what life won’t provide, Juliet takes. 

Then one night, Maddy checks in. Well-dressed, flashing a huge diamond ring, and as beautiful as ever, Maddy has it all. By the next morning, though, Juliet is no longer jealous of Maddy—she’s the chief suspect in her murder.

To protect herself, Juliet investigates the circumstances of her friend’s death. But what she learns about Maddy’s life might cost Juliet everything she didn’t realize she had.

Which book are you waiting for?

...Will you add this one to your list of must-reads?

Waiting on Wednesday: Little Pretty Things was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution.  (Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are encouraged.)

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #25

It's Friday . . . time to share excerpts from one of my current reads 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.

This week's selection:

   

Beginning:  CHAPTER ONE

"Got a light?"  I asked the bulky man silhouetted against the gray night sky and the faint glimmer of the Serpentine.  His hand in his pocket, scritch of a match, then blue light fractured and illuminated blunt features, small dark eyes, a heavy brow ridge, and a certain brutality of expression that sent my heart pumping with the frisson of danger: better than I hoped.  "Thanks."  Darkness again.  I took a quick drag of the cigarette, risking my asthmatic lungs for courtesy.  "Nice night."

 

This book combines many of my favorite elements--historical fiction, mystery, imagined scenarios featuring a real, larger-than-life character, and London during World War II.  All of these factors make this an appealing story. 

 

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Page 56:  "Though a hopeful gambler, Arnold was old enough to know the odds--in wagers and in life."

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From barnesandnoble.com:  A killer takes refuge in the blacked-out streets of wartime London, upending the world of one of Britain’s greatest painters in this chilling and captivating reimagining of the life of Francis Bacon.

 

Francis Bacon walks the streets of World War II London, employed as a warden for the ARP to keep watch for activities that might tip off the Axis powers. Before the war, Bacon had traveled to Berlin and Paris picking up snatches of culture from a succession of middle-aged men charmed by his young face. Known for his flamboyant personal life and expensive taste, Bacon has returned home to live with his former nanny—who’s also his biggest collector—in a cramped bohemian apartment.

But one night, death intrudes on his after-hours paradise. When a young man is found dead in the park, his head smashed in, Bacon and the rest of London’s demimonde realize that they have much more to fear than the faraway scream of war.

Enjoy life with books . . .

 

Catherine

 

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #25 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.   

 

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #23

It's Friday . . . time to share excerpts from one of my current reads 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.

This week's selection:

   

Beginning:  Chapter 1 Material Witness

 

It started at one thirty on a cold Tuesday morning in January when Martin Turner, street performer and, in his own words, apprentice gigolo, tripped over a body in front of the West Portico of St. Paul's at Covent Garden.

 

There are quite a few curiosities in this first sentence:  Who is Martin Turner?  How does one sign on to become an apprentice gigolo?  Does Martin Turner think of this as a career advancement?  Whose body is in front of St. Paul's?

 

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Page 56:  "I took a pull from my pint and waited.  Nightingale smiled again and sipped his own drink.  'Once you cross this particular Rubicon there will be no going back,' he said."

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From barnesandnoble.com:  Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut. But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic. 

 

Enjoy life with books . . .

 

Catherine
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Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #23 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.  

 

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #19

 
It's Friday . . . time to share excerpts from one of my current reads 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.

This week's selection:

Beginning:  That neglected triangle where the Camden, Holloway and Caledonian Roads intersect, long oppressed by soot and the continuous rumble of the railway, its bounds set by the gloomy bulk of the women's prison and the desolation of the empty Livestock Market, had been done for long before the Hitler War blasted every last vestige of respectability to smithereens.  

 

My thoughts:  This book's cover is unusual because it provides the story's location, time frame, and a mysterious teaser.  The very long first sentence paints a stark picture of the town, and makes me curious about its post-war inhabitants.  

 

Siân Busby died on September 4, 2012, a year before the publication of this, her last, novel.  The author dedicated the book: "For my darling boys, with all my love."  It includes an introduction written by her husband, Robert Peston, a touching commentary on Busby's life and work.  

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Page 56:  Why were there always so many obstacles in her life?  Why did nothing ever go right for her?  She knew that she ought to be grateful for them all having come through the war when so many others hadn't; she ought to be grateful, but she really wasn't.  This was the deep, dark secret of her soul.

 

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From barnesandnoble.com: On a damp July morning in 1946, two schoolboys find a woman’s body in a bomb site in north London. The woman is identified as Lillian Frobisher, a wife and mother who lived in a war-damaged terrace a few streets away.

The police assume that Lil must have been the victim of a vicious sexual assault; but the autopsy finds no evidence of rape, and Divisional Detective Inspector Jim Cooper turns his attention to her private life.

How did Lil come to be in the bomb site – a well-known lovers’ haunt? If she had consensual sex, why was she strangled? Why was her husband seemingly unaware that she had failed to come home on the night she was killed?

In this gripping murder story, Siân Busby gradually peels away the veneer of stoicism and respectability to reveal the dark truths at the heart of postwar austerity Britain.

Enjoy life with books . . .

 

Catherine
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Google Friend Connect no longer exists.  If you are a new follower or previous GFC follower, please sign up to follow the Book Club Librarian Blog via Bloglovin'.  Let me know if you're a new follower and leave me a link to your blog so that I can follow you back.  Thanks!
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Follow me on Twitter: @bookclubreader

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #19 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.