Close Attention

by Steph Sweeney

From the twisted mind that brought you the YFG Series comes a southern gothic tale of love, loss, and small town corruption...

Adam is a star athlete from the most well-to-do family in town. Hue is Adam's orphaned cousin who lives out in the country with his one-legged uncle. Once inseparable, they've been torn apart by bitter family rivalry, diverging social circles, and Adam's girlfriend Ellen, the most popular girl in school.

Then one summer day Hue stumbles upon a terrible secret in the woods: two girls, Eva and Emily, living in a tree house and relying only on themselves for survival. As he learns more about their circumstances, Hue comes to realize that the girl he is coming to love and her kindhearted little sister are in terrible danger.

And there's only one place Hue can turn for help.

357 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 27, 2014

About the author

Hi! I'm Steph, a new erotica author. My debut novel, Your Favorite Girl, an erotic romance thriller, hit the Amazon Erotica Bestseller list in its first week, and now I'm at work on the next installment in the three book series, His Favorite Girl.

I write with an emphasis on realism and aesthetics. I want it to feel real. Sometimes this calls for explicit descriptions and language. I urge you to pass my work by if you are offended by open sexuality.

If you're up for anything, take a peek at Your Favorite Girl. =)

Steph <3

Reviews

[Carol [Goodreads Addict] · Rating 3 out of 5]

RATING 3.5 STARS

Close Attention is by Steph Sweeney. I have never read anything by Ms. Sweeney before so I went into this book with no idea what to expect. Even so, I was quite surprised.

Hue and Adam are cousins, both seniors in high school and deep down inside, they both have the same sense of right and wrong. But their lives couldn’t have been more different. Adam grew up privileged. They had money and he was raised in a stable environment. He has had the same girlfriend since he was eight years old. His cousin, Hue, lost his parents when he was little. So he was raised by his widowed Uncle Jerry. His life was anything but stable. There was a time that Adam and Hue were best friends. And they would have probably stayed that way if Adam’s parents had taken in Hue when his parents died. But that’s not what happened. So they grew apart.

The whole book is a slow build to one huge fateful night. Decisions both boys made up to that day and on that night that changed their lives forever.



Hue and his friend were just out in the woods hunting for ginseng to dig up to sell when they came upon two young sisters living in a tree house. As the weeks went by, Hue visited these girls often and slowly learned the horror of their lives. He feels like their protector, responsible for them.



Adam’s family throws a huge party every Halloween but this year is going to be the biggest. Complete with a huge bon fire and live music. That day, though, at school, he meets a new girl, Brittany. What is it about her? He is instantly drawn to her and wants to help her. He ends up taking her with him to his house for the party that night without ever realizing how this night was going to unfold and how his life would change because of it.



This is a story of so many things most of us never want to know exist. Its about small town crooked police, drug use, extreme poverty and negligence. But mostly, I think it was about the bond between two cousins that proved to be stronger than all the social stigmas that pulled them apart.

“Hue would risk everything to help another. He would never abandon someone, the way Adam had abandon him.”



All of the characters lives become intertwined on that final night. I do admit that at times I felt the story lagged a bit and I‘m still not sure who the narrator was. But it all built up to the big night that had my heart racing. And I was very surprised with the ending.

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

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Dark, edgy and emotionally chaotic, pretty much sums up Steph Sweeney’s Close Attention, the tale of a diverse group of teens in a very rural area, where you either get out and never come back, or stay and follow in the footsteps of your ancestors. Filled with teen angst, teen insecurities, the classic bully/bad guys, and the “privileged” basking in the power their parents wield, this rural setting also has the charm of a small community and its rustic closeness.

Adam is a gifted ball player. As a child he watched the new girl in town experience the cruelty of the old concession stand worker and that is the first time he came to her rescue. Eleven years later, they are still together, more out of habit than love. Then came the night of the big bonfire, where teens come from all around to party, drink and smoke, all while desperately grasping for a place in the teen community. It’s also the night his cousin, Hue needed him as never before, but Adam must decide to either become an accessory or a conscience to Hue. Whichever it is, their relationship will never be the same and the nightmare this night has become will forever scar Adam’s memories and change his life and his relationships forever.

Well! I have to say, Steph Sweeney took me by surprise, in a very good way! Close Attention is NOT a tale of a “Foot Loose” kind of place. There is evil, secrets and dark ambitions. There is also innocence, love and tenderness, all rolled into a realistic view of teens in need of more guidance, positive reinforcement and ambition. For some it was a journey to mediocrity, but for the main character, it was a coming of age as he came through the darkness and truly found himself and the person he wanted to be. Gritty, dark and far too realistic to be brushed off as a twisted tale, Ms. Sweeney had taken her bold strokes and created a wonderful read.

If you enjoy some dark and gritty action, teen growing pains, some mental instability and all of the confusion of being a teen, check this one out!

I received a review copy from the author in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars
Publication Date: September 27, 2014
Published by: Steph Sweeney
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Print Length: 357 pages
Available from: Amazon

[Mikayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never read anything by Steph Sweeney before and I'm surprised I haven't come across this book until recently.

