YvonneFor all you ‘First Page Browsers’
FIRST LINES – PROLOGUE & CHAPTER 1 – KINDLE EDITION
CORNWALL, MAY 2017
There but for the Grace of God, go I?
Where did that come from again? John what’s his name. John…? John Bradford, that’s it. Something about criminals being led to a scaffold to die, him looking on and thinking – it could have, should have been him instead? Something like that.
So, she’s, the criminal being led to the scaffold, or is that the other woman, or is that me? I’m standing behind her now. Look at her, no one would ever know, except me. My eyes, bearing through her like a spear, no wait – she’s turning in my direction, can she hear my thoughts, feel my glare? I reach down just in time, pretending to adjust my sandal strap until she turns away again. It makes me twitch, how precariously close to the edge she stands, eyes down, locked on the beach. Beneath her, sprawl – rocks, mottled, jagged stacks, capable of spearing or cracking a skull, should anyone accidently…slip.
…
CORNWALL, AUGUST 2001
I’m still here, I didn’t die. I’m not stuck in some warped after death experience – I really did survive.
Pulling heavy arms from tight sheets, I clamp my ears, whirring subaquatic sounds thumping from one to the other, like listening to the sea in a shell but much louder. Do I want to be alive? wriggle my toes; they feel odd against the numbness of my ghoul-like body. Would it be better to be dead?
…
WHO I AM – The blurb
I know everything about you
And you know everything about me… except
WHO I AM.
Andi met Camilla at university. Instantly best friends, they shared everything together. Until their long-planned graduation celebration ends in tragedy…
Years later, Andi is living a seemingly perfect life on the rugged Cornish Coast with her loving husband, happy children and dream home. Yet Andi is haunted by a secret she thought only she knew.
Someone out there is bringing Andi’s deepest fears to life. And she knows there’s no escaping the past that has come back to haunt her…
You trusted me with your secrets, you told me everything, you thought I was your best friend… but you have no idea WHO I AM.
…
So you have taken a look, will you read the book? Let me know what you think in the comments section below.
You might also like to visit 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.
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This sounds really tense and suspenseful. It’s not my usual type of thing, but it looks quite intriguing! Thanks!
My Friday Beginnings this week.
Hi Louise,
Thanks for stopping by today, it is great to ‘meet’ you and I appreciate the lovely comment 🙂
Having checked out ‘Foxes & Fairy Tales’, I can quite see how this book may not be for you, and whilst I admit that I do prefer a good murder / thriller above all else, I also read quite an eclectic mix of genres, including historical fiction, so I hope to stop by often to check out what’s new in the space!
Have a good weekend and Happy Reading 🙂
I’ve enjoyed your earlier posts about this book and this one adds to its appeal even more. But I’m scratching my head… the prologue is in 2017 and someone is being led to a scaffold?? Is she dreaming? I’m curious!
Hi Kelly,
This book has been receiving some good reviews, although generally with the caveat that you need to be on your toes when you read it.
Apparently, the action does jump back and forth between time frames, although the chapters are relatively short and well marked and date stamped.
I am assuming (maybe totally incorrectly), that the prologue set in 2017 relates to Andi and the life she is currently leading. Whilst chapter 1 set in 2001 is going back to whatever incident occurred between Andi and Camilla at university!!
I need to pick the right time and place to settle down quietly with this book and read it in as short a time as possible, so as not to lose my thread!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you have been reading some good books lately 🙂
Okay…going back and reading the prologue again, I now understand the whole scaffold business. Duh.
Never fear… I’ve had a good reading month so far and have a draft in progress to share what I’ve read! Speaking of – time to shut down the laptop and go read!
I wish I was that disciplined about shutting down the laptop, then I might actually get to read more … I sometimes think I am my own worst enemy!
Have a good weekend 🙂
This one sounds quite psychological, intriguing… rather scary perhaps? And it’s set in Cornwall. How long will I be able to resist the temptation to go and look it up on Goodreads? LOL
Hi Cath,
I am not generally influenced by the reviews about a book before I get to read it for myself. However, there are so many mixed opinions about this book, that I would read it anyway, as I am so intrigued.
It has been noted that the descriptions of the story’s Cornish setting are excellent, which as the county is one of my favourites, has to be good.
Also the fact that ‘Who I Am’ has also been described as a true psychological thriller, rather than a mystery thriller, has set the style of writing and plots twists to a whole new level, rather playing to these opening passages, which really messed with my head trying to sort the timeline out!
I’m still not sure whether it should be call ‘Who I Am’, or ‘Who Am I?’, which is probably what I shall be asking myself by the end!
Thanks for stopping by and Happy Reading 🙂
Sounds intriguing. Enjoy. Here are my extracts this week
Hi Anne,
I think this storyline is going to be a bit of a minefield to negotiate and it certainly does sound rather ‘dark’ and brooding, to say the least.
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment, I appreciate your visits 🙂
Sounds like a very unreliable narrator, which can be quite a challenge. I can see why the reader would need to be on her toes.
Hi Roberta,
The reviews to date seem to indicate that this was either a story you stuck with, or one you gave up on pretty quickly.
However those readers who persevered seem to have reaped the benefits of the experience, with the perceived unreliability of the narrator eventually manifesting itself into making this a real page-turner!
Thanks for visiting this week, your comments are always valued and appreciated 🙂
This one sounds intense! I really like the sound of this one. And such a great cover! I’d love for you and your readers to check out mine. https://tinyurl.com/LisaKsBookReviews12419
Hi Lisa,
This certainly doesn’t sound like your average mystery / thriller, does it?
The cover is just as I like it though – in keeping with the premise, not overly cluttered or complicated and not giving too much away!
Nice of you to stop by and I hope that you enjoy your reading schedule this week 🙂
This sound mysterious. I am curious about who she is. Enjoy it when you read it!
Hi Naida,
It took me a while to figure this one out and I think I finally got it!
However, just in case all I’ve done is back myself into a corner, I’m going to let you wait until I publish a few more ‘teaser’ posts, by which time hopefully, the storyline will have untangled itself a little.
When the first couple of pages of a book can mess with your mind like this one has, you know for certain that it is going to be a true psychological thriller, in every sense of the word!
Thanks as ever for stopping by. I hope that all is well with you and Happy Reading 🙂