“Tim Reed sits in the driver’s seat of his ancient and rust-punched Datsun hatchback, balancing a screwdriver on the tip of his finger.”
Fever House, by Keith Rosson
“This is a book about children’s views of the Bible, one of the great classics if not the grandest collection of books ever written.”
Just Build the Ark and the Animals Will Come: Children on Bible Stories, by David Heller.
“The wooded slope on which a dozen Scouts of Troop 15 had pitched their week’s camp was naturally cheerful.”
Alfred Hitchcock’s Haunted Houseful, edited by Alfred Hitchcock. (Note that this is an anthology, and the above sentence is from the first story, “Let’s Haunt a House”, by Manly Wade Wellman.)
“At seven p.m., Kathleen Held was in a taxi heading home from JFK to Greenchester, a full three hours earlier than originally scheduled.”
The Society of Shame by Jane Roper
“Alec Simpson, RN, stepped from the platform at Newton Abbot into a first class compartment of the Plymouth Express. A porter followed him with a heavy suitcase. He was about to swing it up to the rack, but the young sailor stopped him.”
“The Plymouth Express”, short story by Agatha Christie, in The Under Dog and Other Stories.
“I know it’s Miss Price, and I know it can’t be Miss Price: that’s what I keep thinking.”
Pet, by Catherine Chidgey
“Looking back on my school years, I think they were among the happiest and most magical in my life.”
Lessons Learned and Cherished: The Teacher Who Changed My Life, edited by Deborah Roberts. (Note: This book is an anthology of essays from numerous people. The above quote is from the introduction by the editor.)
“The girl from the future told me the sky is full of dying worlds”
Transcendent by Stephen Baxter
"Everyone now knows how to find the meaning of life within himself. But mankind wasn’t always so lucky."
The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut.
Yes, technically it’s two sentences. But it could just as easily been one.
“Chance occurrences change the course of our lives all the time.”
Random Acts of Medicine: The Hidden Forces That Sway Doctors, Impact Patients, and Shape Our Health, by Anupam B. Jena, M.D., and Christopher Worsham, M. D
“It’s an old city, and no longer in very good shape, nor is the lake beside which it has been built, but there are parts of it that are still pretty nice.”
– Holly, by Stephen King
“As I stood singing the birthday song for the fifth time that evening, I realized I was wrong for not believing in hell.”
Black Sheep, by Rachel Harrison
“Viv buried her greatsword in the scalvert’s skull with a meaty crunch.”
Legends & Lattes, by Travis Baldree
“A sullen wedge of gun-metal colored clouds rolled in from the west, autumn’s jackboot crunching down on the Twin Cities.”
Judgment Prey by John Sandford
“The horn of Hell plays, furious
and Francis Macomber is hiding underneath the bed;
A thousand thin devils belched from their black hole
like geysers of madness, screaming cold.”
Classic Monsters Unleashed, edited by James Aquilone. (Note that this is an anthology. The above sentence is from the first piece, “Inferno”, by Alessandro Manzetti.)
Sergeant Adib Julian, Third Platoon, Bravo Company of The Empress’ Own, opened his eyes, looked around the inside of his cramped, one-man bivy tent, and frowned sleepily.
March to the Sea, by David Weber and John Ringo
When the office door opened suddenly, I knew the game was up.
The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison
(hey, been 20 years since I read it last, so seemed a natural fit…)
“All this happened, more or less.”
Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
“Nicolas de Chamfort once said, ‘Most anthologists of quotations are like those who eat cherries or oysters: first picking the best ones and winding up by eating everything’ - and man, are we full!”
Smart Mouths: The Best Quotations Ever Collected, edited by The Knowledge Commons
“I just need to check you now for any weapons.”
The Girls Who Fought Crime: The Untold True Story of the Country’s First Female Investigator and Crime-Fighting Squads, by Major General Mari K. Eder. (U. S. Army, Retired.)