Estleman writes some of my favorite novel openings of all time. Like: "You hear some grotesque things about what happens to a man when he’s hanged; how his face turns black and his neck stretches to three feet and he soils himself, and it’s all true, except you never hear about the smell." - The Stranglers

Or "I was killing a conducter on the Northern Pacific between Butte and Garrison when my orders changed." - Port Hazard

Or this: "Forty years have passed, and I still can’t look at a game of billiards without thinking that’s the game that got me shot in Canada. I don’t mind telling you it’s spoiled me for indoor sports." - White Desert

Tough guy gold.

By the way, I'm just now starting The Stranglers, and I think it's my fav of his so far.  (Possibly not counting his Holmes vs. Dracula pastiche.