An American Lawyer Living Abroad
Welcome to Friday 56! Hosted by Freda’s Voice, you turn to page 56 or 56% in any book or reading device and pick a sentence that grabs you.
The world had whispered in her ear that she had been chosen for a great cause. People cared deeply about her views.”
Starvation Heights by Gregg Olsen, at 56%.
Welcome to Friday 56! Hosted by Freda’s Voice, you turn to page 56 or 56% in any book or reading device and pick a sentence that grabs you.
‘Hey.’ I smile up at him, leaning my hip against the sink. God, he’s so tall. And broad. He’s a thousand-year oak. Someone with a body like this has no business owning a nerdy mug.”
Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood, page 56
Welcome to Friday 56! Hosted by Freda’s Voice, you turn to page 56 or 56% in any book or reading device and pick a sentence that grabs you.
Her killer’s only facial feature is a slight smile. He’s dressed in a suit. Around him is a crowd of rowdy people, one of them a man who appears to be wielding a scalpel.
Ripper: The Secret Life of Walter Sickert by Patricia Cornwell, page 56
Welcome to Friday 56! Hosted by Freda’s Voice, you turn to page 56 or 56% in any book or reading device and pick a sentence that grabs you.
His eyebrows furrow. ‘Whoever it is seems younger–maybe in their teens. I guess I’m worried they might be in a similar situation to the one I was in back then. Destitute.’ The tension in his eyes eases a bit. “And what if they don’t have a Lily to save them?'”
It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover, page 56
Welcome to Friday 56! Hosted by Freda’s Voice, you turn to page 56 or 56% in any book or reading device and pick a sentence that grabs you.
The days began to take on a pattern. After Nina had finished work, she would cash out, then start planning what she was going to leave Marek on their tree. It had developed into a full-blown flirtation. Some days she wanted to be funny, some days more serious. Some days she just wrote to him what was on her mind, and he’d write back. She realized that she hadn’t written a letter for year and years, actually sat down and committed her thoughts to paper rather than pinging them off in an e-mail. She wrote more slowly, felt more deeply.”
The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan, taken from 56% of the way through the ebook
Welcome to Friday 56! Hosted by Freda’s Voice, you turn to page 56 or 56% in any book or reading device and pick a sentence that grabs you.
Danny climbs out of the cab and circles around to the back of the van. Inside sits the wooden box he built, the PVC pipe, a cloudy jug of water, an assortment of candy bars, a car battery, and a shovel. Danny reaches for the shovel and circles back to the front of the van, where the headlights illuminate a section of sandy ground”.
Murder Beyond the Grave by James Patterson and Andrew Bourelle, page 56
This book has 2 separate stories, the first called Murder Beyond the Grave. At page 56, Danny, a “reformed” drug dealer, can’t handle the straight life. Where once he had cash to burn, he now has piles of bills with no way to pay them. One day he drives past the house of a rich man with a Ferrari in the driveway and he hatches a plan to kidnap him for ransom money. The passage above is Danny setting up the place where he will bury the man alive in a makeshift wooden box until the ransom is paid. Given the title, I think I know what ends up happening. I cringe just thinking about being buried alive.
It was Bonnie’s parents who’d demanded a traditional service. They had never approved of Jim beyond his finances, especially not his mother-in-law, whose previously snide comments turned downright hostile after her daughter’s death.”
Murder Beyond the Grave (Murder in Paradise) by James Patterson and Christopher Charles, page 184
At page 56 of Murder in Paradise, the victim has already been killed, and we have a suspect, but the killer has not yet been arrested. The author seems sympathetic of the husband, but the above quote also seems to suggest that perhaps the husband isn’t just the grieving widower he is portraying. Could he be acting? Bonnie was cheating, after all. Maybe he suspected, or even knew of her infidelity? Bonnie’s lover had also been shot — he survived, but maybe that was an accident. Let’s see!
Welcome to Friday 56! Hosted by Freda’s Voice, you turn to page 56 or 56% in any book or reading device and pick a sentence that grabs you.
They were too busy arguing to pay much attention to either Erica or me. I don’t think they realized how miserable we were. Or how much they’d changed.
Took by Mary Downing Hahn, page 56
At this point in the book, Erica and her brother Daniel have moved with their parents from Fairfield, Connecticut to a small town in West Virginia. The children’s family, a once successful investment banker, has been laid off and is unable to find gainful employment in his chosen career, and since CT is so expensive, they sold their house and move to WV. The kids are outcast, coming from a “fancy” place, and do not make any friends. The parents, obtaining retail jobs, are also unhappy.
I have to say that I am more than a little confused. Why would an investment banker move to WV and take a job at Home Depot? Since this is a children’s middle grade book, maybe that particular detail doesn’t matter (nor would it be picked up by the intended audience?).
Anyway, the set up so far about the girl disappearing from the house Daniel and Erica’s family bought (and that maybe Erica is next) is good and I am interested to find out what happens.
Welcome to Friday 56! Hosted by Freda’s Voice, you turn to page 56 or 56% in any book or reading device and pick a sentence that grabs you.
Terry wondered if any of them would talk on the way back home, and if Alice even could be quiet. She hoped not. She wanted to talk, find out how everyone had fared.”
Suspicious Minds by Gwenda Bond, page 56
At this point in the book, we have met the four main characters: Terry, Alice, Ken and Gloria. They are test subjects at the lab in Hawkins in 1969. They have already endured their first test, and are on their way back home.
Welcome to Friday 56! Hosted by Freda’s Voice, you turn to page 56 or 56% in any book or reading device and pick a sentence that grabs you.
I listened to the message, over and over, and now that I was hearing it properly I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed before the slight breathlessness of your delivery, the uncharacteristic softness of your speech, hesitant, faltering.
You were afraid.”
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
Welcome to Friday 56! Hosted by Freda’s Voice, you turn to page 56 or 56% in any book or reading device and pick a sentence that grabs you.
Though concerned about her mother, Stella had other things to worry about. She told her favorite sister she had braced herself for her daughter’s testimony.
‘You watch and you’re going to see one of the greatest performances you’ve ever seen. Cynthia is a good actress. She could make you believe anything.'”
American Mother by Gregg Olsen
This quote is taken from the 56% mark in the e-book. At this moment, Stella has been accused of murdering her husband by poisoning him with cyanide. She is accused of putting the poison in his Excedrin capsules. Cynthia, her daughter, is set to testify against her. Stella has always proclaimed her innocence, at times even blaming her daughter for the death. This quote shows the deterioration of what was once a tight and strong relationship.
The Legal Alien 