Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings

It's Friday . . . time to share book excerpts 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.

Today I'm featuring my most recent read, What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan.  The excerpts shared are from a paperback edition borrowed from the library.

  

Beginning:  BEFORE

DAY 1   SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2012

RACHEL

My ex-husband's name is John.  His new wife is called Katrina.  She's petite.  She has a figure that can make most men drink her in with their eyes.

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Page 56:  "What he avoided saying explicitly was what we all knew.  Ben wasn't lost; he'd been taken."

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My thoughts:  The race is on to find 8-year-old Ben Finch, who disappeared from a local park while on a walk in the woods with his mother. There are many possible suspects, and DI Clemo must discover what they each know and who is responsible for this chilling crime.

What She Knew is a strong, page-turning debut that had me holding my breath as I tore through the story to reach the conclusion. I'm looking forward to the arrival of another installment in this thrilling new series.

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From Goodreads:  In her enthralling debut, Gilly Macmillan explores a mother’s search for her missing son, weaving a taut psychological thriller as gripping and skillful as The Girl on the Train and The Guilty One.

In a heartbeat, everything changes…

Rachel Jenner is walking in a Bristol park with her eight-year-old son, Ben, when he asks if he can run ahead. It’s an ordinary request on an ordinary Sunday afternoon, and Rachel has no reason to worry—until Ben vanishes.

Police are called, search parties go out, and Rachel, already insecure after her recent divorce, feels herself coming undone. As hours and then days pass without a sign of Ben, everyone who knew him is called into question, from Rachel’s newly married ex-husband to her mother-of-the-year sister. Inevitably, media attention focuses on Rachel too, and the public’s attitude toward her begins to shift from sympathy to suspicion.

As she desperately pieces together the threadbare clues, Rachel realizes that nothing is quite as she imagined it to be, not even her own judgment. And the greatest dangers may lie not in the anonymous strangers of every parent’s nightmares, but behind the familiar smiles of those she trusts the most.

Where is Ben? The clock is ticking...

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This Friday Focus post was originally written and published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution.  Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.