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The Friday 56 (With Book Beginnings): Marked for Judgment by Jared McCann + 50/50 Friday


Welcome to The Friday 56, a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice.

These are the rules:
1. Grab a book, any book.
2. Turn to page 56, or 56% on your eReader.
3. Find any sentence (or a few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you.
4. Post it.
5. Add the URL to your post in the link on Freda's most recent Friday 56 post.


I'm also taking part in Book Beginnings, a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader.  The rules are pretty simple - you share the first sentence or so and your initial thoughts, impressions, or whatever else it inspires.  Don't forget to link up your post's url with Rose City Reader.


This week I'm spotlighting one of my upcoming reads, Marked for Judgment by Jared McCann.  I'm reading this book for Book Riot's 2017 Read Harder Challenge - it fulfills task ten which is to read a book set within 100 miles of your location.  Yeah, this 2016 Christian thriller is set practically in my own back yard and the author is a local man.  I'm definitely interested to see how he presents the area - seriously, just seeing Mount Vernon and Knox County appear in a book is giving me chills!

Beginning:

Elijah Jennings sat in an unmarked county Ford Explorer reading up on the Mount Vernon Daily while he staked out the drug house they had been eyeing for three months now.  The early morning sky, for now, was cloudless and bright with the radiance of the stars.  The brilliance of the light shone down just as stage lights illuminate a performer.  July in Mount Vernon, this year, invited warm, but not too humid of nights with an array of stars protruding from a black sky..

56:

Elijah sat outside for a while longer.  Around him, fireflies illuminated their cold light, and he listened to the night as crickets chirped their evening song.  He thought about tomorrow and suddenly remembered that he would be commemorating seven years since his father's death.



This week I'm also taking part in a linkup called 50/50 Friday, which is hosted by Carrie @ The Butterfly Reader and Laura @ Blue Eye Books.  Every week they'll have a new topic featuring two sides of the same coin - this week the topic is Best/ Worst Book You Read In April.

Best: 


I had five five star reads in April - American Agent by Melvin PurvisHalf Lost by Sally Green, The Midnight Star by Marie Lu, The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi, and Saga, Volume 7 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples - and while all of them are excellent - I have to give Melvin Purvis's 1936 memoir/ history of the FBI the credit as easily being the most fascinating thing I've read all month!

Worst:


Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza - This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, but unfortunately I ended up DNF'ing it at 1/8 of the way through the audiobook.  Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into it. 

Comments

  1. I love to read books set in my area because I can really picture the setting. If it is a thriller, it frightens me more than usual, however. My Friday Quotes

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    1. It hardly ever happens that I find one set in my area, so I'm just excited! :)

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  2. I've also just finished a thriller set near where I live. Loved it! Thanks for sharing - this looks good

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  3. This one looks interesting. Enjoy your current read!

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  4. Hi there, Lauren!

    I'm definitely intrigued by Marked for Judgement - sounds very atmospheric.

    Here's my entry for #Friday56 and #Bookbeginnings : http://bit.ly/2pcpZoG

    Have an ab fab weekend!

    Love from Sassy x

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  5. Great descriptions in your excerpts! Hope you are enjoying the book, and thanks for sharing. Thanks for visiting my blog.

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  6. I love familiar places in books. I have yet to run into a killer...'fingers crossed'
    sherry @ fundinmental Friday Memes

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  7. Love the snippets. I hope you enjoy the book. I am reading Traitor's Kiss by Erin Beatty this week. Happy reading!

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    1. Thanks! Hope you have a great rest of your weekend!

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  8. It's always fun to read a book that's set in your area or in a place you've visited. I hope you enjoy this one. The descriptions in the opening drew me in.
    My Friday post features The River of Corn.

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    1. Exactly! I like being able to recognize a place. Thanks for sharing, Sandra!

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  9. Sounds like it's a solid read. Happy weekend!

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  10. This one looks creepy and I love books that are set near where I live! Hope you enjoy this one!

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  11. I think I've only read one book that took place near somewhere I lived. What a great reading challenge though. Happy weekend!

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    1. This book is practically set in my backyard, and I have never had that reading experience before. Thanks, Alicia!

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  12. I haven't heard of American Agent but it does sound really interesting.

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    1. If you're interested in Prohibition era, the FBI, and Melvin Purvis it is an absolute must read. :)

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  13. I love it when the books are set near where you live. Enjoy reading it!
    Here's my Friday Reads

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  14. Empress of a Thousand Skies is one I was looking forward to as well. I hate to hear you didn't like it. Hopefully, I will like it when I get it.

    Thanks for linking up <3

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    1. Hopefully you will end up liking it more than I did, Carrie. Happy reading!

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  15. I love reading books that are set in my area. I almost always add it to my TBR.

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    1. Same here - just finding one set in Ohio is cool. :)

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  16. "Fireflies illuminated their cold light" - that's a great line. I actually read Empress of a Thousand Skies and I did not enjoy it! I don't know if I'll read the rest of the series. :/ Oh well!

    Have a fantastic week, Lauren. =)

    Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!

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    1. For sure! I guess I'm glad I wasn't alone on that one...

      Thanks for coming over!

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  17. Aw I'm sorry to hear about Empress of a Thousand Skies. I've been really looking forward to reading it but I've heard some mixed reviews. I suppose I'll get around to it eventually this year! I really want to get my hands on a copy of American Agent! From your review, I'm dying to read it! Thanks for linking up, Lauren!

    Laura @BlueEyeBooks

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    1. Well, hopefully, you'll enjoy it more than I did Laura. I hope you can find a copy of American Agent - I would love to know what you think of it! :D Thanks for coming over, Laura.

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  18. Marked for Judgement looks pretty intense.

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