Category: The Friday 56 Page 12 of 15

The Friday 56 for 5/7/21: A Wanted Man by Rob Parker

The Friday 56This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
The Friday 56 Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
The Friday 56 Find a snippet, short and sweet.
The Friday 56 Post it

from 56% of:
A Wanted Man

A Wanted Man by Rob Parker

We go through all the names quickly, and Jack identifies each one as one of his father’s friends or family members. He can’t identify a couple of them, but the picture is already clear. The first phone is for personal use only – a useful tool for organising the dualities of the life he had chosen.

That poses the inevitable question of the twenty-six names on phone two. Call signs or numeric pseudonyms for twenty-six people who clearly got the special treatment. How best to find out who they are, though? And of course, what was that third phone used for, if not for business or personal? That makes me question if there’s a fourth, that perhaps he had one with him when he was taken. I could ask Jack, but all three phones are identical. ‘IPhone 4S’ in black, ‘32GB’ it says on the back of each. There’s no telling them apart. Even the home screen wallpapers are the same.

The Friday 56 for 4/21/21: Dead Secret by Noelle Holten

The Friday 56This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
The Friday 56 Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
The Friday 56 Find a snippet, short and sweet.
The Friday 56 Post it

from Page 56 of:
Dead Secret

Dead Secret by Noelle Holten

(a little long, but couldn’t see a way to shorten it)

When the steam came out of the spout, Ronnie picked up the kettle and then poured the boiling water on her arm.

What the hell?

Ronnie didn’t even flinch. It was like she didn’t feel any pain. She placed the kettle back, used a tea towel to dry her arm, and covered it up with the sleeve of the cardigan. Vicki turned and looked at Lucy. They waited until they saw Ronnie leave the kitchen, and Lucy stood and headed to the kitchen.

Maybe I was wrong.

At the counter she touched the kettle.

Ouch!

She sucked her index finger and turned on the cold tap, holding the sore digit beneath the running water. Lucy looked up at the camera and raised a brow. She knew Vicki would be watching.

The Friday 56 for 4/16/21: A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White

The Friday 56This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
The Friday 56 Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
The Friday 56 Find a snippet, short and sweet.
The Friday 56 Post it

from page 56 of:
A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White

“She’s awake,” noted the technician, his rich voice filling the bay. “Mostly uninjured, too.”

Boots nodded to him. May as well get acquainted with the rest of Cordell’s cronies. “I haven’t met this one yet, Cordell.”

Cordell stopped and gestured to the man in the med bay. “Oh, my mistake. Boots, this is Malik Jan, our ship’s doctor.”

Malik came to them in the hall and took Boots’s hand. His palms were soft and warm, if a little dry. “It’s a pleasure. I hope you slept well.”

“Great. Now you’ve met,” said Cordell, placing a hand on Boots’s shoulder. “Doctor Jan, Boots is a prisoner, and if she tries to escape, you’re to shoot her.”

The Friday 56 for 4/9/21: Cross Her Heart by Melinda Leigh

The Friday 56This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
The Friday 56 Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
The Friday 56 Find a snippet, short and sweet.
The Friday 56 Post it

from page 56 of:
Cross Her Heart

Cross Her Heart by Melinda Leigh

It felt like time was speeding up, moving too quickly, out of her control.

An African American woman in clean black scrubs moved out from behind the desk. “I’m Dr. Serena Jones. I took care of your sister.”

Matt did the introductions, but Bree’s hearing sounded muffled, Dr. Jones turned to face her. “You can see your sister on a monitor—”

“No.” Bree cut her off.

“I didn’t think you’d take that option, so I had your sister moved to a private room,” Dr. Jones said as if Erin were her patient instead of a corpse. “This way.”

The sense of impending doom grew heavier with each footstep down the tiled hallway. Bree kept her eyes on the back of Dr. Jones’s shirt. They went into a small room. In the center of the space, a sheet-covered body occupied a gurney. Dr. Jones walked around to the opposite side of the gurney and faced Bree over her sister’s body. Matt stayed at Bree’s side.

The doctor waited until Bree lifted her eyes to hers and nodded.

The Friday 56 for 4/2/21: Prodigal Storm by Kate Sheeran Swed

The Friday 56This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
The Friday 56 Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
The Friday 56 Find a snippet, short and sweet.
The Friday 56 Post it

from page 56 of:
Progigal Storm

Prodigal Storm by Kate Sheeran Swed

(yup–I’m finally finishing the trilogy!)

