“Mr Verloc, going out in the morning, left his shop nominally in charge of his brother-in-law. It could be done, because there was very little business at any time, and practically none at all before the evening. Mr Verloc cared but little about his ostensible business. And moreover, his wife was in charge of his brother-in-law.”
The Secret Agent, Joseph Conrad 
Amazon

Try one of these 1st paras & discover a new author:-
‘Jack Maggs’ by Peter Carey
‘Original Sin’ by PD James
‘The Heart is a Lonely Hunter’ by Carson McCullers

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
A 1^st para which makes me want to read more: THE SECRET AGENT by Joseph Conrad #books http://wp.me/p5gEM4-eE via @SandraDanby