Friday 10 June 2011

Book Blurb Friday #15 An Ordinary Neighbourhood


 Each week she posts a photo that could be the cover of a book. The aim is to:
‘Write a book jacket blurb (150 words or less) so enticing that potential readers would feel compelled to buy the book.’ 

Here is this week’s book cover. My blurb follows.
Image copyright Joseph J Claro

An Ordinary Neighbourhood

When Mike Bishop returns to his childhood home one hot July day he finds the neighbourhood deserted and eerily quiet. There are no vehicles, no birds singing in the trees, no dogs barking. The houses are all shut up and nothing stirs. The only evidence of human activity is an empty Heineken can lying on the grass.

Something cataclysmic has occurred but what? As Mike turns back to his car, his eye is caught by a slight movement behind one of the dustbins. A young boy with a dog emerges and walks towards him uncertainly. What the boy tells him chills his blood. Mike must warn the authorities but this proves to be more difficult than he ever could have imagined. 

Caught in the strange atmosphere, Mike begins to hallucinate and it is the child who must find a way for them all to escape.

(148 words including the title)

14 comments:

  1. The shift onto the child is very clever. It means however this story turns out, at least part of it rests on the shoulders of the child.

    Great tease. I'd read it.

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  2. J.,

    Wow. This is eerie and scary, I want to learn more. I like how the kid has his wits about him and can still think clearly. I bet the dog will be of help too. Certainly, Mike will kick into gear pretty soon, and they will find a way to survive and eventually thrive.

    Great job!

    Kathy M.

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  3. Ooh, enticing yet frightening, Janice. His life in the hands of a child. And a dog, of course. I'm for the dog getting them to safety, and the child solving the mystery while Mike gets over his hallucinations.
    — K

    Kay, Alberta, Canada
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  4. I think from now on I baptize and call you AGATHA ! I will have a sleepless night full of nightmares until the boy finds a way out. I wonder if there is poison in the Heineken beer ? It's Dutch ! Can't even send Lewis, he is in Oxford !

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  5. What an intriguing start. Your blurb provided good imagery and I was immediately drawn in to the story. What dies the boy tell Mike? What causes the strange atmosphere. Can he escape with the child's help? I want answers, so I'd be grabbing this one from the shelf for sure.

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  6. Oh, my goodness...this is a thriller that could make me start biting my nails again! With so much going on, I know I would not be able to put this book down. Whew...well done!

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  7. Nice! We were on the same wavelength this week. . .great minds! :) I like your inclusion of the boy and the dog, and now want to know why Mike is hallucinating and why, whatever the great event was, it didn't affect the boy. So what's going on? What happened? That's the problem with these blurbs...I'm left with so many questions!

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  8. If you aren't writing books, you should be. I'll have to look around your blog and see! I love stories like this.

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  9. Your details are absolutely tantalizing! I too have so many questions and love the shift to the child.

    Also wanted to thank you for your kind wish for "peace and love and dignity" for our Buddy. It brought tears to my eyes, and am sending warm thoughts to your Buddy's memory.

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  10. This is another "Wow" story, and would be a definite page turner if written!

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  11. Very intriguing. Why is it that the authorities are always so hard to convince? Until they see for themselves, which is usually too late, all they do is laugh it off.

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  12. Sounds like some real adventures ahead for this pair!

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  13. Just one word....INCREDIBLE!!!



    Thanks for the comments on my book blurb.

    WHITE TAILED HAWK

    Hope your weekend is treating you well!!

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