You've Got Five Pages, The Peacekeeper by B.L. Blanchard, to Tell Me You're Good.

The first chapter can make or break a reader's engagement with a story. We as writers must craft brilliant opening pages in order to hook those picky readers, so let's study the stories of others to see how they do it! The opening pages of The Peacekeeper by B.L. Blanchard are a bit of a slow burn, but it does successfully mix character development, worldbuilding, and a major cataclysmic event all at once, and that is a major feat. The first chapter is preceded by excerpts from two Native American authors whom I mistook for fictional writers in Blanchard's universe--my apologies for that! This is what I get for reading too many mysteries, apparently. :) That said, I can see how Tommy Orange's words on the "Urban Indian" help inspire the setting Blanchard creates in this first chapter. The United States and Canada never came to be: these lands are still dominated and governed by different Native American tribes, such as the Ojibwe around the Great Lakes region. Names of places and things are connected to their language, which readers see with the reference of Shikaakwa for Chicago. Chapter 1 also shows seven different cultural calendar dates, and I see that it's just past five pages that we learn the Aztec and Mayan empires still exist. I can see there will be a richness in the alternative history timeline here, and that fascinates me as a writer and reader alike. Our adult protagonists struggle with their mother's murder at their father's hands during their childhood, and the opening pages help us see their current relationship, which definitely inspires empathy and sympathy from readers. I was worried that the family drama would dominate this story--we had enough of that with Anne Tyler's French Braid--but by the end of five pages, protagonist Chibenashi is showing readers more of his world and preparing us for the coming murder that launches the story's plot. For those who love alternative histories and/or mysteries, this could very well be a perfect fit for you. What will you make of these first five pages? Let's find out!