For many years award-winning author Susan Fleet worked as a trumpeter in the Boston area. While teaching at Brown University and Berklee College of Music she began writing crime fiction. In 2001 she moved to New Orleans. Her first crime novel, Absolution, was named Best Mystery-Suspense-Thriller of 2009. Subsequent novels in her Frank Renzi series, Diva and Natalie’s Revenge, have won accolades from reviewers and readers alike. Jackpot is the fourth book in the series.
Susan blogs about true crime and has published twelve of her posts in an ebook. DARK DEEDS: Serial killers, stalkers and domestic homicides. http://darkdeeds.susanfleet.com/dark_deeds_book.html#.UYvV_MqYFaI
For nine years, Susan lived in New Orleans enjoying the music, food and ambiance of the French Quarter. She survived Katrina. She now divides her time between the Big Easy and Boston. Visit her at http://www.susanfleet.com
While teaching at Berklee, Susan created a course about 20th Century female musicians. Her book, Women Who Dared: Trailblazing 20th Century Musicians, spotlights violinist Maud Powell and trumpeter Edna White. http://susanfleet.com/women_who_dared-vol1.html See her profiles of other talented women at http://archives.susanfleet.com
You can stalk Susan at the links below:
Susan has some great book trailers. You can see them on her YouTube page.
ASIN: B014RQXMPW 20 reviews: Ave 4.4 out of 5 stars.
AMAZON BLURB
KIDNAPPING … MURDER … REVENGE
Donna and Hunter Gates appear to be the perfect power couple. He’s a wealthy New Orleans City Councilman. She’s a popular news anchor for a local TV station. One night when Hunter comes home, Donna and their two small children are gone. He asks NOPD Detective Frank Renzi to find them. Renzi soon uncovers a tangled web of lies.
Donna and Hunter both have dark secrets, secrets they will do anything to hide. Renzi fears Donna may already be dead. A ransom demand raises more questions. Is this a kidnapping? A cover-up for murder? Payback for past misdeeds? When one hostage is found brutally murdered, Renzi must unravel the Gates family secrets and find the killer before it’s too late.
Susan Fleet is also a huge music lover, so check out her website and learn more about her HERE.
If you would like to check out some of my reviews of her work, check out the links below:
I was very excited when I won a signed paperback of A Piece of You by D M Annechino. I love books about psycho serial killers and HE is a doozy. Suspense thrillers are my favorite genre and even the cover tells me this story may hold a piece of my heart. I love jigsaw puzzles and look forward to finding that missing piece.
A Piece of You by D M Annechino has all the elements I love, from the bloody cover with the missing piece, to the serial killer running AMOK within the pages. I mean…with a line like this:
He opened his duffle bag and removed a hacksaw, a utility knife and a thick towel. He whisered into her ear as if she was still alive. “I’m so sorry Theresa…All I want is A Piece of You.”
in the opening pages, I am HOOKED.
Sometimes when the justice system lets them down, a vigilante thinks it is up to them to right the wrong. HE is making a horrific statement and feels he has nothing to lose. I feel so bad for HIM, but no matter how I twist it, this cannot end well for him and rightly so.
A Piece of You also tells Sami’s story. Have you ever wondered how big someone’s heart can be? When it comes to Sami, the answer is HUGE! . I could not do what she does and I love her for it.
Sami is a tough and righteous homicide detective that will not be swayed from doing the right thing. For some reason, serial killers have become her specialty.
A Piece of You is the third book in the Sami Rizzo Thriller series, but reading out of order didn’t affect my enjoyment. The blanks are filled in and it only makes me want to go back and read what I missed.
I know the story and writing is fantastic, when it makes me fall in love with the villain, feeling his anguish, but knowing no matter what he does, his actions are futile and the price he will pay is high and I cannot stop reading, wondering how it will end.
