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I am curious, for all my fellow Mystery/Suspense/Thriller Writers out there, how do you begin your stories of this type?  Are you willing to share some of your personal examples of your opening lines from a WIP that you use to grab a reader’s attention?

Here are a few that I have used in some stories:

1. Lost, alone, cold, wet, tired and no one knew she still lived.  Categorically speaking, things could not have been better.

2. I have killed—and will most likely kill again.  In fact, this is the third time I’ve had to kill the same thing.

3.  There were screams.  Loud.  Shrill.  Piercing.  A man’s voice shouted, “YAA!  YAA!  GO AWAY!”  The whine of the wind through the trees was insistent.  Branches crackled as something passed through them, moving fast.  There were more noises.  Snuffling, and snarls.  The sound of an impact, and a yelp.

4. Sweat rose on Lionel’s upper lip as he breathed heavily into the oxygen mask.  The smoke scorched his lungs and burned his eyes.  He blinked rapidly to clear the floating flash spots that ghosted his vision.  His eyebrows crackled as he rubbed his forehead and singed portions fell into his matted eyelashes.

5. Barbados Hatcher was a fleshpot—a rippling, jelly-filled walrus of a man, with blubber to spare.  He lived in a crumbling shanty along the riverfront with a wooden deck stretching out over the muddy bank and ending in a rickety pier.  He always stank of sweat, beer, and bologna.  And very seldom did I ever see him in more than an over-stretched T-shirt and boxer shorts.  That was the way he lived—filthy, dirty, a pig wallowing in a sty.

6. We were flown into the western region of the mainland peninsula; the third of three attempts to recon and secure the village settlement of Gankola.  Our platoon objective was to break through the resistance forces guarding the back jungle access and set up an outpost in the grass-hut village  Previous attempts to reach the town through this route had failed due to what we thought were well-placed sniper attacks.  So, our officers had proposed this blitz strike with small units to lure the enemy into a trap.

7. It was a time of oppression.  It was a time of great sadness.  It was the time of the Roman Caesars.  The voice of the Hebrew prophets had been silent for over four hundred years, and Israel’s children continually cried out to their God for relief.  Though the words of each prayer varied, the request was always the same: “Lord, send us a deliverer.”

8. The trees of Evengrove were in bloom that July day when we first saw little Beck.  She was a sight to behold: a little tatter of a dress, bare feet, skinny legs and covered from head to foot in dirt and filth.  The boys found her in one of the apple trees in our orchard, and John had to stop them from throwing apples up at her.  Poor thing was terrified and I demanded that John fetch her down at once.  He grabbed his ladder and set about to lean it on a limb, when she scrambled over and shoved it away.  I declare that girl was as savage as a cornered cougar and I don’t rightly recall how we ever did get her out of that tree.  It took some doing though, I can tell you that.

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Well, these are just a few of mine. I just wanted to know what methods and opening lines you use to entice a book peruser to become engaged in what you write by the first sentences.

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