# Read the first page of Blue Heaven by C.J. Box Read the opening of Blue Heaven by C.J. Box free, no signup. Two children flee through the Idaho woods after witnessing a murder. - Page: https://uncovered.ink/read/blue-heaven-c-j-box - Genre: Crime fiction - Year: 2008 - ISBN: 9781429929844 - Read it blind (cover and title hidden): https://uncovered.ink/?b=9781429929844&s=read-page - Buy: https://bookshop.org/a/125786/9781429929844 - Borrow: https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=9781429929844 ## The opening If twelve-year-old Annie Taylor had not chosen to take her little brother William fishing on that particular Friday afternoon in April during the wet North Idaho spring, she never would have seen the execution or looked straight into the eyes of the executioners. But she was angry with her mother. Before they witnessed the killing, they were pushing through the still-wet willows near Sand Creek, wearing plastic garbage bags to keep their clothes dry. Upturned alder leaves cupped pools of rainwater from that morning, and beaded spiderwebs sagged between branches. When the gray-black fists of storm clouds pushed across the sun, the light muted in the forest and erased the defining edges of the shadows, and the forest plunged into a dispiriting murk. The ground was black, spongy in the forest and sloppy on the trail. Their shoes made sucking sounds as they slogged upstream. Annie and William had left their home on the edge of town, hitched a ride for a few miles with Fiona, the mail lady, and had been hiking for nearly two hours, looking in vain for calm water. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” ten-year-old William said, raising his voice over the liquid roar of the creek, which was angry and swollen with runoff. Annie stopped and turned to William, looking him over. A long fly rod poked out from beneath the plastic he wore. He had snagged the tip several times in the branches, and a sprig of pine needles was wedged into one of the line guides. “You said you wanted to go fishing, so I’m taking you fishing.” “But you don’t know anything about it,” William said, his eyes widening and his lower lip trembling, which always happened before he began to cry. “William . . .” “We should go back.” “William, don’t cry.” He looked away. She knew he was trying to stanch it, she could tell by the way he set his mouth. He hated that he cried so easily, so often, that his emotions were so close to the surface. Annie didn’t have that problem. “How many times did Tom tell you he was going to take you fishing?” Annie asked. William wouldn’t meet her eyes. “A bunch,” he said. “How many times has he taken you?” He said sullenly, “You know.” “Yes, I know.” “I sort of like him,” William said. Annie said, “I sort of don’t.” “You don’t like anybody.” Annie started to argue, but didn’t, thinking: He may be right. “I like you enough to take you fishing even though I don’t know how to fish. Besides, how hard can it be if Tom can do it?” An impudent smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Yeah, I guess,” he said. “Look,” she said, raising her plastic bag to show him she was wearing Tom’s fishing vest. She had taken it without asking off a peg in their house. “This thing is filled with lures and flies and whatever. We’ll just tie them to the end of your line and throw ’em out there. The fish can’t be much smarter than Tom, so how hard can it be?” “. . . if Tom can do it,” he said, his smile more pronounced. That was when they heard a motor rev and die, the sound muffled by the roar of the foamy water. ## Books with a similar feel - [Open Season by C. J. Box](https://uncovered.ink/read/open-season-c-j-box.md) - [The Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly](https://uncovered.ink/read/the-law-of-innocence-michael-connelly.md) - [Hide And Seek by Ian Rankin](https://uncovered.ink/read/hide-and-seek-ian-rankin.md) - [The Bat by Jo Nesbo](https://uncovered.ink/read/the-bat-jo-nesbo.md) - [The Black Ice Score by Richard Stark](https://uncovered.ink/read/the-black-ice-score-richard-stark.md) - [The Kings of Cool by Don Winslow](https://uncovered.ink/read/the-kings-of-cool-don-winslow.md) --- Source: Uncovered (https://uncovered.ink). A short sample shown for reading and discovery. Rights holders can request removal at https://uncovered.ink/takedown.