I want more of Sami Rizzo’s and D M Annechino’s stories and I want them now.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Homicide Detective Sami Rizzo is at it again! She never dreamed “America’s Finest City,” would be tormented by yet another serial killer, but for the third time in the last five years a depraved maniac is stalking the streets of San Diego. Based on her qualifications and prior successes dealing with multiple murders, who else would Captain Davison assign to head the investigation? Different from Sami’s past experiences, this fanatic is like no other. His methods of killing defy everything profilers think they know about serial killers. As an intense investigation begins and bits and pieces of evidence emerge, no one can understand his motivation. He’s merciful, yet brutal. And just to make things even more confusing, all of his victims are blood-related. Is he settling a vendetta? Did he randomly pick a name out of the phone book and begin a rampage? Or is there a deeper story? Based on very little evidence and a lot of gut instincts, Detective Rizzo pieces together a complex puzzle and narrows the field of possible suspects. She learns that the killings may connect in some way to powerful people within the judicial system and doesn’t know who to trust. Ultimately, she comes face to face with the killer for a battle of brain and brawn. Can she outwit the shrewd killer, or will she be his next victim?
The gorgeous cover makes me feel I am stepping into EVIL in Thirteen to None by Claude Bouchard. Women take justice and there are no holds barred.
I was soooooo right!
MY REVIEW
Thirteen to None by Claude Bouchard is the 8th book in the Vigilante series. Even though it is a series, it is not necessary to read them in order. It is also the #3 Kindle Bestseller in Vigilante Justice and I can see why. I have watched and rewatched and rewatched Charles Bronson in his vigilante series. I love it…when justice is not served, sometimes it is necessary to take the law into our own hands.
The events take place in a week’s time and Thirteen to None is jam-packed with action. It starts out with a gang of thirteen sadistic killers leaving two burned bodies in their wake. When their men are taken…next on the blood thirsty killer list of victims…three women make it their mission to rescue them.
Thirteen to None contains some great twists that add that extra bit, making a novel stand out from the rest. This shocking thriller has a fantastic cast of characters, whether they are the lowest of the low or some of the most heroic and determined females I have had the pleasure to know. I am amazed at the story Claude Bouchard has created and wonder why I haven’t read his work before.
The storyline was written in an engrossing way, leaving me unable to put the book down until the last page had been read. Stupendous job, Claude! I want more.
DV Berkom is back today with her new prequel to the Leine Basso stand alone series, A Killing Truth. I have been very curious about Leine’s life as a government assassin, before she started chasing down serial killers, and now I get to know how she came to be the person she is today and the mind blowing betrayal that changed her life forever.
So come along on another grand adventure as the action and suspense take us down a long and ugly road of betrayal of the worst kind.
The Leine Basso series by DV Berkom is jam packed with action and adventure and Leine Basso is one badass protagonist that I would love to have on my side in my time of need. When I found out DV Berkom was going to write her story about before she started hunting down serial killers and taking out drug cartel, I thought, bring it on.
I have been looking forward to learning about Leine Basso before…
Leine Basso is an ex assassin, strong on the outside, yet soft on the inside, even though she does her best to hide it from everyone. She is super smart and does what needs to be down, no matter how tough the job.
What drove her to quit her government job as an assassin?
The betrayal by her boss leads to horrific consequences for Leine, so tragic, that it will haunt her for the rest of her life as she struggles to reconcile with her daughter. Will she ever be able to have a “normal” life…well, normal to her. You know love, a relationship, a man you can trust with your life. She has sacrificed so much, she deserves a chance at happiness…and DV…I believe you will give it to her. Right? LOL
I had wondered if I may be disappointed with A Killing Truth because I have been wanting to see how DV Berkom would write her story ever since I met Leine Basso. Now, I can breathe a sigh of relief. Disappointed? NO WAY. I am not surprised that this prequel is my favorite Leine Basso story yet. It explains her motivations, at the same time it is filled with action packed danger and suspense that kept me hanging on every word.
