Every Tuesday I host First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where I share the first paragraph or (a few) of a book I am reading or thinking about reading soon. Care to join us? Today's pick---
The Weight of Blood; Laura McHugh
Spiegel and Grau - 2014
CHAPTER 1 - LUCY
"That Cheri Stoddard was found at all was the thing that set people on edge, even more so than the condition of her body. One Saturday in March, fog crept through the river valley and froze overnight. The morning sun crackled over a ghostly landscape across the road from my uncle's general store, the burr oaks that leaned out over the banks of the North Fork River crystallized with a thick crust of hoarfrost. The tree nearest the road was dead, half-hollow, and it leaned farther than the rest, balanced at a precarious angel above the water. A trio of vultures roosted in the branches, according to Buddy Snell, a photographer for the Ozark County Record. Buddy snapped pictures of the tree, the stark of black birds on white branches, for lack of anything better to print on the front page of the paper. It was eerie, he said. Haunting, almost. He moved closer, kneeling at the water's edge to get a more interesting angle, and that was when he spied the long brown braid drifting in the shallows, barely visible among the stones. Then he saw Cheri's head, snagged on a piece of driftwood: her freckled face, abbreviated nose, eyes spaced too wide to be pretty. Stuffed into the hollow of the tree were the rest of Cheri's pieces, her skin etched with burns and amateur tattoos. Her flesh was unmarked when she disappeared, and I wondered if those new scars could explain what had happened to her, if they formed a cryptic map of the time she'd spent missing."
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What do you think? Would you keep reading? Feel free to join us by linking your First Chapter post below
Ooh, I'm curious now, but in a scary-creepy way. Thanks for sharing...
ReplyDeleteI'm already intrigued. I'd keep reading.
ReplyDeleteYes, I would continue, that does sound intriguing. I also like the title.
ReplyDeleteOh, the condition of the body is gruesome - but I would read on!
ReplyDeleteThat's a good example of how to set the stage for the story ahead. I especially like how the author described the setting. Although I don't usually do creepy, I think I'd keep going.
ReplyDeleteA bit too grisly for me.
ReplyDeleteI would go right on.......it intrigues me.
ReplyDeleteSounds gruesome!
ReplyDeleteI just read that one a couple of weeks ago. My review will be up soon!
ReplyDeleteToday I am spot lighting The Unfinished Child by Theresa Shea.
This book looks great - I have it on my TBR list and have seen some good reviews.
ReplyDeleteThat's a horrific book opener but I guess it grabs attention and the author prepares the reader for it a little. I might settle for watching something like this on TV rather than reading it. My imagination is always a lot worse. :)
ReplyDeleteI probably would keep reading, it sounds interesting. That is a darn long opening paragraph.
ReplyDeleteI have this book on my kindle now, but I am so flighty that I bypass reading books that I couldn't wait to own at the time. I will need to put this on my short list to read this month--heard good things about it. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI am reading this book!
ReplyDeleteI've seen this book all over the blogs and the opening is intriguing..enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI really looking forward to reading this one!
ReplyDeleteSounds haunting, and similar to an incident that happened near Columbus. Not sure I could read it, but hope you enjoy it.
ReplyDeletesounds like the good beginning to a mystery. kelley—the road goes ever ever on
ReplyDeleteI would read on too. I don't like too much gore, but sometime authors draw you in with the creepy beginning and the the rest of the story is not so gruesome. I'd give it a chapter or two to decide. Looking forward to your review.
ReplyDeleteOne's head snagged on a piece of driftwood is about how I feel my week is going. Only this book sounds much more interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe gory opening draws me in to the mystery. I'd read more of this book.
ReplyDelete