Quotes from Nelson DeMille

As he'd thought, and as he'd always known, Henry and Vivian were better suited for each other. But better is not best, and though he was angry— and hurt— he was also concerned about Vivian. He still liked Henry, but not as much as Henry liked himself. He would have told Vivian this— as a friend— but she might think it was coming from a jealous ex-lover. So he wasn't going to say anything now.

Joe Smith had a Russian knocking on his door asking to be put up on the sly, Joe would be on the horn to the FBI in a flash. Joe does that because he thinks it's right, not because he thinks the FBI will torture him if he doesn't.

When you have excluded the impossible, said Sherlock Holmes, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

When they send someone to interrupt a private conversation, it means that they weren't able to eavesdrop.

I imagine that Carlos knew that Jack was ex-military when he was searching for idiots to go to Cuba, and I also wondered if Jack would be up for a late-in-life adventure. Carlos said that Jack's life would not be in danger, which was true regarding the fishing tournament, but not true regarding sailing out of Cuba with sixty million bucks onboard if Cuban gunboats were on our ass. If we made it that far.

Selective memory is part of the Corey Method of dealing with the bosses.

It's good to be the top cop in a small town.

do. As a wise man (me) once said, "The problem with doing nothing is not knowing when you're finished.

carrying their Yemeni walking sticks, a.k.a. AK-47s.

The hotel demanded hard currency, which kept out the riffraff and the Reds.

Cops say that FBI means "fabulously boring individuals

they don't want their thinking or attitudes changed. They want their values and beliefs endorsed, and they want government and society to reflect their values and beliefs, not yours.

The word "personnel" may seem superfluous, but Army regulations prohibit brevity and common sense.

I went back to the Thirty FAQs. Number Four informed me that I'd present one half of my visa card on arrival in Cuba, and it was Essential that I not lose the second half or I'd have trouble getting out of the country. Well, if things went right, I wouldn't need the second half; and if things went wrong, the second half wouldn't get me out of Cuba.

They're from the government and they're there to help you.

I think if I worked with the stuff they worked with, I, too, wouldn't make any long-range plans. Hell, I wouldn't even buy green bananas.

Old guys have seen too much, and they trust no one.

the movie, starring John Travolta playing an Army CID guy, was terrific, despite a bad review that I recalled reading in Long Island's Newsday, written by John Anderson, a so-called movie critic, whose opinion I trusted to be the exact opposite of mine.

Never ask a man if he wants a bulletproof vest or a pair of mittens. Just make him put it on.

Buck next brought up the subject of the

My problem is with supervisors who bullshit me and expect loyalty in return.

Tad and Alison, according to the itinerary, would be giving lectures on Cuban culture, time and place TBA, which I think means To Be Avoided.

Maybe my ex-wife was right about meat. I tried to picture a life of soybean cheeseburgers, chile no carne, and hot dogs made out of seaweed. I'd rather die. All of a sudden I felt love and warmth for the Department of Agriculture.

The problem with doing nothing is not knowing when you're finished.