I found that I am happy I didn’t know her story before hand. It carries so much more meaning for me now and I feel her sense of betrayal and my anger makes me wonder how she could have ever allowed him to live and breathe. I am so pissed off, I don’t know how Leine manages. I never saw the twisted story that DV Berkom created and I love/hate it. I love it because it was such a horrible surprise that, in hindsight, I should have caught, but DV wrote it in such a way that shes slid it right by me. Excellent job! And I hate it because…well…you will have to read it to find out for yourself.
I received a copy of A Killing Truth by DV Berkom in return for an honest review.
Before serial killers and drug cartels, Leine faced the ultimate betrayal…
Leine eliminates terrorists for a living. After a routine assassination almost gets her killed, she chalks it up to a fluke. Her lover and fellow assassin, Carlos, has another idea altogether. He thinks their boss is setting them up for a fall.
When Carlos goes missing and a bombing thwarts another mission, Leine suspects the stakes are far higher than she could ever imagine, and wonders if the man in charge might have it in for her after all.
A Killing Truth is the prequel to the award-winning Leine Basso thriller series of crime novels. If you like no-nonsense heroines, page-turning plots, and twists you won’t see coming, then you’ll love D.V. Berkom’s tension-filled series.
Download A Killing Truth to find out how the story began…
ABOUT DV BERKOM
DV Berkom is a slave to the voices in her head. As the author of two popular thriller series (Leine Basso and Kate Jones), her love of creating resilient, kick-*ss female characters stems from a lifelong addiction to reading spy novels, mysteries, and thrillers, and longing to find the female equivalent within those pages.
Raised in the Midwest, she received her BA in political science from the University of Minnesota and promptly moved to Mexico to live on a sailboat. Many, many cross-country moves (and several years) later, she now lives just outside of Seattle, Washington with the love of her life, Mark, an ex-chef-turned contractor, and writes every chance she gets.
For more information, please visit her website at www.dvberkom.com.
. The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and find any sentence or a few ( no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.
Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.
Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.
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Next up on the shelf is Deep Water by S V Date, author of Smokeout.
No question, I grabbed this because of the cover…and title!
Book design by Meighan Cavanaugh
MY FRIDAY 56
“Oh, right,” Armstrong agreed. “They contract for their own police and fire protection, they can build their own airport, without state approval, or set up their own power grid or even build a nuclear power plant. They sure as hell don’t have to let me monitor their environmental compliance. They do, though, have to follow the general laws of Florida. So if I can show they’re violating water-quality laws, I can get a subpoena and bust ’em. I’m waiting on some water samples from a CI. If they show what I think they’ll show, then I can leak you the whole kit and caboodle You put it in the paper.”
(page 56 in hardcover)
MY BOOK BEGINNINGS
The blue sea kayak glided silently through tea-colored water as Irlo “Bobby” King let the paddle rest against his chest. Somewhere in the thick morning mist, not so far ahead now, was the lone acacia tree that, according to his earlier reconnaissance, marked the southern boundary of Africaland.
AMAZON SYNOPSIS
Smokeout’s bitingly entertaining portrait of a misbehaving Florida state legislature drew raves for both its inventiveness and timeliness, and the Providence Journal declared, “Carl Hiaasen may have an heir apparent.” Now, Date takes out after another cherished state institution, and the results are every bit as subversive.
In the “ideal” designed community of Serenity, Florida, pride of the late theme-park king Waldo Whipple, things are far from ideal. The houses are listing, the regulations are onerous, the mayor is lecherous, and the occasional Wild Dominion animal has started turning up dead. Graffiti is sprouting in odd places-“Serenityites Arise!” and “WWWS: What Would Waldo Say?”-and when a reporter begins poking around, he quickly discovers that Waldo’s successors have a decidedly different vision for America’s Hometown-and if certain people don’t stop interfering with it, animals won’t be the only things that start turning up dead. . . .
Filled with wicked humor and razor-sharp plotting, Deep Water is delightfully twisted-and maybe more plausible than any of us would like to think.
Westerns aren’t big on my hit list, but anything by the Lavenes and you can count me in. Those Who Walk in Darkness by Jim and Joyce Lavene is a step back in time, to the Wild West days of the Pinkertons. Beware, you’ll need a quick draw to survive.
