Teaser Tuesdays: Altered Beginnings, by Destiny Booze

Over the summer, I started Altered Beginnings, by Destiny Booze. And yes, her real name really is “Destiny Booze”; that’s not a pseudonym. Actually, I’m reading this on my ebook reader, from the Altered Beginnings Smashwords edition. No matter, both the electronic and print versions are the same; the only difference is in the layout and page numbers.

Altered Beginnings is Destiny Booze’s first book, the story of Leigh Lawson. When she graduated high school, she had been living a life that was going to kill her, unless she made a change. Now four years later, having turned her life around, she returns home only to learn that everyone thought she was dead and hates her for staying out of touch for so long. On top of that, the local police bully her into going undercover, reconnecting with her abusive ex-lover, in order to sting a drug dealer. It may be Leigh’s only chance to redeem herself with her family and friends, but she needs to figure out how to stay alive in the process.

SIDE NOTE: Sherry the Red Head Riter is giving away a free copy of the Love-Idiot book, along with a very generous interview with little-old-moi. (Aw shucks.)

Back to Altered Beginnings. I’m not sure how I feel about this book so far. The characters sometimes feel two-dimensional to me. Reading it, I acutely realize how badly is needed a general understanding among fiction authors of the psychology of their characters. (I’m considering that as a book, BTW; something like, Every Novelist Is a Psychologist: Discovering the Depth of Your Fiction Characters.) So the characters in this book sometimes make me feel like I’m missing that personal connection with them, but there’s definitely a story in there worth telling. I’ll have to wait for the end before I render a final opinion.

Today’s teaser, from a page of Altered Beginnings randomly selected by Random.org:

“Leigh, it’s very important that you do exactly as I tell you to do. You don’t want to double-cross me.”

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just follow the directions at the “Teaser Tuesdays” post.

-TimK