YvonneHis lungs were bursting; his breath was shallow. The result was a mix of fear, adrenaline, thrill and sheer exhilaration, accompanied with a large dose of light-headed madness and a small dose of asthma for good measure.
All triggered at having just pulled off the most daring and high-risk ‘crime’ imaginable.
His lean, sinewy legs had never felt more powerful, propelling him at ever increasing speeds further downwards – at times leaping high over the shoulders of the unfortunate pupils who happened to get in his way – whilst his usually steady hands were shaky and barely able to control themselves. They flapped around at his sides, making his otherwise impressive athletic descent appear more like a bird attempting flight with wings ten sizes too small.”
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I wonder what the daring ‘crime’ is, which Ben has just admitted to committing?
Are we inside a block of residential apartments or a commercial property, from which Ben is making his escape?
I am wondering just how old Ben is, as he seems to be very fit?
Don’t you just love that cover art?
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As usual, so as to avoid too many unwanted spoilers, I have not included a full synopsis of the book in this post. However to find out a little more about the story, before deciding whether it is your ‘cup of tea’, or not, you can either click on the book image, or click here to enter the author’s website, where there is some great extra background material.
They say that the first lines of a piece of writing, are always the most difficult to set down on paper. It seems to me, that they may also be the most definitive, as I find they often set the scene in my mind, even before I have turned the first page… and it is quite disappointing if they don’t…
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What is ‘Book Beginnings’ and how you can join in the fun.
Would the first few lines of your book make you want to read on?
If so, would you like to share them with us, (without revealing too many spoilers of course) ?
 Click on the link and visit Katy, at ‘A Few More Pages’
You can then leave a link to your own book beginnings post, or just browse for some great reads, there are always plenty of new authors and titles to be discovered.
Don’t forget that Katy and all the other contributors to this meme love to hear from you, so why not leave a comment or two at the same time.
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This contemporary/YA fiction book, was gifted by Brendon Lancaster, as an author request for me to read and leave my comments about and as such was free of charge.
This will in no way influence any comments I may express about the book, in any blog article I may post. Any thoughts or comments will be my own personal opinion and I am in no way being monetarily compensated for this, or any other article.
Update 26/01/2012 …. What an awesome read this was, a real tour de force from Brendon. My thoughts about this amazingly authentic story, can be found by clicking here.
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Haven’t heard of this one. The cover looks comical.
Hi Hattie,
I think that as I get further into the book, there will probably be one or two light hearted, maybe even funny moments, but on the whole this is set to be quite a deep look into the lives and problems of teenagers in modern day Britain and just how they affect our society as a whole.
The image of the ‘hoodie’ is very stereotyped in British society, hence the cover art. I am just hoping that some profound event is set to change my thinking during the course of reading this story.
What a cute story this must be! Thanks for sharing…and for visiting my blog.
Hi Laurel-Rain,
I think the story is heading towards showing just how misunderstood many young people are, in today’s society, but I think that the path is not going to be paved with gold along the way and there are going to plenty of difficult issues to deal with, before a conclusion is reached.
It is all pretty hard-hitting stuff in the first few pages of the book, but I really want to think that Ben comes good in the end.
I went over to Amazon and read more about the story. It sounds like a very interesting in depth look into teenage crime. The reviews were quite favorable.
Hi,
I was contacted by the author to request a review on this book and I must admit that it is taking me right out of my comfort zone, both in the content and language of the narrative.
However, it deals with issues which are so prevalent in every society these days, that I think my hang-ups are my problem, rather than the authors.
So far, I have to say, I am really getting into the story, much to my surprise and I am hoping for big things from the main character of Ben, to turn his life around and make something of himself.
I see that there have been a couple of new reviews added since I last checked and they all appear to be very positive, so it looks as though the author is onto a winner with ‘hoodie’.
Thanks for stopping by and for showing such an interest in the book.
I hope that you have a great weekend.
I love “a small dose of asthma for good measure” in the first sentence. Straight away you know there will be humour in this book.
Hello and welcome to Fiction Books. It is always good to chat with new people and I love to receive comments.
Having now got a little way into this book, I can reveal that, yes, there is quite a good measure of wry humour in the story, which is acting as a good counter-balance to the more serious and disturbing issues which are being aired.
I really felt that I might struggle to read this one all the way through, however, so far I am finding it quite revealing to take a look at society from a teenagers perspective and I am even forming a sympathetic edge to my thinking, which is something totally unexpected.
Cute cover! I haven’t heard of this one but it does sound like a good read.
Hi Yvonne,
Yes, the cover does really tell the story, doesn’t it?
It is definitely a good read, however also a very uncomfortable one. One reviewer said that he felt that his grandson should read the book and it is actually aimed at a YA audience, however I would be very sceptical that it should be read by anyone in their early teenage years, in fact I would suggest that it would be a more suitable read for the parents of teenage children, judging by what I have read so far.
Thanks for stopping by, it is always good to read your comments, have a great week.