Jacks is Julia. After her fiance died at her feet, she went to Allan Pinkerton. He said he would help her find the killer and hired her on the spot. Only two people know she is female, Allan Pinkerton, her boss, and Lil. Lil is a madame who recognized her femininity and felt a need to “mother” her. I can only imagine how hard it would be to change ALL your mannerisms. Cutting the hair and binding the breasts would be simple, but learning to walk, talk and act like a man would be much more difficult. She would have to be ever vigilant.
Jacks can take care of herself. She’s a cigar smoking, whiskey drinking, quick draw and is doing just fine, until Hume Boyd and Running Wolf. She preferred to work alone, but that would not be the case this time.
Now…what can I say about Hume. I can picture him, looking so young you wonder if he can even pick up a gun, naive, sweet and innocent and too eager for his own good.
I have a bad feeling about Boyd, but a good one about Running Wolf. With a name like that, I think we have some paranormal and mystical machinations coming up and I am looking forward to them. Jacks keeps denying the appearance of the raven, but we shall see.
The mystery unfolds and I am delighted to be teased…it can’t be him…too obvious, but he’s not a nice guy and that’s putting it mildly. So, what’s his beef? Okay, then how about…it could be him, and I waver back and forth. The big question is “Why?”
The characters are well developed and the mystery prolonged. I know something is coming…very soon. Even though I am expecting it, it’s still a shock when it happens. I jerk and gasp, laughing at myself for being caught off guard.
I have a love/hate feeling for the ending. The Lavene’s wrap this novel up in a neat package, but Jacks story lives on. There is no happy ever after and I will be more than glad to go on the next adventure to find out…who is the real Jacks.
This was a surprising 5 stars for me. When I began reading I was rating it a bit low, but it kept getting better and better. Fantastic writing and I would highly recommend Those Who Walk in Darkness by the Lavene’s for a great combination of multiple genres.
I received a copy of Those Who Walk in Darkness by Joyce and Jim Lavene in return for an honest review.
5 Stars
Synopsis
Three years ago, Julia Jackson was a well to do young woman from Boston whose fiancé, Jonathon, was killed right before her eyes. Obsessed with finding the killer, a man whose face she saw only in a flash as he walked up and shot Jonathon, she leaves her family and her life behind. She starts a new life as ‘Jacks’ Jackson—a cigar smoking, dead eye, female Pinkerton agent…pretending to be a man.
Now Allan Pinkerton needs Jacks to find the man who kidnapped the wife and son of a railroad official, David Boyd. Their only clues are the severed finger from the man’s wife, complete with wedding ring, and a map of the Qualla boundary, the Cherokee reservation in North Carolina.
Jacks doesn’t like the way the whole thing sounds from the beginning. David Boyd isn’t important enough to target for sherry fundina kidnapping. And why travel so far with two hostages?
But Pinkerton tells her that he believes the man responsible for the kidnapping worked with Jonathon’s murderer in a train robbery five years ago. Jacks agrees to go after the kidnapper with hopes of catching him before he can reach his home grounds.
Pinkerton insists that Jacks bring three men with her—Boyd, her new partner, and a Cherokee guide named Running Wolf, who’s always watching her, like he’s trying to figure it out.
Can Jacks catch the kidnapper with her secret—and her life—intact?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joyce and Jim Lavene write award-winning, bestselling mystery fiction as themselves, J.J. Cook, and Ellie Grant. They have written and published more than 70 novels for Harlequin, Berkley, Amazon, and Gallery Books along with hundreds of non-fiction articles for national and regional publications. They live in rural North Carolina with their family.
. Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of adailyrhythm.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current read. Open to a random page. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
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DV Berkom writes some amazing novels and Leine Basso, a retired assassin is my favorite character. This is a stand alone series.
In this novel…Everything’s For Sale…including women.
A retired assassin is called in when a celebration south of the border turns into a nightmare.
