This is the tenth story I have reviewed by Mat Coward and, good grief, the second this month.
What should the opening sentence of a short story do? The only thing it must do is make you want to read the second sentence.
But it can do so much more. For instance:
* It can set the mood.
* It can tell you something about the plot.
* It can introduce one or more characters.
Now try out this for an opening gambit:
"Of all the people we have ever kidnapped, you are by far the rudest."
* Mood: Farce.
* Plot: Kidnapping.
* Character: At least two serial kidnappers, one of them grumpy. At least one victim, apparently rude.
Did it make you want to keep reading? It sure did for me.
Gemma and Nathan, sister and brother, are the victims. They refer to their captors as Nice and Snitty Nappers. (Snitty, of course, is the one who complains about their manners.) We learn a lot about their personalities. Nathan is the genius who never found anything to do with his life. Gemma is the grouchy businesswoman who runs an escape room business.
And as for the Nappers, they explain that they are "permanent security consultants" but their boss is getting old and it "had been ages since they'd last been required to consult anyone concerning their security and their baseball bats and steel-capped boots were growing old with neglect."
This is a delightful tale with some wild plot turns.
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