So true. I had an editor once say that when they looked at unsolicited submissions, they were looking to find a reason to reject them. They had so much to read already, they didn't want any more. But if they couldn't find a reason to throw it out in the first 5 pages, it went into a separate pile. The ones in that pile, they read the first chapter of. And if they STILL couldn't find a reason to reject it, they'd take it home and look for a reason to consider making an offer for it. So your first chapter had to be pretty much PERFECT just to get them out of the mindset of trying to find a reason to reject it.