A man's man, but not at six a.m.

This is how to begin a novel. Note particularly how expressive the protagonist's growls and grunts are.

The jangling of the phone was an angry intrusion. Jack Galleon sat up in bed, looked at the electric clock on his night table. Six o'clock in the morning.

"What the hell!" he grunted. The phone kept up its persistent jangling.

"He jerked the receiver off the rest bar. " "Hello!" he growled into the mouthpiece.

"Mr. Jack Galleon?" A woman's voice, low and throaty.

"At any other time I'd be interested," Galleon said. "But it's six o'clock. In the morning. Call me in the afternoon, sweetheart."

"I'm not your sweetheart, Mr. Galleon, " she said, her voice higher. "I need help."

from the book by Arnold Marmor, entitled either "Case of the Eager Nymphs" or "Trollop Trail" (1963). My copy uses both titles.