Burning Blue: Chapters 16–29

by Paul Griffin
A beautiful girl in a wealthy New Jersey town is burned in a shocking attack. When hacker Jay Nazarro decides to investigate, he uncovers a long list of possible suspects.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–15, Chapters 16–29, Chapters 30–42, Chapters 43–55

Here are links to our lists for Adrift by Paul Griffin.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. presumptuous
    going beyond what is appropriate, permitted, or courteous
    That’s a little presumptuous of you, don’t you think?
  2. anesthesia
    loss of bodily sensation
    “I can’t believe I have to keep doing this. The anesthesia. Going dark like that, bam, you’re dead, you know?”
  3. cater
    give what is desired or needed
    I was done pretending, acting as if I belonged here at a riding stable, of all the ridiculous places, one that catered to a bunch of spoiled rich kids.
  4. trauma
    physical damage to the body caused by violence or accident
    I’m alert and oriented with no signs of physical trauma or amnesia.
  5. relish
    derive or receive pleasure from
    When I got into the apartment, I took a few seconds to relish the fact that I wouldn’t have to deal with my father for a whole week.
  6. antiquated
    so extremely old as seeming to belong to an earlier period
    From the outside it seemed to be an antiquated Dell, the same open-box special with the scratched screen my mother got for me when I was in fourth grade.
  7. unsolicited
    not asked for
    Sometimes a crush is better when it’s a one-way, as long as you keep quiet about it and don’t freak the girl out with creepy leering or unsolicited corny texts or whatever.
  8. honorable
    deserving of esteem and respect
    Sager did have a military record, honorable discharge, literally a Boy Scout as a kid and now a troop leader.
  9. dote
    shower with love; show excessive affection for
    He had two kids he doted on, never missed his child support payments, worked a second job as night security to pay for his daughter’s violin lessons.
  10. malevolent
    wishing or appearing to wish evil to others
    I couldn’t accept that such a malevolent crime might go unpunished.
  11. obituary
    a notice of someone's death
    He’d moved into the obituary pit, my father told me, but I was betting he was still on the Friendlies list of a gold badge or two.
  12. bodega
    small shop selling groceries, especially in a Hispanic area
    I stopped off at the bodega and grabbed a six of Becks.
  13. unimpeachable
    beyond doubt or reproach
    With my height and my absolutely unimpeachable fake ID I never got shut out.
  14. redundant
    more than is needed, desired, or required
    I had safeguard after redundant safeguard in place to prevent detection.
  15. svelte
    being of delicate or slender build
    I was getting nasty eyes from many elderly, almost uniformly svelte model types who had gotten lost on their way to the L.L.Bean catalog shoot.
  16. capacity
    the power to learn or retain knowledge
    “To imply the Cro-Magnon were lug heads is wrong. They exhibited a cranial capacity approximately sixteen hundred cubic centimeters larger than modern-day humans.’’
  17. consensus
    agreement in the judgment reached by a group as a whole
    This one girl, Marisol Wood, a sophomore who was by Facebook consensus the prettiest girl in her class, hung back.
  18. faux
    not genuine or real
    A limited edition faux snakeskin racquet cover for $600?
  19. tweak
    adjust finely
    “Tweaking your bandwidth, governor.”
  20. tabloid
    sensationalist journalism
    I don’t think this will keep the tabloids off you entirely, but it’ll be harder for them.
  21. dour
    showing a brooding ill humor
    Nicole relaxed when she saw who was inside, a dour-looking woman in her fifties.
  22. suppress
    put out of one's consciousness
    A chilling thought flashed my mind and took root before I could suppress it: Did she know who the attacker was, and she was protecting him?
  23. internalize
    incorporate within oneself; make subjective or personal
    You assume a great deal of others' pain and, by your own admission, internalize it.
  24. drone
    an aircraft without a pilot and operated by remote control
    I'm a drone, painkiller makes the blankets feel too heavy, except I'm not under the blankets.
  25. abstract
    existing only in the mind
    But after the burn, thinking about the future feels wrong in some way, an abstract sin.
  26. cavalier
    showing a lack of concern or seriousness
    Could you not be so cavalier? You're not rehashing the latest CSI episode at the watercooler. She's right here in front of you.
  27. sabotage
    destroy property or hinder normal operations
    As lead therapist in Ms. Castro’s rehabilitation, I ask that you refrain from sabotaging my therapy plan.
  28. apprise
    inform somebody of something
    Your job is a simple one: apprise Nicole’s teachers of her special needs.
  29. prescribe
    issue commands or orders for
    You’re doing the Castros a disservice, particularly Mrs. Castro, who is worrying after her daughter 24-7, in prescribing this under siege, batten down the hatches mentality.
  30. latent
    potentially existing but not presently evident or realized
    Dr. Schmidt, I am convinced that the patient exhibits a latent interest in self-harm, even if she herself is unaware of her inclination at this time.
  31. admonition
    cautionary advice about something imminent
    God help you if, while she’s following your “get out and about” admonition, that girl is attacked again.
  32. indelible
    not able to be forgotten, removed, or erased
    He scrubbed a graffiti tag somebody had scribbled onto the sign with indelible marker.
  33. taunt
    a cruel or scornful remark
    The entire three-story brick wall was bombed with graffiti, taunts from our rivals, the Blue Devils.
  34. veritable
    being truly so called; real or genuine
    “Dude, you’re like a veritable king of comedy, you know that? Hey, do you wear diapers?”
  35. philanthropy
    the act of donating money or time to promote human welfare
    Everybody loves to hate the girls because they’re pretty, but they’re also really smart and motivated to do great things, teach, go into politics, philanthropy.
  36. anthropomorphize
    ascribe human features to something
    Anthropomorphized animals danced on the walls.
  37. obnoxious
    causing disapproval or protest
    Jay, this is my totally obnoxious friend Emma.
  38. gratitude
    a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation
    The assignment was: Find a small treasure and offer a gratitude for living in a free country.
  39. vaporize
    kill with a burst of gunfire or electric current
    She zipped it to my phone with a patch that I opened first to prevent the worm from vaporizing my hard drive.
  40. violate
    act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises
    I didn’t want to violate whatever was going on between us, friendship or certainly the beginnings of it.
Created on Thu Jan 22 20:10:51 EST 2015 (updated Mon Sep 10 15:54:52 EDT 2018)

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