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Beginning April 1, 2012

Welcome to the starting point for another wildly popular first chapter scavenger hunt, brought to BookTrib by the Media Muscle team and a plethora of amazing book bloggers. Beginning April 1, a section of  chapter 1  of the new release The Minefields by Steven Eisner will be featured each day by a book blogger until the entire first chapter has been provided to you.

About the book:  Situated smack between the cigarette-and-martini days of Mad Men and the nihilism of House of Lies, Eisner paints a classic roman a clef in stinging detail.  Protagonist Sam Spiegel is the Golden Boy with the New York business world at his feet when he is called home to Philadelphia just as he has begun to make his mark. His father, Holocaust survivor Harry Spiegel, is ailing and it’s with reservations that Sam takes on the challenge to grow his father’s firm, Spiegel Communications, into national prominence. The complex themes of the father-and-son relationship, like those found in the works of Chaim Potok and Mario Puzo, are brought vividly to life as Sam and Harry battle over the future of the family legacy.

Getting started on the tour: It’s easy – Listed in the guide below, according to the date the chapter excerpt is revealed, it easy to click on the link to continue reading each day. In addition to the scavenger hunt, you’ll find reviews, author Q&A sessions, guest blog posts, and giveaways throughout the blog tour. Books featured in the hunt are on the edge of their official release date – so you get to start reading it first!

April 01 . . . I drew open the curtain…

April 02 . . At least five tubes ran from his arms…

April 03 . . . I understood this pattern. My dad…

April 04 . . . In addition, just about every body part…

April 05. . . It had gotten to where only a…

Steven C. Eisner

April 06 . . . Then, he drew in his fingers, turned his wrist, and gave me a quick thumbs-down…

April 07 . . . His eyes, when open, remained fixed on mine…

April 08 . . . Fortunately, she left quickly. . .

April 09 . . . He looked quite fragile, much the way I remembered…

April 10 . . . While still rubbing his hand with the tips of my fingers…

April 11 . . . “You know, I don’t…um…really like chicken, Sam…

April 12 . . . Harry leaned up from his angled bed…

April 13 . . . Determined, he heaved himself forward…

April 14 . . . Dad had always kept busy…

April 15 . . . I held my dad’s hand more firmly. I shifted his pillows…

April 16 . . . “Here’s your Coke,” she said at last, spilling some of it as she handed it to me…

April 17 . . . I had turned on Sunday Morning.

April 18 . . . My real goal was to find…

April 19 . . . He was indeed drowning…

April 20 . . . He said with great empathy…

April 21 . . . I said, “I appreciate the options…

April 22 . . . “Right, and doctor, I need to…

April 23 . . . “Mr. Spiegel, I know you’re very uncomfortable…

April 24 . . . Then he patted mine as he shot me…

April 25 . . . I was working so hard to…

April 26 . . . Until I experienced the pain…

April 27 . . . And my role, at that moment…

April 28 . . . Harry’s eyes were closed and his breathing…

April 29 . . . Occasionally, my father opened his eyes…

April 30 . . . We three watched Harry…