When browsing in the bookstore, what makes you want to read on?

I wrote a short a while back with an opening line that read: I remember the exact time we decided to kill the president. After a few folks read it, they thought it was a 'killer' opening. But, then I thought more about it, surely someone had opened with something similar before...

So, here I is; when I should be working, going through opening lines from my bookshelf.

Robert Crais: HOSTAGE---The man in the house was going to kill himself.

James Patterson: HONEYMOON---THINGS AREN'T ALWAYS as they appear.

Ed McBain: HARK---Gloria knew that someone was in her apartment the moment she unlocked the door and entered.

Donald E. Westlake: FIREBREAK---When the phone rang, Parker was in the garage, killing a man.

What's your favorite opener? The one you wrote that you like best?

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Interesting---way too many novelists out there. Of all the books listed, John Le Carre's 'A Spy Whom Came In From the Cold' is the only one I've read.
Dear Mr. Colt: You're dead.

I broke the seal on a jug of Old Fitz, generously bathed some ice cubes, took a hard pull. Satisfied the subject line couldn't possibly be true, I clicked open the email.

--from book #2 in my PI series
That is very good, Jude. That is true PI noir.
Thanks, Dennis!
I had to revive this thread after reading the opening line to CROOKED LITTLE VEIN, by Warren Ellis, due out in August:

"I opened my eyes to see the rat taking a piss in my coffee mug."
Don,

That conjers up images where I may be reluctant to go. Excellent.

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