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.