Yvonne
This is a meme for all you ‘First Page Browsers‘
THE STREET PARTY by CLAIRE SEEBER
BOOK BEGINNINGS / FIRST LINES
PROLOGUE
RUBY – SUNDAY 1 OCTOBER
“Afterwards. I kept thinking, if only I hadn’t fallen asleep when I’d got home, things would have been completely different. If I hadn’t been so daft, so tired, so naive. He would have been OK. It was always afterwards when things made more sense, by which time it was also always too late. I should never, ever have left him alone at the Jacksons. But they’d all worked so hard to persuade me that he was safe.
The minute my eyes had snapped open, lying on my sofa, head in a muddle, I knew there was something different, something about the quality of the stillness in the flat. In the darkness, I scrabbled on the floor until my fingers closed round the phone. The call went straight to voicemail.
I hauled myself up and searched for the Snapchat app I’d insisted Ali install when she was pulling her disappearing tricks a while back.
‘Got twenty thousand snaps,’ she’d boasted to her brother, pouting at the camera.
He’d make a face at me over his cornflakes, and I’d wink back, relieved that, however hard Ali pushed at the boundary, I still had my little boy. But now he was also counting snaps every day, pushing back.
I pulled up the Snapchat map. Fiendishly bright in the shadows of my living room, West London blinked at me. And I blinked back: my tousle-haired, grey-eyed avatar, grinning like a lunatic. I scrolled over – ah! And there, phew! There was my smiling cartoon son: hovering over – Northgate Square: Nella’s house. I exhaled unsteadily.
Where he was meant to be”
So, you have taken a sneak peek, would you read the book?
Let me know what you think in the comments section below.
Just to give you an extra helping hand, here is the book’s premise …
THE STREET PARTY
The party was supposed to be the highlight of the summer. If only I’d known that night would destroy our lives…
All the neighbours were laughing, drinking out of plastic glasses and getting along. I almost felt happy. Almost forgot about the terrible argument earlier and the sinister messages I’d been receiving from a strange address all week, threatening to expose the lies behind my perfect life.
As we finished with the red and gold fireworks and welcomed everyone back to our house, I believed that everything would be okay.
But I didn’t know who I was inviting in.
I never could have imagined what would happen here, in our home, after I’d gone up to bed.
Everyone saw something different.
It’s my daughter’s word against the story the boy from down the road is telling. But how can I find out what really happened that night without everyone finding out the truth about me?
You might also like to visit the meme host, Gilion, over at ‘Rose City Reader‘, where you can share links to the book beginnings from her own reading schedule and that of many of our fellow bloggers.
There are always plenty of new authors and titles to be discovered and you never know where that next ‘must read’ is going to come from!
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Someone living a seemingly perfect life in a seemingly perfect community…that’s just too good to be true. I wonder who sent all those sinister messages and what’s the truth and lies behind all that…this should be a fun read!
Hi Angie,
I have actually just finished reading this book, and if you might enjoy a seriously dark and twisted storyline, with a cast of almost totally detestable characters, then this is one for you – Definitely not a fun read though!
Also, reading those opening lines, you need to remember that the person speaking those words, is not necessarily the same person whose voice we hear in the premise!
Nothing more to say for fear of ‘spoilers’ – I loved the book and gave it 5 stars!
Enjoy your weekend 🙂
I love the excerpts…and the story is reeling me in. Thanks for sharing! Here’s mine: “THE NEXT WIFE”
Hi Lorraine,
This story draws you in all the way, chews you up until you can’t breathe, then spits you out to fend for yourself!! – I loved it! – My review date is June 8th!
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and enjoy a peaceful weekend 🙂
This sounds like it might be quite good! I look forward to learning in your final review whether it has any specific twists to it, setting it apart from other thrillers along the same lines.
Hi Kelly,
I’m afraid my review won’t be giving away the specifics of the ultimate twist in this story, as that would be just too much of a spoiler – and I never really did guess the exact outcome myself, which is really annoying!!
Race and class all play a major part in this manipulative story, although the winners and losers are perhaps not who you would expect!
Adults using children for their own self-advancements, never sits well with me, so I spent a lot of time getting angry with my Kindle screen! – but I loved the story and the author’s writing style.
Have a peaceful weekend 🙂
This novel has ME written all over it. I love books where a character explores how life would have been different had they done something different. In fact I am reading one that has that theme right now: The Midnight Library. My book is The Girl with the Louding Voice
Hi Anne,
You really need to read this book then, as you are right that it has your name written all over it!!
The characters in this book are all out to manipulate a situation to their own advantage, in fact they are all quite happy to manipulate people in pretty much the same way, even children, both their own and other people’s!
I already have ‘The Midnight Library’ on my wish list, and if anything I would say that ‘The Street Party’ is much more dark and twisted!!
Thanks for taking the time to comment, I appreciate your support 🙂
This sounds like something I might enjoy reading. I hope you enjoyed it!
Hi Nikki,
This one is definitely dark and twisted and brings out the worst in the characters, as they are all out to manipulate and engineer a situation and outcome, which suits their own ends. No relentless action, just a journey into some very complicated and devious minds, where no one is a winner!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope that things are going well for you right now 🙂