…the full blast of the mocking tone still hit him in the chest. As if he’d been the one to hurt her.

“I could kill you right now with my bare hands,” she continued. “Or a kitchen knife, or the Edinburgh I’ve got strapped to my hip. You’re already trusting me.”

An old quote about protestations and truthfulness floated into his mind, a passage his Laura would have appreciated.

The Friday 56 for 3/19/21: Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs

The Friday 56This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

Before I get into today’s entry, this is the 10th Anniversary of Freda’s Voice doing this here weekly meme. That is freakishly impressive in an ephemeral and inconsistent medium as blogs are. Many congratulations to Freda for that.

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
The Friday 56 Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
The Friday 56 Find a snippet, short and sweet.
The Friday 56 Post it

from page 56 of:
Wild Sign

Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs

She was tall and leanly muscled. She flexed her long-fingered, manicured hands. Her father had said she was built for work—it had not been a compliment. Bran said she looked like a Valkyrie. She wasn’t sure if that was a compliment, either, though she didn’t think it displeased him.

But no amount of grooming, of cleaning, of polishing, could erase the gaunt woman she had been, more animal than human, with dirty hair so tangled they’d had to cut most of it off. She looked at her muscled forearms and saw instead how they had appeared when she’d been so thin that both bones had shown through the skin. Sleek, smooth nails polished glossy red seemed more unreal than the filthy nails broken down to the quick.

And the stupid part of that? As clear and as visceral as the vision of that haggard creature was, she couldn’t actually remember looking like that.

The Friday 56 for 3/12/21: Born in a Burial Gown by M. W. Craven

The Friday 56This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
The Friday 56 Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
The Friday 56 Find a snippet, short and sweet.
The Friday 56 Post it

from page 56 of:
Born in a Burial Gown

Born in a Burial Gown by M. W. Craven

Two minutes later, Fluke had a doctor trying to stick a cannula in the back of his hand. ‘The first two attempts missed.

Fluke hated cannulas. Doctors always struggled to find veins, legacy of his treatment. On the odd occasion he was having blood taken by someone who wasn’t familiar with his medical history, he always ended up giving an explanation. The most common reason for poor veins was intravenous drug use and Fluke felt compelled to tell them his condition was due to chemotherapy, not heroin.

The Friday 56 for 3/5/21: Calculated Risks by Seanan McGuire

The Friday 56This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
The Friday 56 Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
The Friday 56 Find a snippet, short and sweet.
The Friday 56 Post it

from page 56 of:
Calculated Risks

Calculated Risks by Seanan McGuire

“I think that if there are flying bugs that big, I don’t want to see what eats them,” said Annie. “What happens when the suns go down?”

“With three suns, it’s possible that it’s never going to be what we think of as true night,” said Artie. “One of them may always be in the sky, or there could even be a fourth sun that’s currently behind the planet that’s going to rise while the others are setting.”

“This dimension is really stupid,” said Annie. “I do not like it here.”

“No one’s asking you to,” I said…

The Friday 56 for 2/26/21: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

The Friday 56This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
The Friday 56 Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
The Friday 56 Find a snippet, short and sweet.
The Friday 56 Post it

from page 56 of:
The Thursday Murder Club

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

DCI Chris Hudson has been given a file on Tony Curran so thick it makes a pleasing thud if you drop it on a desk. Which is what he has just done.

Chris takes a swig of Diet Coke. He sometimes worries he is addicted to it. He had once read a headline about Diet Coke that was so worrying he had chosen not to read the article.

He opens the file. Most of Tony Curran’s dealings with Kent Police were from before Chris’s time in Fairhaven. Charges for assault in his twenties, minor drug convictions, dangerous driving, dangerous dog, possession of an illegal weapon. A tax disc misdemeanor. Public urination.

Then comes the real story.

The Friday 56 for 2/19/21: The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter by Aaron Reynolds

The Friday 56This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
The Friday 56 Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
The Friday 56 Find a snippet, short and sweet.
The Friday 56 Post it

from page 56 of:
The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter

The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter by Aaron Reynolds

…we now know I’m not imagining things.

Which means my deepest darkest fear has come true. Next to falling into a pit of snakes. And global takeover by evil robots. And paper cuts. These are the things that haunt my nightmares.

My fourth deepest darkest fear has come true.

I have been cursed by a rogue carnival game.

Page 12 of 15

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