I don't know what to say really, just that it's a really great book about two cousins who run into trouble at a Halloween party. Though not quiet a proper thriller, you'll be kept on your toes throughout and will wonder what will happen towards the end.

I can definitely recommend as much as this was recommended to me. Definite four stars

[Desiree · Rating 5 out of 5]

This and more reviews at The Book Bar.co

Rating: Top Shelf - A sitting on the edge of your seat, backwoods story of respect and love.

Author Steph Sweeney has a way of sucking you in to the deep, dark and often disturbing, and you like it. The Your Favorite Girl series had me cringing in the beginning and then desperate to find out how it ended. When she gave her "street team" the first half (yes ONLY the first half) of Close Attention, I was amazed. This was nothing like the erotic tales in Your Favorite Girl, but it still had the element of suspense, mystery and a bit of adventure. I was hooked, and then... Steph went out of contact for awhile. However, the characters of Close Attention sat casually in my mind, with a knowing smirk, waiting for their creator to return.

Wendy said suddenly.  “I'm such a slut.  She's a nice girl.  I think she's a virgin.  You should hold onto her.  She likes girls, too.  You two could get married one day and have tons of threesomes.”
Adam laughed, taken aback.  He'd expected her to say “tons of babies.”
Close Attention. Sweeney, Steph. 2014 - Copy provided by author

Close Attention should hook you from the prologue. Not just set you up for what's to come, but have you desperate to know EVERYTHING; what happened; who's the narrator; what the hell am I about to read? A country I have never experienced is described vividly and teases you with it's secrets. I am a huge fan of setting the scene. I like when an author can drop me off in a landscape I have never seen and I can turn in a 360 to get a visual of everything around me. Feeling the earth beneath my feet, heed the creepiness of the woods, and sensing the chill in the air are all instrumental in a great book.

“I don’t think anybody knows,” Adam Sr. said, “but it’s prettiest when it’s dying.  Stands out.  Almost looks like it doesn’t belong – like a ghost in the woods.”
Close Attention. Sweeney, Steph. 2014 - Copy provided by author

This is a tale of two cousins who were once very close, drifted apart and then are bonded together by life changing secrets. The novel cuts back and forth between the two boys and how they grew up and grew apart. You are fully aware of all the privileges and hardships that make up the characters and they are truly respectable, realistic individuals.

Adam Manning Jr. was perhaps the most handsome of all the Manning men, and he was still blind to the fact—some say this accounted largely for his beauty, as his handsomeness did not shout at you like that of a runway model but rather harbored a modesty which gave it such subtlety that many women in town would never notice it, or would catch it only in a glimpse.”
Close Attention. Sweeney, Steph. 2014 - Copy provided by author

The build up leads to the annual Halloween party, where everything that could go wrong, does. I couldn't read fast enough; after all the wonderful background and suspense, I was finally going to learn the secret the prologue tempted me with. I was not disappointed. And, although this isn't labeled as "adventure", I really felt like I was on some kind of "Stand By Me" or "The Usual Suspects" hunt for the "it's all going to be O.K." ending.

Adam knelt before her, wracked with guilt, sorrow, nostalgia.  No matter the person she'd turned out to be, Adam knew Ellen more intimately than anyone.  Losing her was like losing a major organ, one you can live without but whose absence slowly diminishes your health.
Close Attention. Sweeney, Steph. 2014 - Copy provided by author

The characters are great. The setting is phenomenal. The storyline is one-of-a-kind. I feel like this book will haunt me for a long time and I am so happy I walked in on it's secret!

More Wonderful Quotes:

“I feel like a blind man who’s scared of the dark,” Hue said to Scotty on Hue’s seventeenth birthday. ”
Close Attention. Sweeney, Steph. 2014 - Copy provided by author

Yes, Ellen was out there, and his parents were clearly not happy, but Brittany was guilty of nothing, and it angered him that she felt otherwise.  An autumn leaf had just as well feel guilty for where it lands.
Close Attention. Sweeney, Steph. 2014 - Copy provided by author

“If I die,” he said, desperately trying to make light of the situation, “take my money to the casino and put it all on red.”
“I don’t gamble,” Sarah said.
“Sure you do. Everybody gambles . . . in some sense.”
Close Attention. Sweeney, Steph. 2014 - Copy provided by author

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was all over the place I couldn't finish it... It had a great intro but idk about the rest...

[Anima · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fan of Sweeney' s I will read everything she writes. Not reading the description I went into the story blind. So glad I did! This was a well developed storyline. The first half is mainly Hue and "the girls" with a small intro to Adam. The latter half is the infamous Halloween Party at Adam's house. It just takes off from there and people get interwoven into the story and the craziness of it actually makes sense. It's disturbing, smart, exciting and thrilling.

[Portia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Stephen Sweeney's books..

I like that the story spun out in different angles telling the whole story from angles. The plot is believable in the fact that it's in a small town where everybody knows everything about everybody until they don't. This author keeps me on the edge of my seat waiting for more.

[Alexa Rowan]

DNF at 1%.