Quotes from Harlan Coben

You think dragging the ugly out in the sunlight will destroy it. It doesn't. Just the opposite. You give the ugly thing life nourishment.

The risk was greater, far greater, when you let your target or enemies work with impunity. Remove

There are different types of troublemakers. (...) You we're rebellious, yes, but you always had a good heart. You were never cruel to others. That, for me, has always been the key. You often got in trouble because you were sticking up for someone weaker.

read a quote recently from Werner Herzog. You know who he is?" "The German film director." "Right. He said that America was waking up, as Germany once did, to the awareness that one-third of our people will kill one-third of our people while one-third of our people watches.

You know what sucks about being a mother?" "Diapers?" "Well, yes. But I mean now. Now that they are older and more or less real human beings." "What?" "You live for their smile.

known what she'd say. "What sort of carpet?" "Orange shag. That's where Mercer fell

Get this, we played Condom Roulette like the old days. Ever play? Every guy guesses a color—there's Hot Red, Stallion Black, Lemon Yellow, Orange Orange. Okay, the last two are jokes, but you get the point. There's this condom dispenser in the bathroom. It's still there! So each guy puts a buck on the table. One guy gets a quarter and buys a condom. He brings it to the table. You open it and whammo, if it's your color, you win!

Matt was not a good drinker. He knew that. He could not hold his liquor. He was already past buzzed and nearing inebriation. The key, of course, was knowing when to stop—maintaining the high without the aftermath. It was a line many people tried to find. It was a line most tripped over. Tonight

The goateed Sandy Duncan bustled over again. He spoke with a French accent that sounded about as real as Pepe LePew's. "Monsieur Zuckermahn?" Norm

So we're missing something." "We're missing everything. At this stage, this whole matter is too flimsy to label supposition." Another

Brutus was out of the car first. He opened the door for me. I thanked him. Brutus stuck with the stoic. He had the kind of cigar-store-Indian face you couldn't imagine—and probably wouldn't ever want to see—smiling. On

Right, got it." Then Sam said in a softer voice, "I saw…I mean, Paige in that video…she looked…

This was all a tremendous long shot. The Hope Faith Adoption Agency was located in a small office complex behind an Applebee's on Roosevelt Trail. The owner, a man covered in untamed gray hair and named Maish Isaacson, greeted her with a nervous smile and a dead-fish handshake. He wore stylish tortoise-frame glasses and an unruly beard. "I don't see how I can help," Isaacson said for the third time.

Martha took another step. Titus put on a warm smile and beckoned for her to follow him inside. She made her way toward the porch, hugging herself, shivering from either cold or fear, though more likely a toxic combination of both. Her hair was wet. Her eyes had that look Titus had seen plenty of times before—like two shattered marbles. Titus

He understood subhuman nature. He had seen the Fates curse him and his family enough to come up with an explanation or, if you will, an anti-explanation for all that wrong: In sum, there is no explanation.

The word came out slurred. He could hear it. It was hostile too. The vodka was making him angry or, more likely, letting him be. He was actually hoping for trouble now, even while he feared it. The anger was making him focus. Or at least that was what he wanted to believe. His thinking was no longer muddled. He knew what he wanted. He wanted to hit someone. He wanted a physical confrontation. It didn't matter if he crushed someone or someone crushed him. He

Remember that spring break when we took the family plane to that mansion in Antigua? Your face, Rachel. You loved it. You loved the parties. You loved the power. It's part of why we became close. So yes, my plan was to impregnate you. Why would you want some anonymous donor sperm when you can have mine?" "Someone special in the eyes of God," she added. "Exactly. Great genes. Someone who cares about you. It made perfect sense.

Whoa," Hester said, making her hands into a T. "Time-out." Fagbenle looked annoyed. "I'd like to continue my questioning." "And I'd like to tongue-bathe Hugh Jackman," Hester said, "so both of us are going to have to live with a little disappointment." Hester rose. "Stay here, Detective. We will be right back.

Many believe that I am infallible in such matters, that I am so professional and dangerous that death itself gives me a wide berth. I confess that I do all I can to encourage, amplify, and intensify this reputation. I want you to fear me. I want you to cringe every time I enter a room because you do not know what I might do next. But I am not naïve enough to buy my own press, if you will. No matter how good you are, a sniper can take you out. As

He stared at Ryan and felt that overwhelming feeling he sometimes got when he looked at his boys—part pure joy, part fear of what could happen to them in this cruel world, part wishes and hopes, all blended together in the only thing in this entire planet that felt completely pure.

Of course you can't know. But you play the odds. You save who you can and you mourn those you can't. When you follow this calling, your heart gets ripped apart every day. You make the world better in increments, not grand designs. You make choices. Do you understand?

According to all of them, Heidi, fewer than twenty-four hours from being murdered in her home, had been her usual ebullient self.

They don't smile like that anymore. They were good kids, well-adjusted and all, but there was still an inescapable, underlying sadness. When you looked closely, the smiles were more cautious now, a wince in the eye, a fear of what else might be taken from them.

During a recess game of Four Squares—the dumbest game since Tetherball—Lance's pants had split. What made it worse, what made it one of those wholly horrifying childhood incidents, was that Lance had not worn underwear that day.