Grabbing the reader

Q:  Readers often read the opening few lines or page to a book before deciding to buy. What makes an opening sentence stand out above the rest? Give examples of openings, including your own, that you believe work brilliantly. Any tips or lessons learned for new authors about what to avoid on that first page?  
-from Susan
Multiple award-winning crime fiction wrier Rhys Bowen gave me the most important bit of advice about that opening page. She had just read my first 20 pages and...