Issue #16 (28 June 2026)
Sam E’s 7-second newsletter
Every bestselling novel starts with a first sentence that tries to hook you.
I have selected three bestselling books; here are their opening lines for your entertainment. Read through them and click the one that hooks you: the book’s title and author will be revealed next. (This is not anything nefarious, it’s just a moment of entertainment for subscribers – a quick thank you.)
———-
1: The senior partner studied the résumé for the hundredth time and again found nothing he disliked about Mitchell Y. McDeere, at least not on paper.
Click here if Line 1 hooked you
2: Tom glanced behind him and saw the man coming out of the Green Cage, heading his way.
Click here if Line 2 hooked you
3: I was arrested in Eno’s diner.
Click here if Line 3 hooked you
4: None of them? Fair enough. Opening lines are highly subjective, and sometimes a story needs a few more lines, maybe paragraphs, maybe pages, to pull you into its world.
Nope. None of these hooked me today
———-
Thank you for playing along!
Happy reading,
Sammy (Sam E AtSell)