Not the first sentence from Betrayers by Bill Pronzini, but it’s oddly fitting:
“A doper,” he said. “You can’t trust dopers, they’re the dregs, they’re gene-pool scum.”
Truer words…
Objection!
“For nearly thirty years I have made my living by writing about science.”
Transient and Strange: Notes on the Science of Life, by Nell Greenfieldboyce.
“The men called her Henriette, but it wasn’t her name.”
The Blueprint, by Rae Giana Rashad
“The boy’s name was Santiago.”
The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho
“Take a journey with this crew.”
Tenacious: Fifteen Adventures Alongside Disabled Athletes, by Patty Cisneros Prevo
“The driver of the wagon swaying through forest and swamp of the Ohio wilderness was a ragged girl of fourteen.”
Arrowsmith, by Sinclair Lewis
“On the Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis, it’s not unusual to spot someone walking down one of the sidewalks, and at the 7th Street intersection, suddenly flinging his or her hat into the air.”
Dressing the Part: Television’s Most Stylish Shows, by Hal Rubenstein
“Breaking the American market was the ultimate goal for British bands, in order to gain world recognition and not be forgotten in the limbo of the hundred groups that had blossomed in the wake of The Beatles’ success.”
Teenage Wasteland: The Who at Winterland, 1967 and 1976 by Edoardo Genzolini
“‘He had heart trouble,’ the woman was telling Carella.”
The Last Dance, by Ed McBain
“We’re supposed to think that Jackson Pollock invented drip painting, and with it the American branch of Abstract Expressionism.”
Brushed Aside: The Untold Story of Women in Art, by Noah Charney.
“Although every effort has been taken to make Moon Base Alpha the safest human habitat ever built, we still urge you to be extremely careful and vigilant for your own well-being.”
Spaced Out, by Stuart Gibbs
“I spent much of my youth on the Mercer dairy farm of my maternal grandparents, Florian and Lucille ‘Lue’ Yeaton.”
Bald Eagles, Bear Cubs, and Hermit Bill: Memories of a Maine Wildlife Biologist, by Ron Joseph
"I was in deep sleep, alone aboard my houseboat, alone in the half acre of bed, alone in a sweaty dream of chase, fear, and monstrous predators. "
Dreadful Lemon Sky (John D. MacDonald)
“Hating the Earth was easy.”
Growing Up Weightless, by John M. Ford
“The spaces we live in shape our lives.”
The Shaping of Us: How Everyday Spaces Structure Our Lives, Behavior, and Well-Being, by Lily Bernheimer
“This marriage, it’s going to be a problem. She is going to be a problem.”
Bride by Ali Hazelwood
“In a book about profanity, it’s almost awkward that our tour begins with damn and hell, in that most of us don’t sense these words as truly, well, dirty.”
Nine Nasty Words by John McWhorter
“Don’t get me wrong: I love the restaurant business.”
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
“According to their biographies, Destiny’s favored children usually had their lives planned out from scratch.”
Time for the Stars by Robert A. Heinlein
“Cordover and Hum stood on the rocky mountaintop, watching the new thing happen.”
Untouched by Human Hands by Robert Sheckley (Note: This is a story collection, and the above quote is from the first story, “The Monsters”.)
“During the summer of 2016, the firefighter became convinced the bear was watching him.”
A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (And Some Bears), by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling.
“The monastery was originally a nunnery.”
The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee
“A shockwave slams into my back.”
Jewish Futures: Stories from the World’s Oldest Diaspora, edited by Michael A. Burstein.
(Note: the sentence comes from the first story, “Shema”, by Samantha Katz.