David Baldacci appears frequently on bestseller lists. I browsed through a handful of his opening sentences, and this one, from A Minute to Midnight, appealed the most to me: "Once more she rode into the Valley of Death."
That's an operatic and portentous statement. "Once more" – she has done this before, and survived. "She rode" – like a member of the cavalry, or a sheriff in a Western, she is not going or driving, but calling up all the horseback connotations of riding. "Into the Valley of Death" – she is entering a lethally dangerous place, giving up the high ground, and perhaps surrounded by unscalable canyon walls. A valley limits your movement. Armies have an advantage on high ground. So she is not only returning to a very dangerous place, she's giving up her high ground to go there.
"Valley of Death" in this case has three distinct associations. The first comes from one of the most memorized passages of the Bible, the 23rd Psalm. "Yea, though I walk through the Valley of Death, I shall fear no evil." The psalmist also chose "Valley of Death" to describe an extremely perilous situation, which makes God's protection there all the more impressive. The second association is "Death Valley," one of the hottest places on Earth. It is an extremely inhospitable desert. The third association, as we learn in following paragraphs, is with a high security prison, home to murderers, which our heroine is on her way to visit.
The triple meaning must have been irresistible. I find it very appealing.
What kind of woman would return to a Valley of Death? Why go to such a dangerous place? What will happen there?
This sentence is a true hook – it creates intense suspense. The grand voice of the sentence also suggests drama and passion – a promise that the book will deliver more excitement. With these words, David Baldacci launches the book at high speed.
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