Every Tuesday, fellow blogger Bibliophile By the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where bloggers share the first paragraph of the book they are currently reading or thinking about reading soon.
Plot Summary from Amazon
If you refuse to believe me, I will no longer consider you my son.
Daniel believed that his parents were enjoying a peaceful retirement on a remote farm in Sweden. But with a single phone call, everything changes.
Your mother…she’s not well, his father tells him. She’s been imagining things – terrible, terrible things. She’s had a psychotic breakdown, and been committed to a mental hospital.
Before Daniel can board a plane to Sweden, his mother calls: Everything that man has told you is a lie. I’m not mad… I need the police… Meet me at Heathrow.
Caught between his parents, and unsure of who to believe or trust, Daniel becomes his mother’s unwilling judge and jury as she tells him an urgent tale of secrets, of lies, of a crime and a conspiracy that implicates his own father.
Here’s the first paragraph:
Until that phone call it had been an ordinary day. Laden with groceries, I was walking home through Bermondsey, a neighborhood of London, just south of the river. It was a stifling August evening and when the phone rang I considered ignoring it, keen to hurry home and shower. Curiosity got the better of me so I slowed, sliding the phone out of my pocket, pressing it against my ear – sweat pooling on the screen. It was my dad. He’d recently moved to Sweden and the call was unusual; he rarely used his mobile and it would’ve been expensive to call London. My dad was crying. I came to an abrupt stop, dropping the grocery bag. I’d never heard him cry before. My parents had always been careful not to argue or lose their tempers in front of me. In our household there were no furious rows or tearful fights. I said:
“Dad?”
“Your mother…she’s not well.”
“Mum’s sick?”
“It’s so sad.”
“Sad because she’s sick? Sick how? How’s Mum sick?”
Dad was still crying. All I could was dumbly wait until he said:
“She’s been imagining things – terrible, terrible things.”
What do you think? Would you keep reading? Stay tuned for my full review…
wow…love that intro — it really drew me in. Can’t wait to try this one as well. enjoy
Great Intro! I would keep reading. I read Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith and really liked it. I have this one on my wishlist. I hope you enjoy it.
Wow, great intro and intriguing summary. Can’t wait for the review!
Wow, Sarah! That’s a good one! I’m definitely interested…can’t wait to read your full review, because I may need to check this one out. Great post! See you again (virtually, of course) soon!
Great intro. I would keep reading.
I have yet to read anything by this author, although I do have Child 44 sitting in my TBR collection. I like the intro and would keep reading.
I’ve heard of this before through Bookreporter and had it on my radar awhile back, then forgot about it. It does sound intense and interesting. Why are his parents living in Sweden and he in London? Why is the mother unwell? I would definitely keep reading.
OMG! You had me at “farm in Sweden,” (my grandparents were born and reared there), and the alternating viewpoints of events reeled me in. Sounds like one I need to read!
Thanks for sharing…and for visiting my blog.
That beginning definitely hooked me. I like the way the author jumped right into the action with the life-changing phone call, and now I’m curious about the terrible things his mother is imagining. Sounds like a terrific story.
My Tuesday post features BETTER THAN YOUR DREAMS.
It’s so sad. I want to read the book. Will write the title down. Felt so sorry for the son. Who should he believe? I want to read all the way to the end of the novel. I want to see who is really speaking the truth. I’m not familiar with the author’s name. Are you?