Former assassin Leine Basso is hired by a wealthy Beverly Hills power couple to find their missing daughter, Elise, last seen partying with her boyfriend at a club in Tijuana. At first, police believe the two teenagers are the victims of a carjacking. But when Leine finds their missing vehicle with the boyfriend’s mutilated body inside, and the local cartel warns her away, she knows if Elise isn’t already dead, she will be soon, or worse.
In the lethal world of organized crime, there’s always a worse.
As Leine races to uncover the reason behind Elise Bennett’s disappearance, she must also battle the powerful interests fighting to keep her from the truth.
Hidden Chamber of Death by Hawk MacKinney is Book I of the Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series. I love murder, mystery and suspense, so let’s see if we can solve this one.
I love to learn more about authors than what is listed in their bio and Hawk MacKinney is here today to share some of his thoughts. Welcome, Hawk.
What is your next project?
The Cairnes of Sainctuarie Series sci-fi… Volume 3
The Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series…Book 2/Book 3
The 3 manuscripts are in edit. Try to keep 3-5 manuscripts going at the same time. Lets me edit one while the others are on the shelf.
What’s the funniest thing that ever happened to you?
Funny in hindsight…at the time definitely NOT…early-teens…where one knows all the answers before learning one doesn’t even know the questions. Title this Halters and Bits. We raised horses and mules, mainly Quarter Horses…for rounding up/herding cows, calves, colts, heifers/heffers, & assorted yearlings. It was fall, corn cribbed; hay baled; fields ploughed & harrowed…which proved a good thing. My job…corral those brought from the pastures…among our colts—one young colt-stallion. Bareback was an okay-ride…NOT with the gaps down, a rope halter, no bit, and fence gates to the feed stalls wide open. It was plowed cornfield; the stallion decided he wanted me OFF; top of his stall would strike me right about my waist. He went to a full-out gallop. I bailed. Spit dirt clods, corn & corn shucks for a good 10 minutes. Never rode that sucker again without a bridle and spurs.
What is (your) writing schedule?
Up early before the crack of doom, 4-4:30a. Break for lunch, 3-4 hrs afternoon, another break, a couple of hrs. Turn in by 9:30-10p and loose my fantasies to resolve any conundrum dropped into the plot, or have a character I like do the unexpected. ALWAYS keep a note pad by my nightlight
What do you do for fun when not writing?
Read historical non-fiction or the latest quantum revelations out of CERN…there’s some outstanding quantum physics writers that have a gift few ‘scientist-researchers’ possess…their writing is understood by the person in the street.
Have you a favorite actor?
Ingrid Bergman, Katherine Hepburn, Ava Gardner…I’m dating myself, but these actresses don’t need paparazzi or media blitz of so-called stars. They let their craft speak for them…most certainly not available to cast as the young widow of a SEAL
Critters do have a mind of their own and sometimes let us know it. LOL Glad you made it through in one piece. Quantum physics? You lost me, but to know there are scientists out there wanting to reach a lay person, like me, and telling it in words that even I can understand is a great thing. Thanks so much, Hawk, for sharing bits of yourself. 🙂
Be sure and enter the great giveaway at the end of the post.
MY REVIEW
Don’t let the cover for Hidden Chamber of Death by Hawk MacKinney fool you. This story is darker than you think.
A death brings ex-Navy seal, Craige Ingram, and Terri, a recent widow and bank examiner, together. Embezzlement puts Terri smack dab into the middle of danger. Craige will come to the rescue, which is what I expect from a hero. 🙂 Craige is a great guy. He takes you as you are, no bigotry, no judgments.
A grizzly murder and a psycho serial killer always catch my attention. I find out early who the killer is but there is more going on than murder. A death starts an inquiry into the bank records that someone desperately wants to keep quiet.
A bit of romance, a psycho serial killer, greed, embezzlement…it’s all good to me.
I’m not sure what it was about the writing, but it seemed a bit slow and I stumbled off and on…BUT, the ending makes it all worth it, so read on. I will be looking for the next adventure into the Vault of Secrets.
