The First Line of the Fourth Deadly Sin

Other than quotes about the morning (see here) and Tuesday's post (here), I love looking at first lines (see all of them here). I love that so many people put so much thoughts into first lines. I truly love first lines that are horrid and over thought. This one I love for the prose.

The November sky over Manhattan was chain mail, raveling into steely rain. A black night with coughs of thunder , lightning stabs that made abrupt days. Dr. Simon Ellerbee, standing at his office window, peered out to look at life on the street below. He saw only the reflection of his own haunted face. 

He could not have said how it started, or why. He, who had always been so certain, now buffeted and trembling … 

All hearts have dark corners, where the death of a loved one is occasionally wished, laughter offends, and even beauty becomes a rebuke.

Sanders, Lawrence - The Fourth Deadly Sin 

Granted, Lawrence Sanders is among my favorite authors (see here) so his lines should naturally speak to me, but having recently been to Manhattan, having seen a sky that was "chain mail, raveling into steely rain", this one I particularly like.

Just can't get past the fact that I think the sky should be "unraveling" instead of "raveling."