Great Beginnings

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: How do you choose a book? In the before-times, you’d go to a bookstore, find an intriguing cover or a book you’d reheard about, flop to the back flip to the cover copy, then—read the first line. Right? 

And how many times have you said: nope, nope, not for me. That Blink reflex readers we have is incredible. For better or for worse, we grasp what we predict is about to come—all from that one first line.

 Dick Belsky, an authentically wonderful journalist and oh-so talented writer knows the benefits of a good lede, right? And he’s been thinking about what makes a great first line.

 A GREAT READ STARTS AT THE BEGINNING... 

        By R.G. Belsky 

 There’s a lot of people who believe that the first page of a mystery/thriller novel is one of the most important things for an author to get right. Stephen King has said: “I am a real sucker for good first lines. I collect them in a little notebook the way some people collect stamps or coins.” Jeffrey Deaver agrees: “I firmly believe that it’s our job to grab the reader by the lapels in the opening scene and race them kicking and screaming through the book until the very end.” 

 Me, I feel the same way. The first page, the first paragraph, even the first line is crucial to me when I’m starting to write a novel. It is what draws the reader in for the next 300 pages or so of my story. 

 

My new book is called BEYOND THE HEADLINES. It features my series character, TV journalist Clare Carlson. This story is about a celebrity woman who is famous for being famous (think Kim Kardashian or Paris Hilton) that is accused of murdering her billionaire husband. So I spent a lot of time coming up with a beginning that I thought would best set the tone for the reader. But more about me and my book later.

 First, I want to talk about a few examples of great book openings I’ve read over the years that are among my favorites: 

       Michael Connelly, The Poet “Death is my beat.” 

          The book is about a newspaper reporter chasing a serial killer, and it becomes personal when one of the murder victims is the reporter’s twin brother. That opening line is simple, dramatic, perfect for all the twists and thrills that follow. Stephen King - in a foreword written for The Poet - calls it a “blue-ribbon winner” when it comes to first lines.

         Lori Rader-Day, The Day I Died 

         “On the day I died, I took the new oars down to the lake.” That opening line - plus the title - lets the reader know right from the start there’s a great story ahead. How did she die? Did she die? We’re sucked into this woman’s story right from the very beginning of the book, which is - of course - the idea. 

             Sue Grafton, A is for Alibi 

          

 “My name is Kinsey Millhone. I’m a private investigator. I’m thirty-two years old, twice divorced, no kids. The day before yesterday I killed someone and the fact weighs heavily on my mind. I’m a nice person...killing someone feels odd to me, and I haven’t quite sorted it through yet.” 

            Wow! That’s not just a great opening for a book, it’s a great opening for the series. Doesn’t that make you really want to follow Kinsey Millhone through this and all the wonderful Sue Grafton “alphabet” books that followed? 

             Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl 

            

            “When I think of my wife, I always think of her head.” 

             Okay, you have no idea what that means - but you’re intrigued from the first line. And it’s perfect for the dark, twisty psychological thriller of a bizarre, troubled and violent marriage that follows. 

              Hank Phillippi Ryan, The First to Lie 

           “Without any sneaky fine print and knowing everything you know, if you could start your adult life over as someone else, would you do it?” 

              Yes, our own Hank Phillippi Ryan has come up with a killer opening for her most recent book. That first line really wants to make you start turning those pages to find out what this is all about and what happens next, right? 

               Okay then, what did I write for a beginning to my book? Well, BEYOND THE HEADLINES is a thriller about celebrity crime and also about journalist Clare Carlson - who won’t stop digging into the story and investigating until she finds out the truth. 

              As a journalist myself who has spent a lot of time in newsrooms covering both celebrities and crime, I wanted to set that tone for the reader from the very first page of the book. 

               So my book opens with Clare speaking: 

                “Death is a funny business sometimes. Especially in big city newsrooms, where I’ve worked for most of my life. 

               “I remember one of them where we all loved to play a game called Somebody Famous Died. The idea was to fantasize about celebrities dying and try to come up with the ones that would be the biggest stories to put on the air or on the front page.

              “Like say Kim Kardashian. In bed. While making a sex tape. With a man who was not Kanye West.  Or Justin Bieber (who had 64 tattoos at last count) dying from an infected needle while getting a tattoo of Selena Gomez removed for a new one of Hailey Baldwin. Or Oprah Winfrey - this was back when she was the biggest thing on TV, both figuratively and literally - choking to death on a ham sandwich. “Just like Mama Cass!” said the guy who came up with that one. 

                "I think he won the game in our newsroom that day. “It’s impossible to work in a newsroom and not hear a lot of gallows humor about death… 

                  “Death remains the biggest mystery for all of us. 

                   “No really understands it. 

                   “And so we do our best to avoid taking it seriously for much of our lives until one day it comes knocking at our own door. 

                  “And then it’s no laughing matter...” 

               Hopefully, that opening page will intrigue the reader enough to keep reading BEYOND THE HEADLINES. What do you think? 

              HANK: Good question! Is the beginning of a mystery/thriller novel important to you? And what are some of your favorite openings?  (And aww....thank you!)

PS: Dru Ann, Karen in Ohio, and Coralee! You won Remembrance! Message me!

 

BEYOND THE HEADLINES  

           She was a mega-celebrity—he was a billionaire businessman—now he's dead—she's in jail Laurie Bateman was living the American dream. Since her arrival as an infant in the U.S. after the fall of Saigon, the pretty Vietnamese girl had gone on to become a supermodel, a successful actress, and, finally, the wife of one of the country's top corporate dealmakers. That dream has now turned into a nightmare when she is arrested for the murder of her wealthy husband. 

        New York City TV journalist Clare Carlson does an emotional jailhouse interview in which Bateman proclaims her innocence—and becomes a cause celebre for women's rights groups around the country. At first sympathetic, then increasingly suspicious of Laurie Bateman and her story, 

          Clare delves into a baffling mystery which has roots extending back nearly fifty years to the height of the Vietnam War. 

          Soon, there are more murders, more victims, and more questions as Clare struggles against dire evil forces to break the biggest story of her life. 

 R.G. Belsky is an award-winning author of crime fiction and a journalist in New York City. His newest mystery, Beyond the Headlines, is being published in May by Oceanview. It is the fourth in a series featuring Clare Carlson, the news director for a New York City TV station. The first book, Yesterday’s News, was named Best Mystery of 2018 at Deadly Ink. The second, Below the Fold, won the Foreward INDIES award for Best Mystery of 2019. The third Clare Carlson mystery, The Last Scoop, came out in May 2020. Belsky has published 14 novels—all set in the New York city media world where he has had a long career as a top editor at the New York Post, New York Daily News, Star magazine and NBC News. He also writes thrillers under the name Dana Perry. And he is a contributing editor for The Big Thrill magazine.