First Line

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Four am, in my experience, contains many things. Darkness, cold, solitude, gloom, despair, madness ---

Trick or Treat by Kerry Greenwood

[Suz]

'I've heard it said that jail stinks of despair'.

The King of Lies by John Hart

[Suz]

"They were going north this year, just the four of them heading out again on a cold, winter's Friday night."

written by Jaye Ford.

[Suz]

It wasn't as though the farm hadn't see death before, and the blowflies didn't discriminate.

The Dry by Jane Harper

[Phrynne, Series Queen!]

Waheem was already bleeding when he boarded the crowded motor boat.

Exposed by Alex Kava

[Sharon]

When people find out what I do for a living their first question is always about the most horrendous case of child abuse I've encountered .

Little Mercies by Heather Gudenkauf

[Phrynne, Series Queen!]

It's always darkest before the dawn.

End of Watch by Stephen King
(I promise that the book is much more original than its first line)

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it.

Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent

[Carolyn]

It wasn't as though the farm hadn't seen death before, and the blowflies didn't discriminate.

The Dry byJane Harper

[MaryG2E]

There is no way, unless you have unusual self-control, of disguising the expression on your face when you first meet a dwarf.
The rather intriguing opening line of The Year of Living Dangerously by Christopher J. Koch, which I'm currently reading for my local book club.

[Suz]

In 1880, a school teacher named James F Hogan warned that future Australians would have three main "defects": a larrikin spirit, a dislike of mental effort and an inordinate love of sports.

Our Stories: Sportsmanship

[Jülie ☼♄ ]

Suzanne wrote: "In 1880, a school teacher named James F Hogan warned that future Australians would have three main "defects": a larrikin spirit, a dislike of mental effort and an inordinate love of sports.

[book:..."

Lol... Three out of three ain't bad!

[Suz]

☼♄Jülie wrote: "Suzanne wrote: "In 1880, a school teacher named James F Hogan warned that future Australians would have three main "defects": a larrikin spirit, a dislike of mental effort and an inordinate love of..."

Clever bloke, hey Jools!

[Phrynne, Series Queen!]

"Our dragon doesn't eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley."

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

[Sally906]

Phrynne wrote: ""Our dragon doesn't eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley."

Uprooted by Naomi Novik"

Nice opener!

[Phrynne, Series Queen!]

"At two-thirty Saturday morning, in Los Angeles, Joe Carpenter woke, clutching a pillow to his chest, calling his lost wife's name in the darkness."

Sole Survivor by Dean Koontz

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

They emerged from the bush like skeletal ghosts, the convicts first, staggering in short steps, all in rags but one - he was barefoot and naked, wild eyes staring from a face of black bristling whiskers.

Hamilton Hume: Our Greatest Explorer by Robert Macklin

[Deb]

" The education bestowed on Flora Poste by her parents had been expensive, athletic and prolonged; and when they died within a few weeks of one another during the annual epidemic of the influenza or Spanish Plague which occurred in her twentieth year, she was discovered to possess every art and grace save that of earning her own living."

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

Many of my favourites have already gone up, but I love this beginning it hooked me the first time I read it and is a brilliant forerunner of the tone of the book.

[Carolyn]

It's a great opening Deborah! It's such a good book too - so funny. Must read it again sometime :)

[Suz]

"Do you really think we can get away with it?"

The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty

[Sally906]

"...As I sit here with one foot on either side of the ledge, looking down from twelve stories above the streets of Boston, I can't help but think of suicide!.."

WOW!!! what an opening! Everyone I know who has read this book is raving over it - so have started it to see what the fuss is about - has a goodreads average of 4.72

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

That's an amazing average Sally!

[Suz]

Myron Bolitar used a cardboard periscope to look over the suffocating throngs of ridiculously clad spectators.

Back Spin by Harlan Coben

[Brenda]

Last night I dreamt I went to Mandalay again.
From Daphne Du Maurier's "Rebecca", one of my favourite books.
Brenda P

[Andrea]

In the weatherboard house at the end of the lane, nine-year-old Alice Hart sat at her desk by the window and dreamed of ways to set her father on fire.

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland

[Andrea]

THEY FOUND HIM inside one of seventeen cauldrons in the courtyard, steeping in an indigo dye two shades darker than the summer sky.

Orhan's Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian

[Sharon]

Alice died exactly one year ago today, and Jo had missed her every single day.

The Life She Deserves by Maggie Christensen

Nearly finished this one and I absolutely love it :)

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

It's an excellent story - I agree Sharon :)