Quotes from Harlan Coben

She had also reacted by, what, running away? Did that make sense? She had run so quickly and haphazardly, barely contacting him and the school and, most surprising of all, just leaving the boys in the lurch. That

Janice Matley. As quickly as the name had formed in his mind, Eric pushed it away. No use thinking about that now. Dead was dead. No comeback. No reprieve. Nothing. Eric

Patricia? You have rehearsal in an hour." "I'm up," she groaned in a voice that indicated she was anything but. Marcia moved to the next room, Haley's, and took a quick peek. The

We are all masters of self-rationalization. We all seek ways to justify our narrative. We all twist that narrative to make ourselves more sympathetic. You do it too.

was much more potent when it started out as hope. Think about it: If you want to drop something so it lands hard and cracks, you first have to lift it up as high as possible. Put more simply, there has to be hope in order to take it away. Titus

I'm driving home to change, Win said. Then I'm dining at Merion. Mainliners never ate; they dined. Care to join me?

The line at the ticket sales counter was long. That was good, if the timing worked. He wanted the staff to be busy. When it was his turn, the woman behind the desk gave him that distracted smile.

That cuckoo saved your life once," Myron said. "Yeah, but you remember how," she countered. Myron did. A dark alley. Win's doctored bullets. Brain matter tossed about like parade confetti. Classic Win. Effective but excessive. Like squashing a bug with a wrecking ball. Esperanza

The ugliest truth is still better than the prettiest of lies.

Truth is truth. By definition. Anything else is a lie.

They watched in rapt silence as the car window lowered. The angle was a bit odd—above the car and from the machine's point of view—but there was no doubt. Chad Coldren was the driver. He leaned out the window and put his card in the ATM machine slot. His fingers tripped across the buttons like an experienced stenographer's. Young

Follow me." Dog Collar headed up the ridge toward the path between the two ponds. Myron wasn't sure if he should keep up and walk side by side with the boy—Myron was guessing his age to be between eighteen and twenty, and that was young enough to still be called a boy—or if he should stay behind him. Dog Collar kept hurrying ahead, so Myron settled for walking behind him. There

But they also were on some base level congenitally brave.

She knew what will come next with these mothers—picking the right preschool as though it were a life 'n' death decision, waiting in the pickup line, positioning their kids for the elite playdates, Little Gym classes, karate lessons, lacrosse practice, French immersion courses, constant carpools. The happy turns to harried, and the harried becomes routine.

She looked young and scared and helpless. Myron thought about that last one for a moment. Helpless. She turned and met his eyes, and there was a challenge there. Was helpless a fair assessment? Stupid as it might be to think about it, how much of a role was sexism playing here? Play the chauvinism card for a moment. If Aimee was a guy, a big high school football jock, for example, would he be this worried? The truth was, he was indeed treating her differently because she was a girl. Was

But here's my problem: My son, my Mikey, is still dead. And here you are, David, living and breathing and enjoying a fucking pizza.

I'm not casting any aspersions here." "Okay.

My point is, maybe before you dismiss others belief ad wacko, you should take a closer look at the stories that normal people find credible.

The stupidest men are the ones who think they can't be wrong. The stupidest men are the ones who are most sure. The stupidest men are the ones who don't know what they don't know. But

Eurostar and even a plaque for Platform 9¾, where Harry Potter boarded the train for Hogwarts. Much of the so-called undesirable element have fled these dangerous in-person transactions for the relative safety of online commerce—much less need for the risky drive-by sex trade, yet another positive by-product of the Internet—but if you go to the other side of the literal and figurative tracks, away from those shiny new towers, there are still places where the sleaze element

They pushed Crisp into a seat. Win wrapped him in restraints. Crisp was still blinking through the tranquilizer. Win had used a diluted form of Etorphine, a sedative normally used for elephants and potentially fatal to humans. In the movies, sedatives work instantaneously. In reality, it's hardly a guarantee. In

Adam moved in behind Len, the other three trailing on the path. When they got to the door, Len stepped aside and let Adam use the key. Jersey the dog rushed toward them, nails clacking on the hardwood, but, perhaps sensing something wasn't quite right, her greeting was muted and perfunctory. Jersey quickly sized up the situation and slinked back to the kitchen. The

Are you coming or not?" Mom asked. Kat could hear the drink in her mother's voice. It was not an unfamiliar sound. "Coming

Any video of the killer?" "I can't tell you more." "I would say, 'can't or won't,' but that's such a hoary cliché." She