BOOKISH FRIDAY: “THE NEIGHBORS”

Welcome to another Bookish Friday, in which I  share excerpts from books…and connect with other bloggers, who do the same.

Let’s begin the celebration by sharing Book Beginnings, hosted by Rose City Reader; and let’s showcase The Friday 56 with Freda’s Voice.

To join in, just grab a book and share the opening lines…along with any thoughts you wish to give us; then turn to page 56 and excerpt anything on the page.

Then give us the title of the book, so others can add it to their lists!

What a great way to spend a Friday!

Today’s feature is The Neighbors, by Hannah Mary McKinnon, a book I purchased several months ago, in which Abby looks forward to meeting the family who just moved in across the street—until she realizes they’re the one couple who could expose her deepest secrets…

 

 

 

Beginning:  (THEN: JULY 18, 1992, ABBY)

“Help!”

The faint voice floated toward me. Gliding smooth as a paper airplane from somewhere in the midst of the fog swirling through my brain.  Orange lights flashed in a steady rhythm and —

“Please.”

I wondered if I’d uttered the words, but I hadn’t moved my lips.  Hadn’t moved at all.  Couldn’t.  It hurt too much.  Everything hurt too much.

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Friday 56%:  (THEN – ABBY)

We talked about our guilt sometimes.  When I woke up screaming for the fifth night in a row, Nate held me.  He wept when I whispered it wasn’t his fault he hadn’t been able to save Tom.  He seemed so grateful, so overwhelmed I could forgive him, although there was nothing to forgive.

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Synopsis:  After a night of fun back in 1992, Abby is responsible for a car crash that kills her beloved brother. It’s a mistake she can never forgive, so she pushes away Liam, the man she loves most, knowing that he would eventually hate her for what she’s done, the same way she hates herself.

Twenty years later, Abby’s husband, Nate, is also living with a deep sense of guilt. He was the driver who first came upon the scene of Abby’s accident, the man who pulled her to safety before the car erupted in flames—the man who could not save her brother in time. It’s this guilt, this regret, that binds them together. They understand each other. Or so Nate believes.

In a strange twist of fate, Liam moves into the neighborhood with his own family, releasing a flood of memories that Abby has been trying to keep buried all these years. Abby and Liam, in a complicit agreement, pretend never to have met, yet cannot resist the pull of the past—nor the repercussions of the terrible secrets they’ve both been carrying…

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What do you think?  Do the excerpts draw you in?

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