Every Tuesday Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where you can share the first paragraph, or a few, of a book you are reading or thinking about reading soon.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!
The First Phone Call from Heaven tells the story of a small town on Lake Michigan that gets worldwide attention when its citizens start receiving phone calls from the afterlife. Is it the greatest miracle ever or a massive hoax? Sully Harding, a grief-stricken single father, is determined to find out. An allegory about the power of belief--and a page-turner that will touch your soul--Albom's masterful storytelling has never been so moving and unexpected.
Readers of The Five People You Meet in Heaven will recognize the warmth and emotion so redolent of Albom's writing, and those who haven't yet enjoyed the power of his storytelling, will thrill at the discovery of one of the best-loved writers of our time.
Opening
The Week It Happened
On the day the world received the first phone call from heaven, Tess Rafferty was unwrapping a cox of tea bags.
Drrrrnnn!
She ignord the ring and dug her nails into the plastic.
Drrrrnnn!
She clawed her forefinger through the bumpy part on the side.
Drrrrnnn!
Finally, she made a rip, then peeled off the wrapping, and scrunched it in her palm. She knew the phone would go to answering machine if she didn’t grab it before one more—
Drrrrnnn!
“Hello?”
Too late.
“Ach, this thing,” she mumbled. She heard the machine click on her kitchen counter as it played her outgoing message.
“Hi, it’s Tess. Leave your name and number. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can, thanks.”
A small beep sounded. Tess heard static. And then.
“It’s Mom….I need to tell you something.”
Tess stopped breathing. The receiver fell from her fingers.
Her mother died four years ago.
My Teaser
As news director, Phil was used to crazy mail. He mostly ignored it. But Alpena was not a market where you tossed aside “the biggest story in the world,” at least not one that might help the ratings upon which Phil’s job depended.
page 28
So...what do you think? Is this one you would pick up? Leave a comment below!
