Mike Carey

“I could dodge the kick, but the stable door was already down - and I hadn't even realised it until I saw the splinters.”

“You're a vampire, Richie. And I've got a gun the size of Nebraska. What's the worst that could happen?”

“And there's a darker side to Peckham, too, once you get in deep: a side I like a lot more, because I identify with the past and prefer even worm-eaten wood to wipe-clean plastic.”

“Stifling an obscene oath, I went back up the steps at a run, but I was locking the stable when the horse was already at the airport with a false passport.”

“The light of a hunter's moon bleached the unresisting pastels from the faces of the towers, so that they looked like titanic ribs of bone, and shadows accrued like crusted blood under the walkways.”

“Could it hurt to take a look? The answer was yes, of course. It's always yes. But I went anyway.”

“It was a hot, moist armpit of a night...”

“Those heart-hammering nightmares that start to lose coherence even as you're waking up from them, but that still manage to leave their moldering fingerprints all across your day.”

“When God has abandoned you and the devil is snapping at your heels, what you really need on your side is a bigger devil.”

“I'll be fine ' Pen told me a little curtly. 'Where are you going anyway ' 'The United States. Alabama.' 'Looking for a change of scene ' 'Looking for a dead woman.' 'Get Jenna-Jane Mulbridge to come down here and I'll make you one.”

“Be yourself, until you bleed.”

“On into the void he flies, unafraid. There is nothing in mere absence that can cow him. Or loneliness. Or the lack of maps and charts. For he is his own path. And he sees by his own light. We watch him from a great distance. From a vantage point no less subjective, no less absolute. And so it's hard to tell whether he imposes himself on the emptiness, or becomes it.”

“I took a strong dislike to him right then to save time and effort later.”

“When a book is read an irrevocable thing happens — a murder, followed by an imposture. The story in the mind murders the story on the page, and takes its place.”

“They used to call the devil the father of lies. But for someone whose sin is meant to be pride, you'd think that lying would leave something of a sour taste. So my theory is that when the devil wants to get something out of you, he doesn't lie at all. He tells you the exact, literal truth. And he lets you find your own way to hell.”

“Yahweh: You've been unhappy because you've desired things that cannot be.Lucifer: That's what desire IS. The need for what we can't have. The need for what's readily available is called greed.”

“I have stared into the light and you are all my shadows.”

“Elaine: He saved my life twice. He's the only grown-up I know who keeps his promises.Michael: Yes. It is a point of pride with him. But please — don't mistake it for a virtue.”

“All stories are lies. But good stories are lies made from light and fire. And they lift our hearts out of the dust, and out of the grave.”

“Michael: There's nothing here to fear.Lucifer: Well, there's always the truth.”

“No, there are no special places in hell. Hell is a democracy.”

“Words are the birds that break cover and show your enemy where you're hiding.”

“You use the word "Infinity" very glibly.... Have you ever been there? Time and space are extensions of the mind, the will. Which means that infinity is a purely local phenomenon. You can turn over a stone and find it crawling there. Or you can make it yourself out of whatever materials are at hand.”

“It's not a holiday until you overdo it!”

“Happy Families. What's that all about, eh? A bloody busted flush is what it is. You surround yourself with other people so the night doesn't seem quite so dark. Shout down the sound of the wind with arguments about whose turn it is to wash the dishes. Best not to kid yourself. Best not to give any hostages to fortune. You're on your own in the end. Always. Where else would you want to be?”

“That's what I've never been able to get about religion: that charmless combination of altruism and insanity. Give me a cynical, self-interested bastard any day of the week; at least you can play chicken with him and know he'll stick to the rules.”