3 STARS
I received a copy of Hidden Chamber of Death by Hawk MacKinney in return for an honest review.
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Hidden Chamber of Death is a compelling tale of intrigue, murder, deception and suspense that leads retired Navy SEAL/part-time private investigator Craige Ingram in search of the connection between seemingly random murders and a banking conspiracy.
Working with the local homicide investigator, who just happens to be a former Navy buddy, Craige Ingram’s attempts to protect a lonely widow and solve the case before another person dies are only thwarted by a psychotic killer whose motivation is based on pure depraved pleasure. In this first book of the MOCCASIN HOLLOW MYSTERY SERIES, the instincts and skills Ingram and his buddy acquired as Navy SEALS are tested to their limits.
Internationally acclaimed author and public speaker, Hawk MacKinney began writing mysteries for his school newspapers. Following graduation, he served in the US Navy for over 20 years. While serving as a Navy Commander, he also had a career as a full-time faculty member at several major state medical facilities. He earned two postgraduate degrees with studies in languages and history. He has taught postgraduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem, Israel.
In addition to professional articles and texts on fetal and adult anatomy, Hawk has authored several novels that have received national and international recognition.Moccasin Trace, a historical novel, was nominated for the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award. This was followed by the Craige Ingram Mystery Series. In a change of direction, October of 2012 saw the release of Hawk’s first science fiction novel, The Bleikovat Event, in The Cairns of Sainctuarie series. Volume II, The Missing Planets, was released in 2014 with Volume III in the works.
Hawk’s latest project focuses on The Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series. Hidden Chamber of Death is Book 1 in the series.
. The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and find any sentence or a few ( no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.
Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.
Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.
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Next up on the shelf is No One Lives Forever by Jordan Dane, a romantic suspense.
Book III of the No One Series. The books will stand alone.
A simple cover that makes me wonder…is she dead or alive?
MY FRIDAY 56
“You trust this woman,”
“Yes, I do,” he lied.
Of course, he’d be the one to make the call on the payout, but he didn’t have the heart to tell her he’d be in Brazil to do it. And if the funds got paid early, Charboneau’s life would have no more value to the kidnappers. Timing would be everything.
(page 56 in paperback)
MY BOOK BEGINNINGS
Gripping in nine-millimeter Beretta, Nicholas Charboneau peered through the peephole of the penthouse suite, responding to a soft knock. The red and black uniforms of hotel personnel should not have given him any cause for alarm. And yet, the hair at the nape of his neck reacted to a rush of adrenaline. Two men stood by a rolling cart of white linen, covered with food platters and a bottle of Brazilian merlot with a distinctive label.
GOODREADS BLURB
Nothing Is What It Seems
Born to a childhood pitted by violence, Christian Delacorte is desperate for peace when he embarks on a new life with the woman he loves, Detective Raven Mackenzie. But soon his old life comes calling—in the tempting form of a mysterious woman assassin.
When a Deadly Seductress Comes Calling
Jasmine Lee is determined to collect an old marker from Christian. He owes her—big time—and she needs his help freeing her kidnapped lover, Nicholas Charboneau—a powerful mogul linked to Chicago’s underworld. Christian doesn’t trust her, but Jasmine entices him to leave Raven behind when she reveals his shocking connection to Charboneau.
And a Lethal Race Against Time Begins
Christian has seven days to attempt an impossible rescue of the father he never knew. And when a woman assassin with ulterior motives makes a lousy ally, Christian is alone to face the stark reality that no one lives forever . . . and he might be the next to die.
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You can get it on Amazon here.
For many years award-winning author Susan Fleet worked as a trumpeter in the Boston area. While teaching at Brown University and Berklee College of Music she began writing crime fiction. In 2001 she moved to New Orleans. Her first crime novel, Absolution, was named Best Mystery-Suspense-Thriller of 2009. Subsequent novels in her Frank Renzi series, Diva and Natalie’s Revenge, have won accolades from reviewers and readers alike. Jackpot is the fourth book in the series.
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4 Stars
The Friday 56 is hosted by 
so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of 
