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 The Gold Pawn by L.A. Chandlar, which I read for a recent blog tour.  The excerpts shared are from an eBook I received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

 

Beginning:  Chapter 1
The images twirled and flashed like they always did.  Red mittens, a blue scarf, my laughing parents.  This time the dream skipped over the detailed parts that were the most fear-filled, as if my subconscious had much work to do and needed to get down to business.

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56% of eBook: "Secret . . . what?" he asked in disbelief.  So satisfying.

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My thoughts:  This is the second book in the Art Deco Mystery Series, featuring Lane Sanders, personal aide to Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia in 1930's New York City. Lane is an intelligent, inquisitive individual and woman ahead of her time.  Along with the first book in the series, The Silver Gun, the Art Deco Mystery Series is an outstanding entry in the historical fiction cozy mystery genre.

You can read my review of The Gold Pawn and enter a giveaway here.

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From Goodreads:  November 1936. Mayor LaGuardia's political future buckles under a missing persons case in New York City. Simultaneously, Lane unravels devastating secrets in the outskirts of Detroit. As two crimes converge, judging friends from enemies can be a dangerous game . . .

Finally summoning courage to face the past, Lane Sanders breaks away from her busy job at City Hall to confront childhood nightmares in Rochester, Michigan. An unknown assailant left Lane with scattered memories after viciously murdering her parents. However, one memory of a dazzling solid gold pawn piece remains--and with it lies a startling connection between the midwestern tragedy and a current mystery haunting the Big Apple . . .

Meanwhile, fears climb in Manhattan after the disappearance of a respected banker and family friend threatens the crippled financial industry and the pristine reputation of Lane's virtuous boss, Mayor Fiorello "Fio" LaGuardia. Fio's fight to restore order leads him into more trouble as he meets a familiar foe intent on ending his mayoral term--and his life . . .

Guided by overseas telegrams from the man she loves and painful memories, only Lane can silence old ghosts and derail present-day schemes. But when the investigation awakens a darker side of her own nature, will she and New York City's most prominent movers and shakers still forge ahead into a prosperous new age . . . or is history doomed to repeat itself?

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This Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution. Sharing this original post on Twitter, Google+ and/or other blogs with appropriate recognition is appreciated.