Quotes from Harlan Coben

In life, you can forgive yourself for a lot, but for reasons that made very little rational sense, it is very hard to forgive yourself for surviving.

An old Croatian proverb Adam had learned in college applied here: "The hunchback sees the hump of others—never his own.

Enid Corval took a seat at the bar. Considering it was only eleven a.m., business seemed pretty brisk. There were maybe ten people scattered amongst the thirty or so stools, equally spaced apart, no one right next to anyone else, like men's urinals in a public bathroom. They all huddled over their drink, eyes down in protective, don't-converse-with-me mode. A group of bikers on the right played pool on a table with ugly rips in the green fabric.

if you are deluded and narcissistic enough to believe you should obey your gut rather than looking coldly at the facts

when you spend that much time with a person, you get a chance to see the facade slip away sometimes.

An old man hobbled by, his prescription bag death-gripped between his gnarly hand and the top of his walker. He glared at Adam, or maybe that was just the way he looked at the world now. Adam

stopped her by raising his hand. "I don't want to argue with you, Sara. I know you feel differently. Suffice to say that this is how I see it.

Grace wanted to slit open the envelope now. There was always an excitement with a newly developed roll of film, an opening-a-gift expectation, a hurry-to-the-mailbox-even-though-it's-always-bills rush that digital photography, for all its conveniences, could never duplicate.

Like every kid in your town you grow up worrying about your future and what college you will get into.

Subconsciously, or maybe not, they picked up the pace. A few seconds later, Lindsey said, "Bobby?" Bobby Dodd rose from the card table. The first word that came to mind: Dapper. He looked sprightly and fresh. He had dark black skin, thick wrinkles like something you might see on an alligator. He was a snappy dresser in a tweed jacket, two-tone loafers, red ascot with matching hanky. His gray hair was cropped close and slicked down. His

Windsor Horne Lockwood III was born to great wealth. He did not pretend otherwise. He did not like multibillionaires who bragged about their business acumen when they'd started out with Daddy's billions. Genius is almost irrelevant in the pursuit of enormous riches anyway. In fact, it can be a hindrance. If you are smart enough to see the risks, you might try to avoid them. That type of thinking—safe thinking—never led to great wealth. Win

As a soldier, you don't stand at attention because it looks nice. You stand at attention because, on some level, it either gives you strength or, just as important, makes you appear stronger to both your comrades and enemies. For

When I wink at him, his eyebrows jump high. "We should cut him up," Camouflage One says. "Cut him into little pieces." I feign being startled and turn toward him. "Oh my, I didn't see you there." "What?" "In those camouflage pants. You really blend in. By the way, they are very fetching on you." "Are you some kind of wiseguy?" "I'm many kinds of wiseguy." All the smiles, including mine, grow. They

He kept replaying his conversation with Winston O'Connor, the first big break in days. Clearly the National Institutes of Health had a strong interest in Sidney Pavilion. The question was why. O'Connor's explanation that the NIH wanted to keep an eye on its interests rang hollow. Why single out the Sidney Pavilion? There had to be a reason. But

Matt and Olivia lived in a declining two-family held together by aluminum siding.

She had trouble simply enjoying and letting be. She liked to correct and make right.

A model shoot was going on at half-court. Lots of those umbrella lights and tall, bony women-cum-children and tripods and people huffing and fluffing about. Myron waited for someone to mistake him for a model. And waited.

The only two places you stand on receiving lines are funerals and weddings. There was probably something poignant in that fact, but Maya couldn't imagine what it could be. She

When you are rousted by the police, even with all my experience, you want to please.

part of the human condition is that all decent people think they are phonies and don't belong at some point or another.

Liz Gorman, a fiery redhead, had been one of the founding members of the Raven Brigade.

She felt something deeper and richer with Dave, something driven by years and commitment, but maybe that was just fancy talk. That sort of electricity—had she ever felt it with her husband? Was it fair to even compare or think such things? Were such thoughts alone a betrayal? You

I wanted to tell her that I loved her and appreciated her and wanted us, especially now that Mom was gone, to be closer, that I know Mom would have wanted that. But I couldn't. I hugged her instead. Selma stiffened at first, startled by my aberrant display of affection, but then she relaxed. "It'll be okay," she told me. I

What about her?" Win shook his head. "God, Myron, you're such a sexist. And here she is now." Win looked toward the door. Myron did the same and immediately recognized the woman who'd entered. It was Brooke Baldwin, Win's cousin and, more to the point, mother of the still-missing Rhys. Myron hadn't seen Brooke in, what, five years, he surmised. A