"The muscles on his forearm writhed like snakes rolling under sun-baked earth." The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson

"He had inherited his Shawnee mother's copper skin tone as well as high cheekbones sharp enough to cut falling silk." Blood and Treasure by Drury and Clavin

"Vic would be responsible for half of the interview, which would probably resemble revenge for the Inquisition." Death Without Company by Craig Johnson

"The croupier smiled a cold polite smile that had looked at thousands of boors and millions of fools." The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

"The reverend played like Gabriel, by which I mean loud and with the authority that comes of a good ear and large lungs." Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

"The driver was bent against the steering wheel, slapping his knees and drumming his feet on the floorboards. He looked like a cartoon of a person laughing." Hunters in the Snow by Tobias Wolff

“The snow was melting faster and faster and the sun was drinking up the puddles at once, rapidly cleaning the plateau, which gradually dried and vibrated like the air itself.” The Guest by Albert Camus

"They turned the corner; the church they went to loomed like a gutted fort." Separating by John Updike

“She was over thirty then, still a slight woman, though thinner than usual, with cold, haughty black eyes in a face the flesh of which was strained across the temples and about the eyesockets as you imagine a lighthouse-keeper’s face ought to look.” A Rose for Emily by Faulkner

"When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house..." A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

"Three hundred. The meager tally seemed to rattle about the plain like peas in a jar." Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield

"I had the unsettling feeling that I had been completely mistaken as to the very nature of the world I was in – like discovering that your own mother isn’t anyone you’ve ever seen before, but a stranger in a rubber mask." Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein

"They paused with the sensitivity of grazing deer, then returned to their work." Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

"She was as limp as a fresh-filled rabbit." The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

"He said it calmly, and leaned back as if he had just been made a vice-president." The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

"Jim stood like a runner who has come a long way, fever in his mouth, hands open to receive any gift." Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

"You could hear that gun striking that ole shield like somebody dropping tire irons out of a twelve-story window." Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

“Even under the glow of his wine he was never boisterous, though he found the stuff like a magician’s wand for wonder-building.” Paul's Case by Willa Cather

“He talked to no one, probably not even to her, for his voice had grown harsh and rusty, as if from disuse.” A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

“He went slowly about the corridors, through the writing-rooms, smoking-rooms, reception-rooms, as though he were exploring the chambers of an enchanted palace, built and peopled for him alone.” Paul’s Case by Willa Cather